Paul's boutique - Serie A 2022/23

[jwdd27]

(Crying laughing emoji x 100)

47 people were on the field at one point, according to Gazzetto.

I initially thought that one of them was in a wheelchair, but I'd mis-read parapiglia (turmoil).

[ursus arctos]

First ever win in Serie A and it is against Juve

https://twitter.com/acmonza/status/1571515133603749893?s=21&t=V3INHj7wuAlSvcxu_1rSdQ

[EIM]

Juventus are fucking shit.

It's actually worse than I thought.

[EIM]

Given Monza's set up, you don't actually want them to win, do you? And yet.

[ursus arctos]

[ursus arctos]

Given Monza's set up, you don't actually want them to win, do you? And yet.

It would be genuinely hilarious if they went down having only won twice.

Both against Juve.

[EIM]

Also delighted for Di Maria. Along with Pogba exactly the sort of player you need to dig in and get you out of a fix.

[ursus arctos]

Speaking of Pogba, his brother is in custody and is expected to be placed under formal investigation by tomorrow

[Toby Gymshorts]

Some ending to Empoli v AC Milan.

[Sunderporinostesta]

Juve a bit hard done by in the build up to the corner which led to Milan’s first goal. Hahahahahahahahahaha. Awful refereeing decision. They’ve lived by the sword…..

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/guardalinee/status/1597332963741421568?s=61&t=Huv2EcYaADZQrUVX1Sddqg

[Gangster Octopus]

The chief has been asked to stay in charge by the organ

nothing more than we would expect from an organ...

[ursus arctos]

An absolute battering, this

https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1614009855299276816?s=20&t=A__AZYitalFt-5t9E5SinA

[Mr Delicieux]

Kvaratskhelia is an incredibly exciting player isn't he, caught a bit of a buzz about him last season and he's really carried that form on at Napoli.

[scratchmonkey]

Bremer had an absolute horror show in this one for Juve, he was directly responsible for two of the goals and arguably a third as well.

He's not the biggest name on this Napoli team; I was really impressed with Lobotka in this match, excellent combination of aggressively closing down/winning the ball back, technical ability to carry the ball when given the space to do so, and not bad passing either.

[EIM]

Oh Juve. Juve, Juve Juve.

[ursus arctos]

Will be interesting to see if UEFA and FIFA take up the FIGC's request that the bans on Paratici et al doing "football business in Italy" be extended worldwide.

Tottenham be shook.

[Satchmo Distel]

It looks to me that Parataci's future at Spurs is untenable in any case. Every transfer he conducted would come under intense scrutiny. Conte is also implicated, having been close to him for a long time at Juventus. Levy would, I'd think, need to throw them under the bus in order to look like he's cleaning up the mess.

OTOH I'd imagine that PSG, Real Madrid and Man City have been pulling the same tricks as Parataci.

[Lang Spoon]

Could become untenable, or everyone just looks the other way.

[Sam]

Why exactly did Juve do what they did? I mean I know the answer will essentially boil down to 'because they're Juventus', but what's the benefit? From what I've been able to gather with ten minutes' reading (while avoiding websites I prefer not to look on), they exaggerated the amount by which they temporarily reduced wages at the start of the pandemic. So what was the advantage to them in return for doing that? Did they pay less tax than they should have? Get more COVID compensation from the government than they should have? Was it an FFP thing? All of the above?

[ursus arctos]

Recall that Juventus are a public company, with their shares traded on the Italian Stock Exchange.

The shenanigans allowed them to present an overly positive version of their financial results, which not only goosed the stock price, but also made it easier for them to execute two capital increases, and to do so at a higher price. I expect that at least some of the executives also had stock based compensation contracts, and thereby benefitted personally.

It also improved their FFP position, but that doesn't look to have been the primary motive.

Incidentally, all this also shows why Satchmo's assertion about the other clubs is misguided.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Yeah, it's barcelona on the other side of the Arthur deal. though the news that they were engaged in all sorts of exotic behaviour to make the books look better is not exactly news.

[ursus arctos]

That's true about Artur, but the majority of players who have been the subject of this practice have never played a match in Serie A

I even remember talking about an early version of this involving a transfer of about a dozen teenagers between Inter and Milan with you and dalliance back when we still living in Italy.

[Sam]

Thanks, ursus. There was something on the Guardian site today that went into a bit more detail on it. Obviously whatever the motivations it's very much a 'shocked ... shocked, I tell you' situation.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

That's true about Artur, but the majority of players who have been the subject of this practice have never played a match in Serie A

I even remember talking about an early version of this involving a transfer of about a dozen teenagers between Inter and Milan with you and dalliance back when we still living in Italy.

heh, some of them are playing for spurs and man city! It will be interesting to see if the "Valued at £60 million" tag on cancelo becomes an issue for city. They can legitimately argue that he's that good, but was that the case at the time of the purchase?

As for inter and Milan, it wasn't just youngsters either. Inter were buying milan squad players for fortunes, and giving them inter discards like Pirlo and seedorf and brocchi in exchange. You have to marvel at the sheer wastefulness of Inter Milan. Though the temptation is to see Moratti as a naive Daddy's boy making huge, but bad bets in a game that is unnecessarily rigged anyway.