Out of curiosity I am watching Torino vs Fiorentina live (Cup game) .... Both are mid-table Serie A and I seriously think Barnsley 'on song' could give them a game. No pressing, acres of space and they seem more intent on fouling, diving, play acting and arguing with the referee than playing actual football. Passes going astray all over the place. At one point there were 3 players all writhing around in agony. One was down clutching his face when the replay showed the player who backed into him just had an arm across his chest. Several contenders for Golden Globe nominations. The VAR incident was best as a penalty claim for handball was made by Fiorentina when it was clear (even watching it in real time) that the defender had his arm by his side as he turned away from a shot, it hit his elbow and the attacker had actually controlled the ball with his arm to get the shot away. The referee took a full 5 minutes!! to call for VAR, go pitch side to look at the monitor and view the incident repeatedly before deciding it was no penalty only to be surrounded by protesting players, one of whom pushed his luck too far and got a yellow card. Only one actual shot on target that I can recall for the whole 1st half. Not even bothered to turn it on for the 2nd half. Dire!! EDIT: Forgot to say Not even any dodgy haircuts or bad beards to keep my missus amused so it had to go
Sunday afternoon in the club, chicken dinner and football Italia used to send me to sleep every week without fail. Having said that, I'm watching Everton and Bournemouth and it's bloody awful.
I used to love Football Italia in the 90s when Milan were dominating. Amazing team- likes of Van Basten, Maldini, Rossi, Baresi etc... plus James Richardson and his Gazzetta show. My fave era for watching non-UK footy.
I used to love that show. Coincided with a few Brits playing over there - Platt, Gazza, Ince, Rush? Great opening sequence and music with that Lazio bit at the end and James Richardson was superb. Haven't watched Italian football for years now for all the reasons you set out above!
I was pretty young when watching James Richardson on football Italian, used to love it though. Picked Juve as my “foreign team” to like and now they just dominate the league every year, not even a challenge. Probably shows the level of the division these days. Back then Milan, Inter, Roma and Lazio used to all be contenders too, in the European competitions as well.
Yeah, great times they were. Sundays always consisted of church bellringing, a lovely long walk with my first doggy, dinner at my mum's, afternoon on the settee in the front room watching football italia..... Vialli, Zola, Veron, Batistuta, Lombardo, Del Piero, Zidane, Baresi, Maldini, Baggio. Was that really 25 years ago (and more)?
Post Italia 90 there were quite a few British players who went to Italy as BarTyke mentions, and with the loss of terrestrial live games from 1992, I think C4 saw a good opportunity. Didn't Ken Wolstenholme have a voice over part of the programme too? The recently deceased Peter Brackley was the regular commentator as I remember?
As a kid, European football always looked dodgy to me. I remember seeing Liverpool beat St Etienne in 1977(?), probably my first exposure to foreign club sides. They looked to be playing two different sports. Over the years our game has changed a lot, but I'd still rather watch proper English footie down at Oakwell than anything Europe has to offer.