Whether you think its 'better' or not i would say serie a is offerin more entertaining football this season. Even the teams struggling at the foot of the table are trying to play footie unlike stoke et al

Have a cheeky listen to this if you like

http://podcasts.footballfancast.com/italia_fancast/

I watched Premier League and Serie A regularly while growing up (also Barca's and Real Madrid's games) and things have changed a lot the past 15 years.
In the 1990s Italy's Serie A was at its best with Milan and Juve winning the Champions League and contesting a number of other finals.
Since 2004 I'd say the Premiership has taken over as the better league. I am talking in terms of the quality of the top 4 teams.
This season the mid-table and lower half have been highly contested in Serie A. Also, the fourth to seventh spots are being fought over aggressively.
England's top teams remain a step ahead and I think the Champions League clashes will show it despite the possibility of the Italian teams winning (against Man Utd and Chelsea).

Never thought I'd say this a decade ago but Serie A is less driven by financial interests than the Premiership. It also looks more favourably on smaller teams punching above their weight.

England's top flight resembles some private gentleman's club with the top four being the VIP lounge. I appreciate Inter have been the dominant team lately but beyond that there's a more interesting competition than over here.

The Italian league has lost some of its appeal because of Calciopoli, Inter's domination (champion is predictable), Juve's fall, and the bad results in Europe (only CL win in 2007 for Milan)

they are different kinds of football, where the premier league is probably faster and more entertaining in an obvious way, whereas Serie a is more tactical and subtle in its entertainment.

In general, i think that the top Prem clubs are better than the top Serie A clubs, but i think the middle ranking and lower serie a clubs are much better technically than an equivilant prem club, and possibly serie b is more technically advanced than the championship.

this is debatable of course, but there is no competition to test this opinion

Yeah I used to like the Anglo-Italian Cup when it was up and running. I suppose the English season in paticular is too congested as it is to bring it back. If I'm not mistaken, Italian teams used to win that much more frequently than English ones.

I loved Serie A when I was growing up and was hoping some of the Superstar Italian players would come to England - hopefully Tottenham. (ahem)
Anyway, I have recently started watching Serie A again, and I have to say that I am very disappointed.

Please tell me, which Italian Players apart from Aquilani at Liverpool (sorry if incorrectly spelled)
would make an impression playing in the top 4 teams of the Premiership?

Just for the record, I adore the Italian game and I only wish that Premiership Players played with the same integrity and morality - and not just on the pitch.

These discussions are always tough because in most cases the leagues are just different from eachother, not better or worse.

That said, I really don't think it's a better league than the Premier League. Maybe four or five years ago when the likes of Juventus, Milan and Inter were dominating Europe, but these days there's only really Inter who I'd identify as being in the top bracket of clubs in Europe.

I was really pleased with Milan's performance against United on Tuesday, because it dispelled the myth that the Serie A is slow etc, but the reality is that Milan, the second-best team in Italy, succumbed to a pretty suspect United side who had an arguably poor game. And Inter, for all their domestic dominance, were completely outclassed by Liverpool and United in the past two Champions League campaigns.

I think previous comments about the overall quality in Italy being better than in England are accurate, and you can certainly say the same for La Liga as well. I think if you put Wolves against Udinese or Racing Santander, they'd get absolutely embarassed and completely outclassed. But ultimately I don't think you can say the Serie A is a better league when the top quality players and teams simply aren't there anymore.

Antonyc1977 wrote:Just for the record, I adore the Italian game and I only wish that Premiership Players played with the same integrity and morality - and not just on the pitch.

Can't say I see where you're coming from there to be honest. I know the likes of Terry etc drag the name of the game into the mud, but the last time I checked the English champions hadn't been found guilty of match-fixing and relegated in a scandal which implicated a number of other clubs.

And Carlo Ancelotti was clearly completely unmoved by John Terry's recent behaviour, until he was prompted from above to make a statement about his player's behaviour, so I don't really agree with your claims of a higher morality/intergrity in Italy.

Marklad,

I agree with your rationale, in particular when it comes to weaker English clubs being outclassed by their relative equals in Spain or Italy... but overall as you said weaker teams alone cannot be used as the measuring stick for which league is better. Performances, results, head-to-head matchups are all key elements which must be factored in.

This is why I mentioned before Italians have failed in Europe recently with the exception of CL 2007 win by Milan.

The Milan-Manchester tie is sort of deceptive because both teams came in at a different stage with Milan particularly struggling while Man Utd were doing OK before the Everton defeat.

Finally, I think on the pitch the English clubs remain some of the most consistent in terms of not cheating/acting during a match. Spaniards and Italians are less inclined to be as fair. Nothing against either one but perhaps a cultural thing?

I think taking the Terry and Cole cases is a totally different subject because those were personal and not football-related issues.

Yea, again I think it comes down to the leagues being different, not better or worse. I think the best teams in England are better than the best teams in Italy, although I suppose we'll see on Wednesday when both of the respective Champions-elect face off, but the overall quality in the Serie A is most probably better than the Prem.

It would probably be easier to compare the Prem and La Liga, as they have more in common than Italy and Spain.

But let's not start with that discussion because we'll be here all night.

Not wanting to make an excuse for inter before they needone, but Inter are also n bad form at the moment, having won only 2 out of their last 6 games. i tink in the champions league an in form milan are stronger than the always seemingly overwhelmed inter, but we'll see.

about this morality issue, i think ancelotti's reaction to the terry situation does not give an accurate representation of his thoughts - i cannot think of any manager in his right mind who would criticise his captain when he was getting it from all directions - it wouldnt make snese, and he may well have been told to publicly support him.

And i think Antonc1977 is referring to morality in private life, rather than on the field, as i think in italy the players wouldnt get away with going out and getting drunk, nor is it in the culture. course that isnt to say that getting involved in betting rings and directors fixing matches with referees is better (although tat is not related to the players).

Marklad is right you you cannot compare leagues your all going to fight arguments you cannot win.

I also like the way he says "It would probably be easier to compare the Prem and La Liga, as they have more in common than Italy and Spain." Makes it sound like La Liga is not in Spain lol

These arguments are always going to be subject of opinion, bias and not having a definition of what makes a league better than another.

Perhaps the only way to settle it is a European Super League spread over two seasons...

...One day

Forever the grammar corrector eh Puds, give me a break!

On a serious note, I meant to say that comparing Serie A with other leagues is hard work because it's so different style wise.

The European Cups using to be the barometer. With the Cup Winners Cup gone and the Europa League revamped, things might have changed a bit, but referring to the Champions League can give the closest comparison possible.

In the early to mid 1990s Serie A was considered the best and Italy had Milan, Juventus (both multiple times) and Sampdoria as finalists.

Since 2000 the Premiership and la Liga have been considered the best and the winners back it up with Barca twice winners, Real Madrid twice and Manchester United once (+ once in 1999) and add finalists Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc... This shows there has been a power shift.