A Reflection to Last Summer’s Predictions-

By: agiamba | August 16th, 2009

One of my favorite part about making predictions is seeing where I was right, and yelling boo-yah, and then seeing where I was horribly, horribly wrong. For sheer entertainment, I have gone through last year’s epic pre-season predictions post (found here) that Roberto and I did, and found quality gems of where we were dead-on and where we were, well, a bit off. Review after the jump.

THE SERIE A MERCATO:
RIGHT: Roberto-[About the mercato] I would’ve looked you in the eye while I slowly placed my hand atop a searing stove element. We needed quality defenders (plural) then, and we still need them today. Until that area’s addressed, Secco’s still an idiot.
WRONG: Alessio- [About Inter's mercato] If they pick up Quaresma, they have done very well in the market. Bidone d’Oro, really? Come on Ricky!
RIGHT: Roberto- Milan Milan Milan. Much like Juventus, they forgot to do anything significant about their back-line. Flamini this, Ronaldinho that. Zambrotta was a good move but last I checked, he isn’t exactly who you’d want in Kakakladziii’s boots.
WRONG: Alessio- A team destined for the relegation battle couldn’t do better than picking up relegation-specialists Amoruso and Bianchi. They had no firepower last season, but with Rosina and that duo up front, the Toro will also avoid relegation. Good pickups. One I am quite pleased that I was completely wrong with. Cairo, Novellino, De Biasi, etc, etc, all idiots.
RIGHT: Alessio- They [Milan] didn’t really reinforce the positions they needed, but they do have quality players, but it’ll be a battle for many of them to get back to their former glory. I don’t think they are enough to win the Scudetto. I think we can definitively say Dinho and Sheva didn’t. Jury is still out on Zambrotta and Borriello.

JUVENTUS 2008-2009:
RIGHT: Alessio- We could win it, [Champion's League] but I don’t expect to. On our day, we can beat any team in Europe. But with injuries, suspensions, exhaustion, and general poor form, we won’t be always playing in top shape.
WRONG: Roberto- Molinaro shits himself to sleep every night thinking of the day De Ceglie takes his starting role from him officially. Is this De Ceglie’s year, or is he apt more to a different position?
RIGHT: Alessio- [On who will make the biggest impact this season] Dr. Agricola. Seriously. If we can stay relatively healthy and injury-free, we can do very well this season. Other than that? Camoranesi. He’s proven how crucial he is to the team and he’s without a doubt our most creative player, and his crosses are beautiful. He needs to stay injury-free. Wow. Little did I have any idea that this would be our most injury-ravaged season from recent memory. (2003-2004 maybe)
WRONG: Alessio- Marchisio will be playing often but he won’t be first choice quite yet, I don’t think. Another one I’m pleased I was wrong with. Grabbed that starting shirt, other than Ranieri’s bizarre decision to field Sissoko-Tiago in London.
RIGHT: Roberto- “Our” breakout star is going to be Amauri. Ask yourself one thing: Is there another striker like him in the world?
RIGHT: Alessio-[On who will be our breakout star] Everyone says Giovinco, and I think he will light it up. I’ll go with Marchisio though, he really impressed me against Artmedia. I’d been talking him up before but he distributed the ball well with good passing, showed some good individual skills, and showed no hesitation in challenging for the ball. I don’t think he’s our answer to a regista, but he’s definitely a future world-class center-mid, he needs to take some more shots.

SERIE A 2008-2009
RIGHT: Alessio- [On who is going to have a poorer season than last year] I don’t think any team is going to have a comparatively disasterous season. [To Empoli of 2007-2008] But I think Udinese is going to drop out of the Uefa cup spot. Indeed they did.
WRONG: Roberto- [On who will finish 5th] Napoli, you watch. Had they not completely imploded at Christmas, could have happened.
RIGHT: Alessio- [On who will be relegated] Lecce, ~~Cagliari,~~ and Reggina. Lecce’s team doesn’t impress me, and Reggina isn’t going to survive if they keep dumping their star forwards. Berretta is a good coach but I’m not sure he can do it with Lecce. I think they might be replaced by their hated rivals AS Bari. 2/3 isn’t bad, and hooray Bari replacing Lecce.
WRONG: Alessio- [On who will be relegated] Cagliari was very stupid to not keep their coach. After the first month of calcio, I might have looked right, as Allegri notched up 5 consecutive losses in his debut, but man did he turn it around. Cagliari was the surprise package of the year and Cellino must be grateful he decided not to pull the trigger.

And just for more entertainment…my Serie A table.

1. Inter
2. Juve
3. Milan
4. Roma
5. Fiorentina
6. Napoli
7. Lazio
8. Sampdoria
9. Udinese
10. Palermo
11. Genoa
12. Atalanta
13. Torino
14. Catania
15. Siena
16. Chievo
17. Bologna
18. Cagliari
19. Reggina
20. Lecce

Not as bad as I was expecting. Torino, Cagliari, Napoli, Genoa I was all horribly wrong on, but you win some, you lose some.

Trofeo Berlusconi tomorrow night at 2045. If we come out without any injuries, mission accomplished.

Some Related Juventus Posts:

Category: Team News

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zaki

it's scary, indeed !! lol
alessio

Plus the situation he was handed, with the injuries and poor form after EVERY international break, he did well.
roberto

al-What about this lines:
Roberto on Ranieri:
“Ranieri is a good coach….The guy is a class act who seems to know what it takes to win"

Looking back on Ranieri, I still believe he is a tremendously classy guy who has a lot of experience and is very well-versed in the areas of physical conditioning. He "seemed" to understand Juventus' history of winning, however in the end it became obvious that he was overly-diplomatic (a.k.a. too nice) and couldn't continuously stoke our fire.
alessio

Yeah Jose's right, that was my prediction for the season that just ended.

That is interesting eros, I had actually never heard that before I don't think. It will be interesting indeed if Ferrara pushes for the win or not.
idze

bari probably is going to take on loan lago. This kid is great and loan for him is good option.
Maresca

I think that 'curse' story has been doing the rounds for some time now ! Going to be fun to see the team playing against Leonardo's 'proper' team tonight - Agree with those comments about Diego - I would rather he was fit for Chievo than taking a chance against Meeeelan
KJ

copy that
Jose

If I am not mistaken that table was for the 2008-2009 season, not the one that is about to start.
KJ

Alessio, im kinda surprised..terrible prediction
Gianfranco

Alessio, Milan & Roma are far to high on your table, as Roma did little to improve while Milan certainly took ten steps back. I do believe the scudetto is yours to lose because Inter want Ol' Big Ears above all else.
zaki

well, Eros. that thing is exactly the same with what happened in confederations cup, when every team won the trophy failed in the bigger competitions 1 year after it.

however, after seeing how passionate ferrara and amauri to win this trophy, i think they wanna prove that the myth is wrong. regardless result of this match, i'm pretty sure juve will takeover the scudetto !!

forza juve !!!
Guest

HolyMann, that's Italian football for you.. full of jinx, superstition and whatnot. I think among European countries, Italy's the place where you'll find them the most often, barring Eastern Europeans like Romania and Bulgaria.
Myself, i value them as a fun aspect of the beautiful game. I mean, what would the world football look like without Pele's jinxing here and there, for example?
By the way, i read somewhere that we had actually broken this jinx in 2001. CMIIW
Win or lose, jinx or no jinx, can't wait to see Diego's magic again tonight!
HolyMann

im actually stunned that this superstition is this strong....well, Ferrara is now saying that he wants his team to play for a win....either he changed, or is playing mind games....im still stunned at this
Eros

It's true an several websites got reported it at the time. The official statement in faniq.com states: "The curse is so embedded in Italian footballing lore that in 2002, when the game went to penalties, Ciro Ferrara intentionally missed a penalty that led to Milan winning. Paolo Maldini buried his head in his hands upon realising they had won"
HolyMann

damn.....i never knew Ferrara missed that penalty on purpose.....is this true or just a theory you came up with?
Eros

Zaki the penalties incident happened in 2002 but the jinx has been going on since 1995. But we have to remember that juve had a jinx in the trofeo tim. They didn't win any of the last nine Trofeo Tim's but they broke that jinx yesterday. But I would still be scared to challenge the Trofeo Berlusconi jinx.
zaki

it's scary, indeed !! lol
zaki

@Eros: what a nice comment post, Eros !! when did that happened ??
Eros

alessio what do you think about the Trofeo Berlusconi Jinx? No team that has won it has gone on to win the championship. I read that one game went to penalties and Ferrara missed on purpose in order to lose, and Maldini put his hands on his face and was upset to know that milan had won it. I'm not sure if I want Juve to win, maybe Ferrara will lose on purpose just like he did some years back. What do you think?
o_man

loool at Ranieri being a good coach.Whoever signs him is gonna see his team play the game of long balls at its best and NOTHING else because his 60 year old brain still lives in the 20's
agiamba

Hant00, I don't know. He arrived late to training so he might be fatigued and be given the day off.
Weston (@wpazzurri)

i was talking to al, the other comments snuck in at the same time haha
hant00

ale, where's Caceres?
Weston (@wpazzurri)

ahaha, good one. yes unfortunately that goes down as a fail for roberto... somebody should count and see who did better between him and alessio, it would be interesting to see whos better at predictions.
hant00

@al
... and reinforced by alessio:
I do like the guy, he seems like a good motivator and a good tactician.
dead wrong from both of you, i daresay.
agiamba

Callups for tomorrow's Berlusconi trophy game. I hope Diego doesn't play if he's coming back from injury, I can wait to see him play.

And Al, that sounds like a great idea.

1 Buffon
4 Felipe Melo
5 Cannavaro
7 Salihamidzic
8 Marchisio
9 Iaquinta
10 Del Piero
11 Amauri
12 Chimenti
13 Manninger
15 Zebina
17 Trezeguet
18 Poulsen
19 Molinaro
21 Grygera
23 Ariaudo
28 Diego
29 De Ceglie
33 Legrottaglie
al

what about this lines:

Roberto on Ranieri:
"Ranieri is a good coach....The guy is a class act who seems to know what it takes to win" :)
al

i missed this prediction last year, ale.

do you think you and roberto can have interactive post, kind of "have your (prediction) say"? that might be very interesting.

on Trofeo Berlusconi: Diego is called. I really want to see him play.
agiamba

If you read through last summer's post and find other gems (where we were right on or horribly off) that you find entertaining, post them below!