I'm not calling him Lionel Messi here, but dude clearly has finishing in him. Plenty of strikers choke up even with all the conditions placed before them as you mentioned pink. Kosh, you're right about seria a not being the same as it was in the last decade though. Also, Di Natale's only been in this kinda form for the last 4 years, so perhaps that is a further indication of the weakness of Serie A rather than him actually improving as a player.

I disagree. He's proven himself a choker countless times on the big stage. There is ZERO pressure for him at Udinese that would be found at any big club.

I also disagree about it being a testament of Serie A's decline, even though it certainly has deteriorated. Alberto Gilardino was netting 20 + goals a season before the scandal broke out, ironically in a similar setup at a mid-table team (Parma). If you build the entire attack around an above average striker they will net you a lot of goals. Look what happened to Gilardino when he went to Milan (post Calciopoli), he regressed and couldn't handle the pressure. The same thing would happen to Di Natale if he went to a big club. Gila went back to a smaller club after his stint at Milan and found his form again because the entire team was built around him once more.

Fair points. I should watch some Udinese matches, but obviously I trust your word as far as Srie A goes.

Don't get me wrong, he's an above average player. His scoring rate just doesn't translate to the big stage...he's been a massive disappointment for the national team. Expectations are pretty high, though, for Italian strikers. That void that prime vieri left hasn't been filled yet.

Yeah clearly we don't have the Vieiris and the Inzaghis and Del Pieros in the mid 20s early 30s bracket. But I have a lot of faith in the likes of Balotelli and El Shaarawy

To me the italian team has faded a lot since 2000.
but they're always capable of winning tournaments regardless.

Moutinho and Rodrigues from Porto to (newly promoted) Ligue 1 club Monaco for 60m....?

Yeah, Monaco has new ownership and they're looking to make Ligue 1 a two oiled race.

I'd like to say thats interesting. But it isn't. Its just getting old now. Some new sugar daddy owner comes along and buys a club.... feels like i've heard it a hundred times

Chelsea, city, PSG, Anzi macachakalakala, Monaco.... a few others whove treid and failed....who's next?

dortmund, or bayern?

I'm hoping dortmund. It would be good for football if dortmund win imo - although on the other hand that would probably cause bayern to buy their entire dortmund starting 11 in june instead of just their best 3 players....

thinking bayern, and also rooting for bayern. dortmund is definitely the underdog here and have had an underdog run in the tournament for sure.

so, barca definitely punched the shit out of that panic button. that's awesome on santos' part accepting, tentatively, offers from both barca and madrid (madrid's offer was substantially higher), and allowing neymar to choose.

I would like to see Dortmund win.

That clearance off the line was incredible.

Probably the best match I've ever seen

Did you see the 5-3 Dortmund cup win last year?
That was a great match.