Nicoló Barella

[JewelZee]

Never buy Italian.

Ancelotti, Mancini, Conte, Ranieri and Di Matteo say hello...

 

[ElMago_DSilva]

I wouldn't mind us taking a gamble but the only issue is he is too similar to Kovacic.

Is he?

He gets more goals from midfield so I'd say that makes him very different.

 

[JewelZee]

Is he?

He gets more goals from midfield so I'd say that makes him very different.

Agree. Both excellent footballers but different players.

Can anyone make a case for how Barella is not a better overall footballer than Rice?

 

[BamberBridgeBlue]

Ancelotti, Mancini, Conte, Ranieri and Di Matteo say hello...

You do know the difference between a Manager / Coach than player? When was the last Italian PLAYER to pull up trees in the EPL? Zola? How long ago was that? There’s a lot of Rolando Bianchi’s and Bernardo Corradi’s to get to a Zola.

 

[BamberBridgeBlue]

View attachment 84562

 

[BamberBridgeBlue]

I hope you're being sarcastic...

I can’t forgive Italians for their imperial past.

 

[RayCTID]

Is he?

He gets more goals from midfield so I'd say that makes him very different.

Not much in it. Both like to dribble with the ball both can dictate the play.

 

[JewelZee]

You do know the difference between a Manager / Coach than player? When was the last Italian PLAYER to pull up trees in the EPL? Zola? How long ago was that? There’s a lot of Rolando Bianchi’s and Bernardo Corradi’s to get to a Zola.

It's because the top players never came to the UK. Are you suggesting Bonucci or Chiellini would not have been dominant central defenders in the Prem? That Gundo or Bernardo are better players than Pirlo. That Harry Kane is any better than Francesco Totti? That Mount, Xhaka, Partey, or Fabinho could hold a candle to DeRossi? I can go on all night. Bianchi and Corradi are the Italian equivalent Patrick Bamford or Danny Ings, if that. You can go on all you'd like but it won't change the matter that Barella is an all around better player than Declan Rice.

 

[JewelZee]

I can’t forgive Italians for their imperial past.

The one the Brits mimicked and then raised the bar on a thousand years later
: )

 

[BamberBridgeBlue]

It's because the top players never came to the UK. Are you suggesting Bonucci or Chiellini would not have been dominant central defenders in the Prem? That Gundo or Bernardo are better players than Pirlo. That Harry Kane is any better than Francesco Totti? That Mount, Xhaka, Partey, or Fabinho could hold a candle to DeRossi? I can go on all night. Bianchi and Corradi are the Italian equivalent Patrick Bamford or Danny Ings, if that. You can go on all you'd like but it won't change the matter that Barella is an all around better player than Declan Rice.

Yes, you’ve just proved you can go on all night about players from Italy that didn’t come to the EPL. Where do the top players in the Premier League come from? France, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Brazil, Argentina. The rest are exceptions that prove the rule. Italians miss Nonna’s home cooking.