The Rise and Fall of Serie A: What Went Wrong?

[@TSEEMOD_618]

[TLDR warning] As Italian, I will list answers answering more than this video. Sadly almost none of these things haven't been discussed in the video. Let's start from the famous "7 Sisters" - the main 7 teams which dominated the italian football in the 1990s. All of them got either a scandal or a problem with property in terms of finances. For Juventus - Calciopoli and the post Calciopoli till Andrea Agnelli took over. For Inter - 2010 and the fact Moratti was heavily indebted enough that in 2013/14 we were close to go bankrupt, then Thohir and then Suning property. For Milan - the fact Berlusconi didn't want to invest a ton of money, especially after the 2011 political venture of his and his historic condemnation with 564 mln Euro in the De Benedetti long time trial For Parma - check "Scandalo Parmalat", one of the largest frauds in European History of Money laundering and fake accountability, exploded in early 2003 when Parmalat - a holding dealing mostly with food and dairy products - basically cheated on a tons of financial activities. Then Parma got relegated, failed twice more, and now it's in Serie A again For Fiorentina - Vittorio Cecchi Gori's group failed in late 2001, lead Fiorentina to relegation and then bankrupt in 2002/03 where they restarted as Florentia Viola and then was took over by previous property, Della Valle. For Roma, well, the Sensi Family for decade was taking in loans from a tons of diverse banks as their holding company was heavily indebted. Then they sold to Pallotta and now to Friedkin. For Lazio, check "Crack Cirio" another food holding industry which failed because of the accounting creativity and financial scandals caused by Cirio company holder, mr Cragnotti (former owner of Lazio) Plus other teams got bad faiths, and some of those won in Europe in 80s/90s Sampdoria, for example, failed the transition from former ERG owners, Mantovani family, to new ones, till they came back and then moved the property to Ferrero; Napoli had a tons of problems with finances in early 2000s, leading them to bankrupt, till De Laurentiis restructured the company and then well, built since 2004 today the team we all know Torino, got the same faith as Napoli, till Urbano Cairo took over the society in 2006. Other teams instead became famous for other shitty reasons Udinese in Italy - a squad who got 3rd in 1998 - became the money laundering team due to the Pozzo property (See Granada and Watford). Plus their football trade of totally unknown players for which they became a joke Genoa in 2005 cheated on some games when they won the 2nd division (Serie B) when they had Milito has main striker, then 2 years later with 2 promotions they got back to Serie A. They became famous for continuous trades with Milan and so on Perugia which won an Intertoto, failed due to Gaucci's family scandal. Now they just got relegated in 3rd division. The most of problems are beyond any TV deal, and so on. We have laws (both local and national) who made impossible to build new stadiums. I am from Brescia (which you quote) and since 1997 there have been talks about making a new stadium and always there has been a problem with project, authorization and so on. Unless you end up to have a situation like Juventus (which bought former "Delle Alpi" stadium and made on the same ground for a very cheap price the "Juventus stadium") or a situation like Frosinone (the guy owned a terrain and made a stadium on it) or Udinese/Atalanta (the municipality made no biggie in authorizations so they changed the stadium rapidly), it's almost impossible to build stadia fastly. The law about stadia changed just in late 2013 but it was full of caveats. Go check the situation Lazio and Roma faced (still face) or the situation of Inter and Milan which got unblocked just recently. The rest is a bit true, but not too much made the faith of italian league so declining like it was in 2006/2016 decade.

[@TSEEMOD_618]

With " it's almost impossible to build stadia fastly" check as reference also the absurd situation happened with Cagliari, where in the last decade these things happened: 1) The former Sant'Elia stadium literally was used for years 2) Then it was considered "too dangerous to be played in" and was closed, forcing Cagliari to play in Palermo (correct me if I am wrong) 3) Then they made some new metal structure within Sant'Elia just to stay there (it looked disgusting) 4) Then former property made a stadium called "Is Arenas" in Quartu Sant'Elena, which was outlawed because it didn't respect some safety measure and didn't have all of the necessary safety measures 5) Then they demolished Sant'Elia and made the temporary "Sardegna Arena" the one you are seeing in Cagliari matches today, with temporary steel made structure 6) On the same site, next to current Sardegna Arena, they are making the new, official stadium for Cagliari and the current structure of "Sardegna Arena" will be demolished to make the new parking lot for the new, ultimate and possibly definitive, stadium of Cagliari. See, the situation is soooo complex and fucked up that these situations happened. Then now go reconstruct the stories behind the stadium of Inter, Roma, Milan and other minor teams, and you will end up in the same stories (but Atalanta, Frosinone, Sassuolo and Udinese and Juventus which somehow had either good municipalities to work with or are teams held by real-estate entrepreneurs or have lots of terrains in their own equity pocket)

[@tanushguha8740]

Thnx for providing this info. As a football fanatic I had known of a few of these but thanks for the additional info.

[@soumyadeepbanerjee964]

Thanks for the info

[@abzhuofficial]

This should be a pinned comment

[@os7184]

@@TSEEMOD_618 do you think inter will win the europa and what team are you from italy?

[@GringoOkocha10]

Always loved Serie A and always will. Growing up watching Del Piero, Totti, Maldini, Buffon, Veron and all the others was remarkable experience.

[@blackhokage1744]

okocha jay jay 😁

[@messielbarca2783]

Kaká . Was great .

[@puj5859]

Baresi, Maldini, Donadoni,Albertini,Moriero,Baggio, Zidane, Fuser, Cannavaro, Crespo, E. Chiesa, Veron, Dino Baggio, Vieri, Bati, Rui Costa, Totti, Nakata. Love them all ❤hehe

[@JuanPabloDj88]

To add from other countries martins, Adriano,Zanetti , Dida, Almeyda, Toldo

[@ramoselias7066]

Same here

[@razvan2632]

Inter Milan and AC Milan are starting to come back to life, also Atalanta and Lazio are really good, Juventus is giant as always so there is hope for Serie A

[@BarabaZgojena]

yup, plus Napoli and Roma are also very decent to say the least... idk why so many people cum at the mention of la liga, which is pretty awful if you take out real and čmarcelona (and MAYBE atletico, who are starting to descend), and underestimate serie a which is close to full recovery after calciopolly.

[@aidygooner]

The sooner clubs like Fiorentina, Roma, Napoli and the Milan clubs can build their new stadium, the better so that Italy will have more wealthy and stronger teams who can challenge Juve and Europe.

[@yux.tn.3641]

Baraba Zgojena after ronaldo left for juve, i swear interest in la liga has declined...plus barca keeps playing like shit and rumours say messi might leave

[@BarabaZgojena]

@@yux.tn.3641 I know, it's beautiful hehe

[@timmi2198]

Your teams just got walloped by Sevilla - who won their 6th Europa title whilst Seria A hasn't in a decade. Atletico is better than every team other than Juventus, Liga dominates in almost every aspect, european dominance, Coefficient, head to head.

[@tanjohnny2757]

The 90s Italian Seria A was the best league to watch. I remember I used to watch every weekend on the telly. Baggio, Van Basten, Caniggia. The list goes on. How times changed.

[@gts8919]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but sport in general has been on a decline - even before corona happened.

[@hy8482]

@@gts8919 you're not wrong buddy, you're right it has been declining since 06.

[@ahmedzakikhan7639]

Maradona, Ronaldo, Batistuta

[@raihantahmid7272]

Even early 2000's serie A was legendary

[@mtk3755]

It's a generation problem

[@bri1085]

90's Serie A was the greatest league that ever was

[@EA-nb5rw]

Yep Serie was the best 👍💪🏼

[@soumyadeepbanerjee964]

Without doubt (Maybe the old Brazilian league of the 60s can come close)

[@bri1085]

@@soumyadeepbanerjee964 I really can't comment on football from that far back, but I know it was a lot more evenly matched between the leagues back then.

[@mebansharaisantasticokhong7312]

@@soumyadeepbanerjee964 true

[@MM-vr8rj]

Definitely

[@michaelshannon9169]

Sky made the The Premier League. The brand, the promotion, the whole production is unbelievable. How they can make Bradford vs Charlton a mouthwatering tie is beyond me but they did.

[@aladinkapic6615]

well that is the problem they cant anymore

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

That's it. The English - for the better or the worse (I say worse) - were the only ones to realize that television would determine how successful football clubs would become, not stadium ticket sales or sponsors. The Spanish and Italians totally failed to realize that. The Germans did, but they can't keep up with what's being paid into English clubs.

[@jb0609]

no, they didnt.

[@ahmedzakikhan7639]

@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia The English learned it by copying the American sports media.

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia whys it for worse?

[@RN-km3np]

My personal favorite team after Inter and Juventus that time was Roma absolutely loved that Totti-Cassano duo

[@JM-gj7de]

I fell in love with the Serie A in the 80s and 90s. Still my favorite league. But yah, the Serie A is a shadow of its former self. Young kids today wouldn't understand just how good it used to be. Those days are long gone. Sad.

[@KimiFan2002]

I think it is making a bit of a comeback now, meanwhile La Liga seems to be heading in the opposite direction, mainly thanks to Barcelona’s incompetence...

[@savemysoul4112]

it's kinda sad today kids will call serie a as farmer league

[@TheAmazingMikey85]

Can’t believe we got through this video without a mention of football italia on channel 4 in the 90s!

[@pallyali786]

Seria A was amazing in the 90's. Does anyone remember it coming on channel 4 in the UK. Good times. I do believe that Seria A will be the best league in the world again.

[@bluesoul7163]

All those money from Arabs and other countries with no tradition with this sport, ruined the game..... Uk married this situation promoting Premier Legue around the world and serie a now is no more..... Some money are good , to much money are a disgrace and now football is f*ckd up my friend..... Italy qnd serie A will not ricover imo

[@mosalahmosalahrunningdownt5579]

@@bluesoul7163 👏

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

@@bluesoul7163 eventually serie a will find foreign investment coming it's way

[@BlackStarWizard]

The Italian tradition was that the big clubs were funded by rich owners and the clubs themselves ran at a deficit. This was not a problem as the owners often had plenty of money to put in from other parts of their business empires (very similar to how public entertainment worked in the Roman Empire!). This model was completely mauled by the introduction of FFP regulations which requires that the clubs have only limited operating deficits, regardless of the owner's finances. Juventus mostly dodged this hit as they had started reforming their business already after they got relegated for matchfixing in 2006 and they were thus much better placed to meet the new regulations. For some clubs, the arguably confused and rushed handling of the transition to FFP compliance just made things worse, but the the introduction of FFP itself is what tore the big clubs down from their lofty heights.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Right Wrong Respect Footballer

[@NoName-hg6cc]

You mean like Spanidh and English clubs are doing now, blatantly breaking the rules and goinf bankrupt (see Barcelona)

[@Apanblod]

As former Swedish international player Glenn Strömberg stated in an interview (regarding his transfer from Benfica to Atalanta in the mid 80's): "There was or is no league that was as good as the Italian league was back then. It had just been opened up to foreign players, but each team was only allowed to have two foreigners. The Italian clubs paid good salaries and picked the best players in the world. But it was not just about the money. Every week I met the best players in the world. Juventus had Michel Platini, Napoli had Diego Maradona. And when we were at the bottom (of the table) and met Udinese, I got to play against Brazilian star Zico. It was a fantastic time. There were no players who did not want to go to Italy. And when I got the chance to come to Italy, there was no alternative."

[@HeroYMR]

No one has or will put it better 👍

[@Luijbi]

Bravo

[@gabterTurin]

What about Effenberg in Fiorentina?

[@-enemysoldier]

@@gabterTurin Batistuta too

[@alexojideagu]

The English league was the strongest from 1976-1985 until Liverpool got all the English clubs banned. Aston Villa Nottingham Forest Liverpool all won the cup

[@jediknight5600]

I have to be honest. The best part of Serie A WAS those old stadiums. Huge arenas - with a massive away following - constant noise and flags, colour and flares galore (the latter of which could be thrown onto the massive gaps between the stands and the pitch and not affect the game).Brilliant! I miss it greatly.

[@vladanye]

Whilst I do agree that there are numerous factors triggering decline of Serie A, I think that world football is at harsh decline. Mid '90s and '00s (especially 1998 World Cup in France) are absolute peak of world football - ranging from quality of football, national teams, iconic players, iconic teams and moments, jerseys' design, the whole atmosphere... Yes, there were a lot money involved back then too, but today's football is destroyed by big money - mediocre players being paid enormous amounts from the get go, lack of motivation, the vibe is missing... Damn, I miss the time when Calcio was at the top.

[@Truthwins52]

Compare strikers then to now: R9,batigol, romario, vieri, Henry,bergkamp, weah, Del Piero, signore, shearer, kluivert, Owen, crespo, Lopez, zamarano, salas, suker, boksic, makkay, Tristan, chiesa vs only lewa, suarez, benzema, Kane, haaland, cavani, auba, mbappe, Aguero.

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

Thank you. Too many fans are burying their heads in the sand and believing that football will remain entertaining and competitive even as other leagues follow Serie A's trajectory of decline. By the time they realize how much the dependence on TV deals has ruined this sport, it will be much too late.

[@DonQwantsyou]

yeah the biggest problem is that italy don't produce massive amounts of talent anymore and of course it has to do with the clubs investments in developing italian talent which has been lacking for decades. a lot of the clubs went bankrupt and just hire cheap talent from mostly eastern europe. they also don't give young italian players they do develop a chance to play for the big clubs either letting them languish on the bench or loaning them to second division clubs where they don't have achance to develop at the highest level.

[@ppate8]

@@Truthwins52Henry Serie A failure ran to the easier PL

[@willoncewas764]

Serie A has been one of the most exciting leagues this year! Serie A is on the rise again, more and more world star players are coming to the league; now with La liga starting to slow down without Ronaldo and Messi in a few years I really think Italy can rise to their former glory

[@Kobs.A]

That's true. I am losing interest in LA Liga. But for serie A to get a huge TV money deal. The three titans must all compete. The Milan sisters and Juve

[@willoncewas764]

Spilly Spiller Indeed, I’ve been a juventus fan since the day I was born, but I’m more happy now than ever. Our rivals are finally starting to show true colours again

[@Kobs.A]

@@willoncewas764 I loved serie A 2000s. Kaka was my favorite player I support Chelsea but hv always loved milan

[@willoncewas764]

Spilly Spiller Milan were truly incredible to watch, even though I’ve hated them in a club fan base standpoint; I’ve still had a soft spot for them

[@GoodFella1294]

I decided to buy a subscription to Espn+ to watch Serie A this season cause i said to myself i got a feeling this league will rise again and i guess you can say i was somewhat correct

[@mikedevaney3507]

Serie A in the late 80's early 90's was still I believe the most glorious time in Football.

[@Aaron3020x]

@Ryan Purdum 😂

[@mcchicken4483]

@Ryan Purdum That's what makes it even funnier.

[@MrAckers75]

Glorious corruption more like

[@m3gAnac0nda]

Italy = mafia + racism in football...

[@TheLordoftheRavens]

@havemotherwilltrade How can you say that 2010s La Liga was more entertaining than 1990s Serie A if you never watched 1990s Serie A and "don't know a lot about it"? Wouldn't it be better to let those people who experienced both make that decision?

[@mitch9225]

Serie A is my favourite league this season; anyone’s for the taking and a huge crop of talent scattered about the division 🇮🇹

[@nickgrch]

Absolutely brilliant video, Alfie. Your research is as always second-to-none. I can only hope Italian football rises again to where it belongs. It may have fallen away over the past 15 years or so but to me it is the most entertaining football to watch.

[@sennescheerens1033]

To be honest last year the serie A was one of the most entertaining leagues to watch. The football they play is different

[@dagotowka9191]

I disagree too many penalties

[@aidygooner]

Those who lazily call Italian football "defensive" clearly don't watch Italian football no more to know their outdated views. The champions may have remained the same but the stories of other clubs throughout the season have been intriguing and exciting. But the sooner the corrupted politicians retire or change, the better so that Italian clubs can finally increase revenues by owning a respectable stadium instead of the embarrassment they play in.

[@crystallxix1493]

Aidy Gooner .... where exactly do you see corrupted politicians and where do you see shitty stadiums?

[@pepkwamyandu1714]

Yeah, my nephew is a big fan and he made me start watching Serie A again... The teams are very competitive and the games are always intense... We particularly liked Atalanta and it's captain Papu Gomez

[@Oct8pus]

Crystal Gamer the stadio Olimpico in Rome, for one

[@amann7166]

Great video! There will never be anything like serie a from 1984-2006

[@junkybabes]

English teams Liverpool and Everton would've dominated in Europe if not for heysel disaster.

[@amann7166]

@@junkybabes haha why? Liverpool lost the 85 final to juventus. maybe they had won once between 85-88, but then sacchis milan dominated europe. And this milan was hundred times better than everton, sorry

[@junkybabes]

@@amann7166 everton just won cup winners cup and the league, Liverpool got stronger with john barnes and Beardsley and the 85 final was a dodgy penalty in a game that no one wanted to play in.

[@amann7166]

@@junkybabes i give you one cup between 86 and 88, but not after that

[@chandara_kumar]

I rather watch Seria A than la liga at this moment

[@kole081]

lol

[@MN_2003]

Oh

[@nachtmuis4776]

Same

[@kole081]

@Jeepman89 in your dreams maybe.

[@kole081]

@Jeepman89 lol dude quit the crack smoking. Seria A teams have won 2 european trophies for last 20 years. La Liga has won 13 since 2010.

[@sij6169]

This guy produced some of the best football mini documentaries you will find anywhere. He crams so much information into such a small amount of time but you don't feel overwhelmed. Keep up the good work geezer you're doing an epic job

[@alexgunn3879]

Day 5: the decline of Scottish football - how teams like Celtic and Aberdeen went from European trophies to struggling to qualify and why the national team has become so poor

[@bakayfofana4708]

And Rangers too

[@akshadchavan5528]

Tbh Celtic and Rangers now need to join the premier League, they will get competition and also the money.

[@tim-noelgrevers2702]

The Netherlands too

[@CMKJ-pi4ub]

Akshad Chavan no they can stay in there tin pot league

[@tarkanbashllari1627]

@@CMKJ-pi4ub the Scottish league is already irrelevant enough as it is. However if Celtic and Rangers join the Prem it will become just another Welsh league. If I'm not wrong that's what happened with the Welsh league when Swansea, Cardiff and Newport joined the English pyramid.

[@vader745]

Excellent overall analysis breakdown... Serie A in the 90's was scintillating!

[@JudeMarchisio]

I really enjoyed this last season of the Serie A. It was enthralling! So many teams gunning for it.

[@WmG2004]

Atalanta scoring just under 100 goals.

[@adrianirimescu988]

If the Seria A regains its soul I could be pushed to watch professional football again

[@cjmq1970]

That AC Milano was by far the real ‘Galácticos’, not Real Madrid, and Carletto was by far the manager who learned a lot from dramatic experiences of losing incredible tournaments that had its name on the silverware, like the Serie A in 2000 Juventus, the Intercontinental Cup in 2003, and the unforgettable Champions League of 2005. Italy was still the biggest football power in the world until 2010, and then everything fell down in spiral. Nowadays there is a light at the end of the tunnel with teams like Internazionale and Atalanta, in a couple of years there could be a new champion of Europe from the boot lands.

[@outlawfly664]

Madrid had 5 different Balon D Or winners in their team in mid 2000s, they where the real Galacticos, that's where the name comes from. Until 2010 Italy the biggest power? Oh please, La liga won more CLs in 2000s than Serie A did in it's peak, never mind Balon D Or winners, or never mind their success in 2010s, go figure. La liga will always be lightyears ahead of every league. In the 50s Madrid and La liga dominated that competition to.

[@youtubeyoutube936]

When Bournemouth’s tv money is about 50% of Milan’s revenue tells you a lot. Arguably its good that Italians are unwilling to pay over the top for tv or tickets

[@MrOasis316]

KZbin KZbin it’s not good for the sport in their country though

[@nicolasmariotti]

But also everyone in the world watches Premier League, which makes the price lower for the single fan.

[@youtubeyoutube936]

Ever tried to get pL tickets? Easier and cheaper watching Milan

[@63mckenzie]

Love the fact Gordon Durie was the player chosen to represent Spurs on the Premier League promotional poster! Everybody else on holiday?

[@MarkSmith-pb2xn]

Late 80s early 90s was when Seria A was at it's peak. AC Milan had the Dutch trio of Gullit, Van Basten and Rikjaard. Inter, the German trio of Matteaus, Brehme and Klinsmann and Napoli had Maradona, Careca and Alemao.

[@sonice228]

Don't forget gianfranco zola the napoli trio MAGICA

[@MattMajcan]

its so sad what has happened. I remember when i first got into the sport in 09 milan was everywhere. the milan derby was must-watch tv just like el classico and i remember going over to my friends house just to watch it when it was on. Nowadays he doesn't even care about football anymore and milan haven't been relavant since like 2014ish.. man time goes fast

[@lorenzoconti9192]

We are coming back 😁

[@tomwright3599]

Video idea: second season syndrome, is it real? EDIT: to everyone who liked, I hope your team has a good season!

[@vinnie19971]

According to fifa 20, it is.

[@tomwright3599]

Max Smith Fan termínate his contract

[@SuperSirianRigel]

For Atlanta United in the MLS. They won the MLS Cup in their second season of existing. lol

[@Nathan34678]

It’s very real and not only in football

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Ask Sheffield United

[@CPTM1]

It was, without a doubt, the best league in the 90s. They had every superstar. Zidane at Juve was unbelievable, and then you had probably the greatest No. 9 in Ronaldo. They also had the GOAT. Pierluigi Collina

[@shivasrinivasan80]

Growing up Serie A was the gold standard. The best of the best played in it. Maldini, Ronaldo, Zidane, Del Piero, Totti, Cafu, Bastiatuta, Nesta, Ruo Costa, Thuram. Man.. it was amazing.

[@tombrunetti3000]

Serie A has been on the rise in recent years. There are problems of course, but some of the things I’ve noticed with Italian clubs is really good. A lot of these teams are developing their own talent, which not only makes teams profits when they are inevitably transferred. With teams like Atalanta’s track record of developing talent, it makes the Italian National team stronger. Since Calciopoli, The National team has; won the 2006 World Cup, took the Spanish to penalties in the quarterfinals of Euro 2008, went to the finals of Euro 2012, took the defending world champion German team to penalties in 2016. I’d even wager when the 2022 World Cup comes around that not only will the Italians be there, but they’ll be a force to reckon with.

[@otakumouse3308]

Interesting video. For me, the most shocking bit was the part about Italian clubs not owning the grounds they play on. I actually clapped at the part where it was stated that some of them are taking steps to rectify it.

[@paulmckee4168]

I'll be sad to see the San Siro go. Such an iconic stadium

[@benibbotson2014]

Love these types of videos. I'm so glad there's someone on youtube making detailed videos about the history of individual leagues.

[@chikish]

At least Serie A is mostly fun to watch these days. I'm from México and, as a far as I can remember, we only started getting some Serie A matches on cable on ESPN right around the time "Calciopoli" happened and it was honestly unwatchable. Most matches were so boring that even the commentators would acknowledge it on air.

[@grobariza]

Liga MX is better quality than Serie A

[@bishrutthapa5175]

@@grobariza can u pass me some weed as well because liga mx is not even a top 12 league

[@hy8482]

It's safe to say that's when the league was declining, but definitely before 06 it was fun to watch let alone any league at the time

[@jakehennell9803]

Downsizing stadiums is the way forward for Italian football, it’s tough watching Napoli, Lazio etc playing in giant stadiums with the seating far away from the pitch.

[@brunolondinese5857]

3:10 Shevchenko howls to the moon and adjusts his ear to listen for a response.

[@dionysise5008]

As an fb fan, watching closely since 1984(born 79) I can tell you are always on point, you underline interesting football history events and in general you are pretty much the best yt channel on football out there

[@giannb5145]

What happened? First of all, Calciopoli. Then the financial crisis of Southern Europe in general, which forced Berlusconi (AC Milan) and Moratti (Inter Milan) to sell. This transformed Serie A into a version of the Bundesliga, where every season it's "Juventus and the rest", as in "Bayern Munich and the rest". But still, Italian managers are IMO the best tactically, even if they don't have revolutionary visions and ideology. Ancelotti, Allegri, Conte and Mancini had great success in the 2010s by delivering solid and tactically astute football. Not to mention people like Lippi and Zaccheroni still active in national teams around the world.

[@Mynipplesmychoice]

All I know is every soccer league in Europe is falling apart while American sports not only survived the coronavirus but are as strong as ever.stuff like regulation, lack of a salary cap, lack of revenue sharing is what’s destroying your leagues. Watch MLS blow past all of them by the end of the decade after the US World Cup. Youll all be watching American soccer leagues dominate as they will pay players better, better tax structure, awesome places to live without psycho fans like in California/florida etc. Europe is like an old smelly sock.

[@edoardobergesio6614]

@@Mynipplesmychoice Ahahahah. European football remains the best and most followed in the world.

[@99jensen66]

That parma team was serious, scary strong line up.

[@amann7166]

One of the coolest teams ever. And lazio were huge too

[@philwill0123]

1993-1994 parma team was awesome too

[@keyuantejohnson6266]

unpopular opinion chelsea had a better team than parma in the 90s

[@99jensen66]

@@keyuantejohnson6266 yeah it wasnt too bad.. Zola was one of my favorite players

[@keyuantejohnson6266]

@@99jensen66 to me parma and lazio underachieved a lot in serie a in the 90s

[@tm75_88]

90's Serie A was the best league ever of this world, it was like an Nba of football ...... .......but 80's Serie A was from another world: 80's were the gods time, and they were all here: Platini Zico Maradona Baggio ...... and then Van Basten and Gullit and Matthaeus Beside them all the greatest players of every nation: Boniek, Socrates, Careca, Laudrup Falcao, Rummenigge, Rijkaard, Voeller, Brehme, etc. ..... and then the italians: Cabrini Zoff Scirea Baresi Maldini Every given sunday ....stadiums of 50-60-70-80-90 thousands people were full of people with much colour, chant and genuine passion In an ordinary day of January, in an ordinary Udinese-Napoli (9th and 8th ranked) you could see Zico and Maradona at their absolute peak ..... and it seemed normal Not paytv, not sponsors, all matches at same time in daytime in the early Sunday afternoon ......it was nothing but a ritual

[@moisesmontecillo7570]

Hey man this was an awsome video rich with great Italian history. I'm not italian at all but I respect the hustle. As always brother cant wait for the next video. It be nice hearing recent history for each league like from the 70's to present day. Good stuff man

[@DavidBaillie1986]

Money happened, they could pay the most in transfers and wages back in the 90's. More players are going back to Italy again as the income tax rate players are paying in Seria A now is just 25%

[@pearlreay6778]

That tax loophole is a genius move and could definitely attract a lot more Talent

[@twiston43]

Interesting. Didn't know that.

[@Mynipplesmychoice]

All I know is every soccer league in Europe is falling apart while American sports not only survived the coronavirus but are as strong as ever.stuff like regulation, lack of a salary cap, lack of revenue sharing is what’s destroying your leagues. Watch MLS blow past all of them by the end of the decade after the US World Cup. Youll all be watching American soccer leagues dominate as they will pay players better, better tax structure, awesome places to live without psycho fans like in California/florida etc. Europe is like an old smelly sock.

[@ForsterButtery]

@@Mynipplesmychoice hahaha the mls is about as good as the English 3rd division right now you could have all the great planning you want but the truth is no one really cares about soccer here

[@ayligerwolf]

Just in the last 5 years, many Italian clubs have grown and have been recovering from shaky grounds. Looking back just 5 years, many wouldn't even turn to look at Italian football, even if AC Milan was playing Inter Milan. No one knew any of the players. And since they couldn't even make it out of the Champions League group stages, no one cared about italian teams other than to make fun of them when they would lose against AZ Azmaar or Zenit. :D

[@michealyakubu5007]

Day 54: every scorer of the 2014 World Cup group stages, where are they now?

[@Chinozinho7]

Informative videos are exactly why I watch HITC Sevens

[@rocco389]

video idea: 7 best right footed left backs in the bottom half of the turkish fourth division

[@georgiesmith7114]

🤣🤣🤣

[@junkybabes]

Video idea... Swindon towns best away wins in division 4 in the 80s.

[@sajid1979]

After the World Cup 98, watched Serie A every Sunday channel 4. Loved watching Batistuta play for Fiorentina, amazing player for that team and Argentina 🇦🇷.

[@michaelh2791]

I still enjoy Serie A more than the Premier league here in England. Inter last season played some great stuff!

[@thogro99]

Serie A has been on a rise lately...idk this vid might be 5 years late

[@1991Kane1991]

This exactly. Feels like a topic from 2014. Especially since Seria A has best wider top after Premier League. Juve, Inter, Napoli, Lazio, Atalanta, Roma, Milan.

[@exotic7232]

How are they on a rise

[@slimshaddy5855]

@@exotic7232 this year it was literally the most competitive league considering inter was 1 point behind.Also ac milan did pretty well compare to other season.

[@slimshaddy5855]

@David Clinging Juve reached 2 finals.What do you mean no team hasn't come close?

[@laurencec09]

If Serie A struck a TV deal 10 years ago, then it's probably why we're seeing signs of a slow recovery

[@andreafresca9869]

0:40 showing a picture from a Chievo home game is unfair tho, they never had fans😂

[@ZSHDon]

Andrea Fresca if they have they would be more loyal than new Juve fans

[@moffeltje4967]

HELLAAAAAS

[@jkkennedy9280]

I respect the idea of Chievo but i have to say i get MK Dons vibes from them sometimes lmao

[@ins0mniac756]

Plus they've been relegated in 2019

[@29_anindrarafifd.90]

Now they are bankrupt

[@harryb7552]

Such a consistently entertaining and informative channel. Keep it up!

[@justhuy7960]

Thank you Alfie for this video, don't know if you decided to do this video after read my comment or not, I once wrote a video idea about Golden era of Serie A, and when this video came out today it just pure sastified for me to watch :)) Tbh I never watched 90s Serie A, the reason makes me curious about it was because my cousins who lived through the 90s always boasted how great 90s Serie A was and also called my favorite league EPL is a joke compared to 90s Serie A. Well I don't want to compare but it's clearly people nowadays usually consider everything from 90s were better than what we have these days, negative nolstagia I would say :))

[@dazwebster]

Fantastic video man. Your researching and insights are really top class

[@HITCSevens]

Thanks Darren.

[@andrewjordan6828]

2000-2010 -Premier League Era 2010-2019- LaLiga Era 2019-2030-Serie A Era the amount of change i've seen in the league in just the last two seasons shows me this league is coming back for its thrown as the best league

[@patricklfenton]

I remember when I used to believe Italian derby’s were even hotter than El Classico. I used to defend the Italian game to friends. They laugh at me now

[@bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

Gave too much credit to EPL, Abramovich was the sole reason behind the big money transfers from Serie A,other than that the great example of the counter-argument is Arsenal,spine of the team was comprised of Serie A flops such as Vieira,Henry and Bergkamp

[@EdwardElfigo]

Wandile Mtambo the Serie A is growing as we speak though, ultimately, they will never be “back” in the minds of British viewers until traditional giants will start battling for scuddeto’s and qualifying for the UCL... its almost like outside viewers don’t take Roma, Lazio and Napoli (the teams that have been challenging for the scudettos in the last 7 years) seriously.

[@amann7166]

Man united 1998 99 treble season changed everything

[@justhuy7960]

You might forget this but Chelsea started buying Serie A stars back in late 90s (Zola, Vialli, Gullit, ...) even before Abra came :))

[@bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

@@justhuy7960 Vialli was 32,Zola 30 and Gullit 33

[@justhuy7960]

@@bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Just want to point out their Serie A buying strategie, of cuorse before Abra they only bought old stars with low transfer fee, but still Zola was absolute superb during late 90s

[@5thdawg917]

Good to see Maradona mentioned as this video was made before his death.

[@victorbosso4249]

A coincidence. Just last night I was playing Fifa '96 on my playstation 1. The Serie A teams were great. Baggio, Ravanelli, Vialli, Gullit, Maldini, Van Basten, Zola, Asprilla, Winter, Signori, Balbo etc

[@hy8482]

Good times!! Wouldn't it be cool if fifa remake old games into newer consoles, it will be better with the current fifa, too many legends back then

[@gabrielelazzati5871]

Very accurate video, you pin pointed every single aspect with the exception of the role that banks had in the past. Following "Cirio" and "Parmalat" financial scandal Italian teams were no able to borrow as much as they did in the past. That combined with all other issues mentioned in the video led to Serie A decline.

[@mjm1987]

All great points. I think the fall of some of the greatest Serie A teams in early 2000s is worth noting as well. Fiorentina went from having players like Toldo, Rui Costa, Chiesa, Nuno Gomes, Balbo, Mijatović, Batistuta, Taddei etc and almost aking it to 1/4s of Champions league and beating Man Utd in 99/00 to filing for bakruptcy and relegation to Serie C2 in '02 Parma went from runners-up and winning Uefa Cup and a couple Coppa Italias to insolvency in '04 after Parmalat went down, losing star players like Buffon, Cannavaro, Thuram, Veron, Crespo, Amoroso, Nakata, Ferrari, Brighi, Frey and Gilardino among others in a span of 3-4 seasons, never to be relevant again and ultimately bankrupting in '14 Lazio went from quarter-finalists of CL in 99/00 and winning the Serie A to losing key players like Nedved, Nesta, Stanković, Crespo, Stam, Mihajlović, Oddo etc. in the next years. It was never the same after that, Inter and Milan had some success in Europe in late 2000s, but Calciopoli and the crisis of '08 just did the league in.

[@lewl284]

Great vid mate

[@lewisblackwiththenicehair]

Great name mate

[@rapidtreal4612]

still remember when AC Milan was scary af in europe

[@Deco_2k]

Yes yes the had had dynasty run for sure, its just live thing change they are slowly coming back.

[@melodielavolpe5576]

When it was owned by Berlusconi

[@Tarek_ElMaddah]

Maradona, Careca, the Dutch trio, the german trio … and the great italians … great times.

[@DanyCesc83]

What's really surprising is the failure of English football to capitalize on the influx of top coaches and players, it took Guardiola among other Spanish executives to come over to Man city to push forward their youth programs but they still can't seem to win anything relevant or put forth a national team which reflects the talent in the EPL. Italy for the lack of talent after the 2000s they still manage to win some international silverware lol. One has to wonder when will England win anything or maybe is just a cultural thing, where they can only win on paper but never in reality.

[@samykiani944]

Watch out. England will win the EUROs in one week of time.

[@DanyCesc83]

@@samykiani944 yeah I don’t think so, is gonna be hard getting passed that Italian team

[@lwandilentaphane5719]

@@samykiani944 Lol. Guess what. Italy won the EUROs😂

[@CJ-rb3do]

Sad, but so true. This breaks my footballing heart.

[@jameshunter6289]

Have followed serie a since the late 90's. Still love the league despite the fall off in quality

[@landy4497]

as an italian, THIS is the video I was looking for

[@Beyonder1987]

I think Premier league back in 2008 & 9 was the greatest league ever. Man united, Liverpool, Chelsea and arsenal were so close in points. It was all to win for until the very end.

[@mosalahmosalahrunningdownt5579]

leagues aren't decided over 1 season 🤡

[@MastinoNapoletano420]

Amazing video Alfie! Correct in everything you said. It's a shame really, the Serie A is such a beautiful league to watch. Napoli has tried hard to get their own stadium but the fans said they won't go to a stadium that is too far from the city. The city won't sell the San Paolo but have come to an agreement that the money that Napoli pay to rent the stadium is used to renovate and keep the stadium up to date. So far the renovations have held up but it's like having a house built in the 1950s with google home smart appliances installed and the house is still falling apart.

[@valeriovirgili4290]

You didn't mention this, long story short: in the 70s all of the countries were making debt, they were just spending more than how much they could afford. In 80s and 90s obviously (almost) all the countries of the world started to give all their money back, but not Italy. Italy continued to make debt, and the 90s were a gold era because of that. They were just paying but not using their money. All of this came down exactly in 2006: there was an enourmous scandal named "tangentopoli" that included all of the country economy and a lot of big companies, "calciopoli" was just a part of that bigger scandal of mafia and corruption. Italy still suffers from those years, I'm sorry if it's not understendable

[@skullfc4215]

Well this video needs an update as we can talk now about the rise of the serie A again. The style of playing is so much entertaining than before, a lot of goals, maybe some better performances at the European level and and at least like 6 teams whose can beat every other team in the league and the most important thing is that la liga has stalled in their progression. For me after the premier league, serie A is the second best right now

[@lorddarlo6194]

My dad said when he watched Italian Football on Channel 4 it was defensive and managers like Alldyce, Pulis say that's where they got there style from. My dad has been to the San Siro and watched a Charity match between AC and Inter Milan in the 2000's possibly 2001 before I was before

[@a.silveira645]

In my opinion, La Liga has also suffered since the mid 2000s. I'd say that from 1996-1997 to 2007-2008 the league in general was a whole lot better. Looking at 1996-97 for example, Valencia had Romário and Ortega, Bilbao had Lizarazu, Betis had Finidi, Zaragoza had Morientes, etc. Even in the Spanish Second Division, Salamanca had Pauleta.

[@lewisblackwiththenicehair]

Not to mention the Deportivo team of that era, with Djalminha, Makaay and even Tristan and Valeron after that

[@shaquillethomas1544]

Even the small teams had many great Legends in La Liga

[@outlawfly664]

I completely disagree. Aside from Madrid dominating late 90s to early 2000s, Barca dominated the late 2000s. As for 2010s, It's all been La liga pretty much never seen before, La liga won 5 consecutive CLs (with Madrid winning 3peat and 4 in 5 seasons) and 6 CLs overall that whole decade which is an abnormally never happened before. While also mid table La liga teams like Sevilla dominated the Europa league by winning three consecutive trophies aside from a handful of other mid table La liga teams. In that same time period, Spanish national team with an entire squad consisting of nearly only La liga players dominated world football by winning three consecutive major trophies (EC, WC then EC again), or their unbeaten streak record, shared only by Brazilian team of the 60s . Never mind all the Balon D Or winners coming out of la liga. Only Real Madrid alone has had three different Balon D Or winners in the last decade. This era of dominance by Spanish football will never be repeated again.

[@outlawfly664]

@@shaquillethomas1544 La liga dominated in a bigger fashion even into the 2010s.

[@JustChrisNow]

Idea: all time Premier League 11 from a single country. All Italians, French, Irish eg.

[@Omnipotentmonkey]

French: A narrow 4-2-3-1 formation, like Spain at the 2010 world cup. GK- Lloris RB- Gallas (could play there) CB-Desailly CB-Laporte LB-Evra CDM-Vieira CDM-Kante CAM-Ginola CAM-Cantona CAM- Pires ST- Henry

[@noahhomes5243]

Keep these vids coming Alfie there your finest work

[@BOABModels]

4:27 Ruud Gullit is wearing a Duck Tales tie! 😂

[@gbiggz_na]

This was so insightful thank you.

[@JustChrisNow]

7 greatest highlight reel footballers.

[@Gio-ue8ps]

Serie a in the 80s & 90s was the most dominant any single league has ever been. Every single top player played in Italy. It’s crazy seeing how much it’s dropped. The farsopoli scandal in 2006 is what killed serie a.

[@willmcreavy9623]

Great video but I think you missed some wider factors. Italy has a declining young population and the Italian economy hasn't grown in real terms in 20 years, both of which undoubtedly would affect match day and domestic revenues.

[@connorboyd5432]

The running track stadiums are all horrendous

[@blackhokage1744]

😆😅🤣🤣😅

[@markusz4447]

there are good ones. For example the Berlin Olympia stadium. but hertha wants to move out of there as it is considered to be too big

[@AYDmarinac]

@@markusz4447 it's not too big for Berlin city, it is just sad fact that such a big city don't care for Hertha so much... on other side you have Union, new Bundesliga team from Berlin, and they need bigger stadium (capacity 20 000) cause every game is a full capacity... wierd but true

[@tommasovasta8323]

Not only. The presence of a lot of criminals called "ultras" is another reason.

[@jetomoon]

@@tommasovasta8323 ultras is not a criminal. It is culture. Its a different between hooligans and ultras.

[@immigratoclandestino6259]

As an Italian I might be biased, but I think Serie A has been on the rise since Ronaldo joined Juventus. Lots of great players are moving to Serie A and the league has gotten very competitive since the last campaing. Even though I'm an AC Milan fan and my team underperformed for over half of the season I still enjoyed last year's campaign. Juve battled it out with Inter, Lazio and Atalanta (the last two being total outsiders when it comes to the title race) down to the last couple of matches. Better than last year's Premier League when Liverpool virtually won the Title in March. This year's campaign is also great. AC Milan is displaying some fantastic football with such a young team, and Inter caught up after a rocky start. Only 9 points separate the top spot from the 5th, that's pretty competitive if you ask me...

[@remus6953]

Nice vid, definitely one of your best

[@leonardobaracchi7040]

Mourinho is such a strong personality that even when speaking about teams, we are used to saying "the Inter of Jose Mourinho.."...

[@cspresimir]

The ones who know talk about The Inter of Helenio Herrera.

[@leonardobaracchi7040]

@@cspresimir eheheh!! But what can you do if most of the people writing here believe football didn't exist before late '90 and that messi cristiano and maybe Zidane are the 3 strongest players in history...... Sigh...!

[@keirbrook247]

Very nice upload.. enjoyed it a lot

[@cheebi9820]

8 months later, the Serie A has gotten really interesting

[@gabson1336]

I really hope Italian football will grow to its former glory.

[@Dr_MKUltra]

Seria A coming back, attracting English players and Italian national side absolutely brilliant.

[@andreistan5497]

The Italian National team has to rely on teams like Sassuolo since there are no more really talented Italians playing in the big teams. This is the sad realty.

[@MrKinghuman]

No league will ever surpass serie A in the 80, 90s. Simply the best

[@GooeyLouieBookClub]

Three years since this video, and I can say serie a is back boys ❤️🖤

[@yuriswasd7238]

1 month later and Inter 3-1 you and win the scudetto in your face

[@jeliljemal2958]

By far the best content

[@Red-Revolution708]

Ian Rush had one season at Juventus also but the greatest foreign player voted the best ever foreigner playing in Italy was John Charles.

[@alexsaunders6315]

This was a great video

[@alikazgan2079]

In Turkey, we still reminisce and hold dear the "legendary AC Milan squad", so much so we can still write the first 11 from memory. This has become such a matter that we use mid-2000s AC Milan squad as a test to separate true football fans from wannabes.

[@shonomans]

@David Clinging GK Dida, DEF cafu maldini nesta staam costacurta serginho, MID pirlo gatuso ambrosini seedorf kaka FW shevchenko inzaghi rivaldo gilardinho.... And those are not all legends from that period, i surely left someone out. How is this team anything but legendary? I didn't even like Milan back then but looking back that era was amazing. Cafu, Maldini, Nesta, Pirlo, Kaka and Sheva in their prime were best players on planet Earth on their positions. Damn football was amazing back then.

[@1955DodgersBrooklyn]

8:53 Serie A attendance this year (before Covid) was over 27,000, not 17,000...