Let me start out by saying I do not hate Italians. Italian mobster movies (Goodfellas, Casino, Once Upon A Time In America) are my shit. Gnocchi is in my top 5 dishes. Without Italian painters we would have never got the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so to me I owe a lot to Italians including pizza. I will say I am not the biggest fan of them and it’s mostly from personal experience. (This is strictly for Italian born Italians not Italian Americans and your shitty gabagool RIP Tony)
When I studied abroad (queue privileged comments) my least favorite city was Venice for several reasons: 1. The canals are filled with trash and the streets are very dirty. 2. The city is a goddamn maze and you don’t know where the hell you are at all times. 3. The romanticism of the city wears off after like five minutes. 4. Finally, the people.
Now I will not group together all Italians with this description but… I WILL LAY DOWN MY COMPLAINTS. From my time in the Italian cities of Venice, Rome, and Genoa I experienced some of the rudest and loudest people in my life. Like loud for the sake of being loud which I can’t stand. Shouting over you to show off their MACHISMO which again who gives a shit it’s 2019 dude. Plus the way they dismissed anything the girls in our group had to say and look down upon them I was definitely not a fan of.
I state all this so people understand my biases and that I do not, in fact, hate Italians. I just find them rather annoying people who make great food. Their soccer is to be less desired though.
Italian soccer was once a powerhouse that dominated Europe especially with the prime of AC Milan that included the likes of Maldini, Pirlo, Kaka, Nesta, and so on. The decline seemed to come after Inter’s treble with Mourinho because since then one team has had a monopoly on the league: Juventus.
So for starters, I can’t stand a league where it’s been dominated by the same team over a decade and I know what’s going to happen at the end of the season. There’s no mystery or draw for me personally. Like the title race never seems that close so because of that I’m out on that regards.
Second, they pride themselves on playing defensive soccer which is B O R I N G. I’m one of the few who can enjoy a 0-0 defensive battle between two top clubs but not every week are you high? I’m here for action baby and your league just don’t got it chief. (Side note: Do people still say this ain’t it chief? Asking for a friend)
The third and final reason is the prevalent racism in Series A and no one in Italy seems to care, especially Leonardo Bonucci.
Now for context, the recent match of Juventus vs. Cagliari was a heated venture which included the Cagliari fans shouting monkey chants at the black players for the entirety of the match. I don’t understand people being racist for starters but monkey chants? You look like a childish idiot whose brain hasn’t been fully developed like your Wayne Rooney after a few drinks at an airport.
After suffering this abuse for over an hour, Juventus youngster Moise Kean scores a goal in the 85th minute and celebrates in front of Cagliari fans as a major fuck you for being racist pricks. This is what Raheem Sterling did against Montenegro when he faced racial abuse and I find it to be an amazing way to deal with this scum. Just rub it in their putrid faces.
So after the match this is what Juventus teammate and Italian international Leonardo Bonucci had to say:
ARE YOU SERIOUS??? This some next level Trump, “There’s good people on both sides” bullshit. Like how can you say your player is partly to blame? Honestly Moise Kean should have jumped into the crowd Eric Cantona style and kicked the living shit out of every last one of them. What he did was rather tame to be honest. Claiming that he enraged the fans to the point of racist chants is laugh out loud funny stuff man.
Thankfully many black players have come to back their guy up such as Raheem Sterling, Paul Pogba, Patrice Evra, and my favorite Ian Wright who left a nice comment on Bonucci’s instagram ;)
Bonucci has since backtracked his statements in his instagram story of all places and condemned racism as he should have done from the beginning but the damage is done idiot.
Bonucci’s original comments is the type of rhetoric that continues the ongoing allowance of racism in Italy and all leagues around the world. I pray that he’s really thought about how much of a big dumb idiot he truly is and tries to pull some good out of this shit canoli of a situation. Until you fix yourself on the racist front Series A all I have to say is:
By: Kevin j. Pettit - Host of Loud Americans Discussing Soccer Podcast