Serie A must accept it is a second-rate league

Roma looked to have made its way back to the top spots in European soccer. The Serie A team is second in the Italian league with just one point behind Juventus. In their last Champions League apperance, Il Capitano Francesco Totti ignited hopes as his goal lead to a draw against Manchester City.

The expectations were so high that the Olimpico Stadium in Rome was sold out for the first time in five years as the team prepared to host German giants Bayern Munich. The game was promoted as the game to watch in this Champions League fixture. Instead of signaling Roma's return, it showcased just how far behind other top leagues the Serie A has fallen.

Pep Guardiola's men humiliated the Italians in a 7-1 victory, outclassing their opponents as they hurried to a 5-0 lead before the 40-minute mark. To be fair, the win may signal more the juggernauts that Bayern are were it not for the general pattern Italian sides have shown in recent years in Europe's greatest competition.

There are only two teams from the Serie A in the group stage, with new-and-improved Napoli being eliminated in the playoffs by Spain's Athletic Bilbao. Roma had done great before this with their aforementioned draw against City and a dominant win against CSKA Moscow. Juventus continue to underwhelm with a win and a loss so far in the competition.

Since Inter Milan won the Champions League with Jose Mourinho five years ago, no Italian team has made it to the semifinals of the competition. In fact, only two teams have made it as far as the quarterfinals. Its time to call it: the Serie A is a second-rate league and the quicker we accept it the quicker we can realize what it means.

The poverty and corruption of the Italian league have hurt the star power of the league. The biggest stars of the Serie a are aging legends Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo. It does not have the name or the money to bring it the top young talent or even aging stars--who may prefer the MLS or the United Arab Emirates.

With proper management, the top teams in the league could still make great runs in the tournament. To do so they will have to play smart as they fail to compete with the cash cows like Bayern Munich or Real Madrid. Until the Serie A realizes it is a proverbial underdog, and starts playing like one, it will continue to fall down the UEFA hierarchy

Del Bosque at the heart of Spain's struggles

The Spanish national team continues to struggle on offense. Excluding 5-1 and 3-0 wins over minnows Macedonia and Australia respectively, La Roja can't get the ball into the back of the net. It is not a new problem for the team, but one that was masked by success that has not been found since the 2012 European Championships.

With the declines of David Villa and Fernando Torres, the team has struggled to find a proper replacement with the team's mot recent result being a shocking 2-1 loss against Slovakia.

The current man of the hour is Diego Costa, but the Brazilian-naturalized-Spaniard has struggled to translate his club form to the national team. Many thought his burgeoning relationship with Chelsea teammate Cesc Fabregas would help but it was not enough to break through yet another defensive opponent.

That is precisely the problem with Spain. With teams still respecting them with extremely defensive lineups a target man, like Costa or the likes of Roberto Soldado or Fernando Llorente, may not be enough to break through.

The real problem is not in personnel but in tactics. Spain does not have the same team that dominated games and possession in 2010.  There's a need for a quick, dynamic player like Andres Iniesta to help break stalemates in that scenario.

In that regard, there may be better options in including someone like Pedro or Callejon alongside Diego Costa in the attack to help free up the poacher. Del Bosque added the Barcelona striker in the 58th minute of the game though he also struggled to break through.

There is also still hope in other young strikers like Morata and Jese Rodriguez, when he returns from injury. This is a new team with different talents and the national team manager seems reluctant to adapt the game plan to better fit not only its best strikers who have, for the most part, succeeded at a more direct style of play.

It is not just the strikers that are at odds with the tactics. With only three Barcelona players still as regular starters on the national team (Iniesta, Busquets and Pique), it makes no sense to retain the Tiki Taka styles.

With players from Madrid, Atletico and Chelsea (who dominate the roster positions) used to more direct counter-attacking styles, Del Bosque should adapt. 'Bigoton' has failed to do so and is revealing himself to be one of the most overrated managers in the game.

One shining example comes at the other end of the field with Iker Casillas, whose mistake lead to the first goal against Slovakia. Its time for the passing of the guard to David de Gea, but Vicente is too scared to shake the status quo.

Herrera must give up on the Peralta, Chicharito duo

Miguel Herrera has confirmed the starting lineup that Mexico will use for its friendly against Honduras on Thursday with the manager taking little chances when it comes to the team's attack.

While Piojo will take chances in defense and midfield, with players like Oswaldo Alanis and Alfonso Rios, there will be little changes when it comes to the always underwhelming duo of Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez and Oribe Peralta. 

Game after game it has been proven that the two players do not work together up front, due to the similarity in their play. While Peralta is more willing to step back and cede the poaching responsibilities to Chicharito, it is still not his forte. This is why the preferred attack should be Chicharito or Peralta paired up with Giovani dos Santos.

Dos Santos is not available due to injury, leaving Herrera with the options of Javier 'Chuletita' Orozco and Erick Torres.

The Chivas USA player looks to be a more dynamic option up front, though still not a facilitator, while giving the manager a chance to test new players.

To be fair, the dual '9's could work under the 5-3-2 system preferred by Herrera with the full backs expected to push in plenty of crosses in their runs forward while Marco Fabian and Hector Herrera are the perfect type of creative players to feed them the ball.

There is no conflict with two poachers on the team when there are a lot of reasons to expect they will get the ball played to them. The problem is that Chicharito and Peralta have never quite gotten the chemistry down together when it comes to moving off the ball.

Herrera needs to split his stars. One night should be Peralta paired with Orozco or Torres and the other two strikers (Chicharito and Peralta/Torres) playing in the second game. Eventually, the options of Raul Jimenez and, perhaps, Carlos Vela will be available as will the aforementioned Dos Santos.

For now, however, it makes no sense not to take a look at the local talent when finally playing friendlies at home. Speaking of local talent, perhaps we will see Eduardo Herrera get a chance in the next Mexican call-up.

We know what Peralta and Chicharito are capable of doing and there is no need to waste them in useless friendlies like  these: Chicharito is looking to adapt to a new team while Peralta is already 30-years-old and going through a scoring drought. It's time to look beyond the proverbial sons.