Serie A has once again offered uncertainty, surprises and numerous topics for analysis this season. Goran Svilar, a long-time Arena Sport journalist and editor of the SS Calcio podcast, gave Juventus OFC Serbia his take on the season so far – from the Scudetto race and the biggest surprises, through Juventus and its key players, all the way to the teams facing a major battle in the remainder of the season.
An emotion that grows, little by little…
“It is an emotion that grows, little by little,” says the hit song by “Rich and Poor”, as the name of the group that gave us “Sarà perché ti amo” at the beginning of the eighties translates freely. It seems to be exactly like that: little by little, football in Italy is growing as well. It is the only one of the top five leagues in which not a single match has ended goalless, where little Frosinone defeated a Champions League participant, and where Gennaro Gattuso revived the image of himself as a football coach, something nobody could have guaranteed after his downfall in Zenica. It is a league in which referees operated without the help of VAR. These are just some of the impressions following one of the most interesting starts to a season in what was once the strongest club competition in the world.
After all these miracles, who has the right to guarantee Inter that they will certainly win their 22nd Scudetto!? On paper, they have the best squad and a rotation of 22 players, but Cristian Chivu’s team has already shown that it loses its balance and fluctuates. Contrary to last season’s trend, when they often gave away games they had already won, the champions are now repeatedly coming back and getting results. In four consecutive matches, they had a two-goal lead slip away from them; they won twice (Udinese 5:3, Napoli 3:2), drew once (Roma 2:2), and on one occasion were the better side and deserved at least a point despite ultimately losing (Real 2:1).
Defensively, they do not look good; only Cagliari failed to score against them, which is partly the consequence of some moves in the transfer window, because an already injured and trophy-weary John Stones was brought in, while Benjamin Pavard inexplicably gets very little playing time. The team defends poorly as a unit, wants possession at all costs and is not prepared to build a fortress in front of the goal guarded by an insecure Josep Martínez. Jed Spence is expected back after the break, and perhaps there will also be a change of direction regarding Aleksandar Stanković, who should get more minutes, something the stands are already widely speculating about.
Inter’s biggest rival, Juventus, has serious problems with injuries. The real team and the real style of play should only be expected sometime around mid-November. In just a few weeks, five players have had to undergo surgery; the latest two are reserve goalkeeper Grabara, as well as Kolo Muani, who broke a finger (fortunately, on his hand). Juve committed the highest number of fouls in the first four rounds (after Frosinone), and scored the most goals in the final 15 minutes of matches (Bremer’s in the fifth round was the fifth). Zeki Çelik still looks like Spalletti’s offensive heresy at left-back, although he disproved that against Atalanta with an assist. That is probably partly because injured and somewhat forgotten Cambiaso is unavailable, and partly because of La Dea’s porous defence. Kerim Alajbegović, a scorer for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Cup, cost €40 million; he is still young and needs time. He showed his dribbling and unpredictability most clearly against Sassuolo, while for this kind of investment he will have to bring a little rain to the bigger matches as well. Nobody is emerging as a leader, but he is not a No. 10 or a lethal winger either, especially after Çolo’s drills, when at Atlético he often even played as a full-back with plenty of defensive duties. Gleison Bremer rules supreme as, without a doubt, the best defender in the league, and his decision to remain at the club is magic in these times, when Serie A is not among the most financially powerful competitions on the continent.
La Lupa has sharpened its claws, kept the backbone of the team, especially Manu Koné from the advances of the wealthy men from London, while Gian Piero Gasperini has shown that his status at the club is greater than that of a head coach. He called the owner of Atalanta and brought in De Roon for free, blocked the departure of the midfield leader, who repaid him with two goals against Inter, and, strengthened by Molina, Balerdi and Castro alongside the already existing Argentine adrenaline, the team is showing signs of a title contender. Roma have not won it for 25 years, and the natural coaching path for Gasperini would be precisely that, after he gave favoured Bayer Leverkusen (with Xabi Alonso) a lesson in the Europa League final in Dublin. Roma lack someone to replace Donyell Malen when things are not going his way, and now he is injured as well; they also lack a little quality at wing-back, so they do not end up in a situation where Luli has to play key matches of the season at just 19 years of age, or, for example, offensively unusable Devyne Rensch. It is also not entirely clear who the replacement for Svilar is, with Svilar having been the best goalkeeper in Serie A for two years running, and whether it can be Boško Janković’s former roommate in Verona, Pierluigi Gollini, with just seven appearances in more than a year. He was also a reserve in Genoa, and for playing on all fronts, even the all-powerful Svilar will need a break.
Como made its Champions League debut, has long been an absolute hit, but lost to a team that was projected to fight for survival. Experts will say that one defeat does not mean abandoning the system; that certainly will not happen at the stadium by the glamorous lake, but Cesc’s team has weaknesses and they are clearly visible on the pitch. Last season, too, they had problems in fights against weaker sides, losing to Sassuolo and drawing with Cagliari, Cremonese and Parma, while laying down their weapons against Fiorentina, who were seriously flirting with Serie B. The experiment with Kean, who begged to leave the cradle of the Renaissance, is still ongoing; Baturina is in world-class form, Nico Paz is still tearing it up, but Kvaratskhelia showed that Como are extremely vulnerable defensively. Against Frosinone they had 27 shots while allowing their opponent 22, which is too much.
The fifth favourite among the top five is still Milan, who plunged into an abyss against Benfica, thereby showing that they are uninterested in a competition they were not so long ago eliminated from. It is difficult to find motivation when you are a seven-time European champion and are now competing against second-rate European clubs (first tier: Champions League, third tier: Conference League). There is also the fact that the Rossoneri do not have the rotation needed for all fronts. If Terracciano and Gabbia are known to be the reserve centre-backs, while the starters are Hila, De Winter and Pavlović, even keeping Fikayo Tomori looks like a bonus. Amorim is looking for his own Amad Diallo, whom he developed at Manchester United, and that could be younger Moreira (signed from Strasbourg for €50 million) or perhaps Alfadjo Cissé, who has made a good start to the season. Pulisic’s return, after suffering a shin contusion at the World Cup, and his goal against Lecce, regardless of the opponent’s weakness, gives hope to everyone with Milan in their hearts that there will ultimately also be a place in the Champions League.
If the gold-plated Ramos also wakes up and breaks the curse of the No. 9 shirt at San Siro, better days will come – much better than that draw in the derby with Juventus, when a point felt like New Year’s Eve fireworks. What can be said about Lazio other than that they brought in international midfielder Frattesi, who reminded everyone of the days when he was the top scorer under Luciano Spalletti.
Everything else is more or less the same, with Marušić injured and being replaced by Mussolini’s great-grandson, while Pinamonti is also a reserve. Rino’s lawyers will shout: wherever he has worked, after his departure the club won trophies! (Milan and Napoli). Admittedly, Hajduk Split and the Italian national team are missing from that list. By that logic, the Azzurri will be European champions in 2028. For this Lazio side, a place in Europe next season would be a huge success.
Atalanta may be in the top five if one of those mentioned above falters, and Maurizio Sarri manages to implement his 4-3-3 system. The quality is there, with a still-strong defence and a creative midfield, with tank Franck Kessié alongside Scamacca, who fluctuates, and Krstović, who is ready to step in. Directing the sometimes unruly Jonathan Rowe, waking up De Ketelaere and helping Lazar Samardžić find consistency in good performances – all of that is the coach’s task. Individually, this is a team that can fight for the Champions League, where they almost played recently, but three consecutive defeats suggest that the process is still at the bottom of the river, if I may not take the ocean metaphor too far.
Venice will be fighting for survival, having decided to keep coach Stroppa even though Alberto Gilardino had already jumped into the gondola and passed beneath the Bridge of Sighs. It is not entirely clear how a coach in Italy can survive five defeats from the first five rounds. Frosinone is still among those dreaming of salvation, although they are currently the absolute hit with 10 points, like Ivan Gavrilović’s “200 per hour” back in the day, although the question is how long it will last.
Genoa are struggling under De Rossi, and one of the reasons may be that they are in the hands of Romanian magnates. Not so much because of who bought them, but because of the paltry €40 million paid for a package representing 77% of the shares. When you sell the oldest football club in Italy for peanuts, you can hardly expect better days after just two years. They themselves do not know how they managed to persuade the machine Norton-Cuffy to play for them last year. He escaped to Hull.
Among the other ladies of Italian football, Parma and Monza only recorded their first victories in the final round before the break and will be among the clubs looking for salvation. If Monza wants that, they must keep Gustavo Varela, who has exploded with six goals in five matches. In a city better known for its racing, they want to avoid the fate of Verona, who sold their best player, Giovane, to Napoli in January, earned €14 million and were relegated from the league. Torino, Lecce, Udinese and Sassuolo will be the golden middle, if nothing goes wrong, which could already be said of the club from Udine, because after letting a 2:0 lead slip at San Siro, they unfortunately lost to Cagliari, who are currently fourth. The bandits from Sardinia are a likeable bunch, with new international Sebastian Esposito and hot-blooded Neapolitan Pisacane, who took advantage of Atalanta’s problems and beat Kosta Runjaić’s side somewhat fortunately. One could say that in Udine he was treated to one of the most delicious ice creams in Italy – the “Luna” gelateria on the main square comes highly recommended (caramel is always my choice).
Projections by serious economic experts say that Serie A could return to the top of Europe’s strongest football leagues only in 2035. Before that, the infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, a more attractive product needs to be created for the market, TV rights need to be strengthened, and, consequently, all the football stars need to be attracted back to where the best of them once played. Ronaldo Fenomeno celebrated his 50th birthday a few days ago, and according to these statistics, it seems that we are roughly a decade away from the period when an Inter will be able to “steal” Barcelona’s main star and bring him into their own house.
Author: Goran Svilar
Long-time Arena Sport journalist and editor of the SS Calcio podcast.
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