Now on their fourth consecutive Serie A championship, it has to be said that no matter how they've won them, Inter is a modern day dynasty in Italian Football (as an AC Milan fan, it was excruciating to type that). Under the watch of Manager Jose Mourinho, they have no intention of slowing down. Not the prettiest football to watch at times, but effective and gets results.
But now after having sung the praises of the Nerazzurri, it is clear that teams behind them have shuffled their squads in hopes of catching the champion this season. All that said, this has the potential to be one of the most entertaining seasons in Italy yet. The likes of Juventus, Milan, Roma, Napoli, Genoa, and Fiorentina are all going into the new season with optimism and expectations.
Star Searching
Significant in the off-season transfer movement is the departures of some marquee names in Serie A. Kaka left Milan for Real Madrid, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Inter for Barcelona. Additionally, retirements of legendary names like Maldini, Nedved, and Figo have left this league searching for the new big names. However, there were some key arrivals and upcoming stars that will make the Italian top flight exciting to watch this year:
- Diego, Juventus: The Brazilian playmaker heads to the Turin giants after making a name for himself at Werder Bremen. At a cost of around 24.5 million euros, the Old Lady of Italian Football brings in just the player capable of replacing retired Pavel Nedved. Diego possesses a tremendous combination of passing, vision, and finishing.
- Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Milan: The Dutch striker became surplus to requirements at Real Madrid after all the new Galacticos arrived at the Bernabeu, and the Rossoneri should stand to benefit for an impressive strike rate (143 goals in 203 professional appearances). Potentially the next great goalscorer at the San Siro at a team that has boasted names like Inzaghi, Shevchenko, and Van Basten.
- Samuel Eto'o, Inter: The Cameroon striker arrives from Barcelona via a swap with Ibrahimovic going the other way. One of the most prolific strikers this decade, a lot will be put on his shoulders as Inter Milan look to make it five straight Serie A Titles.
- Stevan Jovetic, Fiorentina: The young Montenegren playmaker directs a potentially powerful attack for La Viola.
- Ezequiel Lavezzi, Napoli: Sure there are other wonderful Argentinian attackers like Messi, Aguero, and Tevez, but a breakthrough season for Lavezzi is on offer with the reinforcements made in Roberto Donadoni's squad.
How will it play out? Well this will be one of the more competitive seasons to date, with this league overall being pretty top heavy. Yet, there will be a new champion, and many exciting games.
1. Juventus. Marcello Lippi is not an idiot, and is on to something here when he predicts that the Old Lady will reclaim the Scudetto. The addition of Diego was perfect, and bringing in Felipe Melo to provide some bite in midfield was essential to. There is plenty of experience and goalscoring power to lift Juve to the top this season. The big question mark will be Ciro Ferrara's inexperience as a top flight manager. Can he manage all this talent?
2. Inter. The Nerazzurri's efforts to make it five straight should fall short this season. I have argued that Mourinho will miss Ibrahimovic's ability to create goals out of nothing, and while Eto'o and Milito are nice additions up front, the lack of playmaking in midfield could catch up to them this season. Getting Lucio from Bayern Munich was a terrific get to shore up the back line, and they have one of the more underrated goalkeepes in Julio Cesar.
3. Milan. Transition year for the Rossoneri, but will have enough in the squad to finish third. A lot will be expected of Ronaldinho and Pato to help carry the attack, but the return of Alessandro Nesta could will help strengthen things at the back. This season will be all about stabilizing their place in Serie A and the Champions League. Like Juventus, Milan are breaking in an inexperienced coach in Leonardo.
4. Fiorentina. Cesare Prandelli has assembled a team that could be sneaky good this season and will make life miserable for the title contenders in Serie A this season. La Viola play an attacking brand of football that features Alberto Gilardino and Adrian Mutu. Felipe Melo is a loss but has been replaced by experienced midfield players like Cristiano Zanetti and Marco Marchionni. The question with this team is the overall experience, as 11 teenage players make up the squad.
5. Napoli. This is your fly-under-the-radar team of the summer in Italy. With all the noise being made with the big three teams in this league, Roberto Donadoni quietly reinforced this squad and from the looks of it they will be a contender if all goes well. As I mentioned, they have a lot of quality in attack with Ezequiel Lavezzi, but also with playmaker Marek Hamsik and German Denis. Donadoni has also added former Udinese hitman Fabio Quagliarella to the mix. Luca Cigarini is an Italian under-21 who has a future with the Senior national team and will help hold down the midfield. Quite potentially could be one of the surprises of the season.
6. AS Roma. Even with the departure of players like Roberto Aquilani and Christian Panucci, Roma still have some decent pieces in place that will allow them to compete. Of course they can always rely on their talismanic captain, Francesco Totti. In addition, they will be solid enough in midfield with players like Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta. In terms of numbers, Roma seem a little thinner as a squad and that could keep them out of the Champions League places yet again.
7. Genoa. They lose top scorer Diego Milito to Inter Milan but can replace those 24 league goals with the arrival of Hernan Crespo from Inter and Sergio Floccari from Atalanta. Their 39 goals allowed last season was most among the teams that finished in the top 5, and they have bolstered their defence with the permanent signing of Domenico Criscito from Juventus and Italy #2 goalkeeper Marco Amelia from Palermo.
8. Lazio. Plenty of attacking power in this side with Mauro Zarate, Tomasso Rocchi, and Goran Pandev all part of the scoring last season. Now Julio Cruz is added to that mix, a veteran striker who scored some clutch goals for Inter last season. If they can sort out their defensive issues (55 goals conceded), they could push higher.
9. Udinese. Losing Quagliarella to Napoli will hurt, but they hope veteran striker Bernardo Corradi will help make up for the loss of production. There's still plenty of talent in the team with players like Simone Pepe, Gokhan Inler, and Antonio Di Natale (though still out through injury). Gaetano D'Agostino is a player for the future.
10. Sampdoria. In the end, this might be a very low prediction for Samp. Veteran manager Luigi Del Neri takes over after a spell at Atalanta, and they added some nice pieces to the mix of talent already in place. Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini will have a full season together (Pazzini arrived to score 11 league goals from midseason) as strike partners, and Franco Semioli brings some experience in midfield.
11. Palermo. The Rosanero enjoyed an 8th place finish but could find times a little tougher this season simply because the teams ahead of them improved. They had the fourth best home record last season and goals were plentiful when playing on their turf in Sicily (42 in 19 games). They had trouble meeting that success off the island and that ended up being their undoing. The core of this team returns with experience in midfield with Marco Bresciano and the attacking combination of Diego Cavani and Fabrizio Miccoli mean that the goals will still be there. Interesting to note that Walter Zenga arrives as manager after a spell at Sicilian rivals Catania.
12. Cagliari. The Sardinians enjoyed a surprise 9th place finish last season on the strength of emerging talent Robert Acquafresca. He's now gone along with midfielder Michele Fini. Alessandro Matri must now provide the attack partnership for Jeda, who will have the burden of scoring more goals to keep them afloat.
13. Atalanta. Robert Acquafresca arrives on loan to assume the scoring burden that is left by Sergio Floccari but losing that midfield presence in Luca Cigarini, and the managerial experience of Luigi Del Neri will hurt.
14. Parma. They'll call on the experience of Christian Panucci in defense, and a loan strike partnership of Alberto Paloschi and Valeri Bojinov to stay afloat in their first season back in Serie A.
15. Bologna. They have an exprienced striker in Marco Di Vaio but he will eventually need some help in attack.
16. Catania. 19th in Serie A in away form last season (1 win in 19 tries) has to improve.
17. Siena. Many key departures to their team from last season but with Massimo Maccarone and Juventus prodigy Paolucci they ought to have enough to survive.
18. Chievo Verona. Pellissier is back to lead the scoring charge but this is a team that spent a chunk of the season at the foot of the Serie A table and has done little to stay alive.
19. AS Bari. Spent aggressively in the close season to get a large squad. Vitali Kutuzov appears useful but overall will have a hard time surviving.
20. Livorno. Veteran striker Cristiano Lucarelli arrives from Parma but is a shell of his former self.
So there you have it, I like the Old Lady to knock off Inter this season while Milan will finish 3rd. Fiorentina and Napoli will look to impress this season and it looks like 7-8 teams will be playing to survive relegation. Should be an interesting season in Italy.
Hit me up with your thoughts as always.
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