So thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo, I'm finally enjoying Serie A football to the extent that I used to several years back. Last season, I had dropped my match-viewing to around 2 matches a week on average, one of Milan and one of another side (usually Napoli). The effort involved in streaming was the primary reason. But thanks to Cristiano, every single Serie A match is broadcasted live in TV now and I'm back up to around 5-6 matches per gameweek, which is what I used to do back in college (2003-2007). Grazie Cristiano!
At half-way point, here are my thoughts:
Overall, 2018-19 has been really exciting, continuing the upward trajectory of the league over the last 3 seasons. Of course, Serie A will never appeal to certain audience, and that's unlikely to change even if the teams continue to dominate European football once again. But for guys like me, whose league football consumption is 99% Serie A and European football when an Italian side plays, the difference is palpable.
The title race though is the sad part. Juventus has significantly increased the gap over Napoli and that's pretty obvious to see. It was not only Cristiano, but also Douglas Costa, Bernardeschi, Cancelo and above all, Mandzukic and Bentancur. The latter two are probably the two most difference-making players in the league for me at the moment. I don't see what any team can do at present that would even bring about a real title challenge in 2019/20, unless someone pulls off a Cristiano-like transfer. Which is quite unlikely.
Immediately after the title race though is the most exciting part of the league. I think the battle for positions 3 to 7 will continue well into May.
Teams
Juve: One of the best teams in the world now with Cristiano and all the other guys I mentioned. Played many Serie A matches in the 2nd gear this season since they were certain of 3 points. Backfired against them most obviously vs Genoa. But I'm sure they'll continue to do that since the real objective is CL as everyone knows. They do have quite obvious weaknesses in defence, but no Serie A team has really taken advantage of that - except Napoli for a brief spell and Atalanta. Bonucci has been mediocre, Chiellini is still the rock. Bentancur has been their best player for me - remarkable adaptation to the league so quickly and a very intelligent player. He's so young and will definitely have a great career in Serie A. Mandzukic of course is the real big game player. Video footage of him rising above the far post defender to score headed goals in big games will run to quite a few minutes at the end of the season. Cristiano Ronaldo is having the perfect late-career run. He plays to his strengths (his insane physical agility and eye for the goal), and turns up when it matters at the right spot - Atalanta goal being case in point. The issue now: Dybala. He has not improved this season and the way Juve are playing, I'm not quite sure he's set to improve either. A major summer transfer might be Dybala out.
Napoli: They took around 5-6 matchdays to adapt to Ancelotti. They could have dropped more points during this time (notably against Milan), but luckily for them they didn't. Now with the Ancelotti style firmly in place, they are a better team - even though of course they are doing worse than last season. But I don't think that should be held against them - transitioning from a very strong tactician is always difficult and I think it's creditable they've done it while holding on to 2nd place. Milik is the most notable mention that's required - he is very much an Ancelotti-striker. Towards the end of the season, I expect him to start regularly and score regularly. However, Mertens will retain his importance - he's, like Mandzukic, one of the cleverest players around - and knows how to pull his weight in whichever role. Too good an asset to not have a big role. Koulibaly is the best defender in the world at the moment, and the incident against Inter would bring the team together if anything. Insigne is flourishing in his new role and Mancini's move to play him similarly for the Nazionale will help.
Inter: As I've said many times before here, I think Spalletti is a mediocre manager for a big team. Inter wins despite his constant unnecessary fiddling. That's in large parts due to Icardi, and also due to other players who seem to take turns in sharing the responsibility of turning up with Icardi (used to be Brozovic, then Vecino, now Politano and Keita Balde). Valero is done. Joao Mario, after his brief renaissance, looks uninspiring again. So it's very tricky to predict where Inter will end up. Ultimately, if Milan, Lazio and Roma perform consistently, all three could end up ahead of Inter.
Lazio: They had a really tough time this season until they finally seemed to figure out the way to turn things around. A big part of course was Milinkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto both just being completely off colour. Immobile is a player who is entirely dependent on strong service from guys like these, and predictably enough, his output dipped as well. Now with Milinkovic-Savic looking confident again, other interesting players turning up like Correa and Acerbi (who's once again looking like the defender for whom Milan had such high hopes), Lazio look set once more. But regardless, Simone Inzaghi plays football one way. He will not be able to handle teams that tactically outsmarts them and has better players than them (which I think Milan and Roma both can and will). So Lazio will be up against the wall fighting for the 4th spot.
Milan: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, although one could make a good case that Hyde came through due to the injuries. Gattuso created an attractive 4-3-3 team at the beginning of the season (not very different in gameplay from Mancini's current Italy), playing good fleet-footed football and players moving as a single unit. And then it all fell apart, with Bonaventura's and Biglia's injuries and Higuain's implosion. For a while, it was remarkable that Milan continued to rack up points (notably against Lazio where we almost stole 3 points), and Bakayoko and Romagnoli were the key figures holding us together. But then the fabric split again and December was atrocious till the SPAL game. Ultimately, an injury-free Milan playing the way they did in October is superior to Roma, Lazio as well as Inter. But will Gattuso find it easy to recreate that in the 2nd half of the season? Bonaventura is still missing and between Hakan and Paqueta, filling the left side roles might be the real key to this question. We should always look to the fact that we played the best aesthetic football in the league barring Napoli and possibly Sassuolo when we had everyone fit and on form. That's where we should aim to return.
Roma: Imagine commoders in RnB turning against Gattuso and demanding his dismissal last month. Now multiply that several-folds and you get the situation in Roma with Di Francesco a month back. They were possibly the only team in world football who could lose a lead after the 95th minute playing against 9 men. The defence looked like 4 men who had no clue how to coordinate with each other. Despite all this, in the last 3 weeks, Di Francesco has pulled off an excellent comeback, played around with tactical systems, brought a young prospect through and the club is pretty much at the same level in the table as Lazio and Milan. Kudos to the manager and the Roma management for not buckling to fan pressure. What exactly is Zaniolo's potential? He has shown mouth-watering skills so far, and could well be Roma's next big player - but it's definitely too soon to call. As many suspected, we know now that Monchi did a good job selling Nainggolan and Strootman, but the fact remains that the re-investment results are yet to come through. Schick continues to look like a flop, while Dzeko when he comes back will make his presence felt. Roma arguably still has a better squad than Milan and Lazio and if they maintain their form, 4th spot should be theirs. But Roma is Roma and a capitulation is always on the cards.
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