The start of a new Serie A season always brings delightful surprises. Whether it’s surprise results, surprise teams or even surprising decisions, Serie A brings them all from the very start. And so, this article starts with Saturday night’s wild game between Fiorentina and Napoli.
Serie A Review: A Fresh Start
Fiorentina 3-4 Napoli
Everyone got to see the new Fiorentina first hand when they hosted Napoli on the first Saturday of the season. There is a ton of new ambition in the ancient Italian powerhouse. New owner Rocco Commisso has given the club new identity, along with the new players they’ve brought in.
Their revamp goes far beyond the big-name signings like Franck Ribery and Kevin Prince-Boateng. Bringing Erick Pulgar from Bologna, and bringing back Milan Badelj from Lazio are going to help immensely. Not to mention trusting young players like 20-year-old Riccardo Sottil and young Polish goalkeeper Bartłomiej Drągowski.
And with all of that added to their two young studs in Federico Chiesa and Nikola Milenkovic, things are looking up in Florence for sure. All of those players played well on Saturday; Fiorentina is going to be a much better side this season.
Napoli’s Serie A Success
But running into a side as good as Napoli in the first game; it’s tough to get any points. After Fiorentina started well Napoli handled the early storm and got to play their football by midway through the first half. Without Arkadiusz Milik, Ancelotti played Fabian Ruiz up next to Dries Mertens with Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon on the wings.
The game settled down for Napoli once they started getting the ball to the wings and letting them work. They are going to win most matchups in isolation, so isolating them allows the rest of the field to open up. In those moments the wingers quickly found a midfielder, usually Piotr Zieliński, and he completed the switch.
They were able to pick Fiorentina apart using those tactics, creating multiple chances and goals that way. They also got a lovely gift from the referee, who inexplicably gave Dries Mertens a penalty for an obvious dive. It was the type of dive so brutally obvious that it’s shocking that there was no VAR intervention; we thought it would drive out the controversy.
Parma 0-1 Juventus
Juventus got started with yet another title defence, beating Parma 1-0 on the road. On the surface, most Juventus fans would probably be upset that they fired Max Allegri and hired Maurizio Sarri only to win 1-0. However, there were definite signs that Sarri was getting his message across during this game.
For one, the passing was much more proactive than under Allegri. They tried to go forward when they could, but when they couldn’t they kept possession cycling and recycling until they found their window. They were even doing quite well pressing up high, but probably not high enough for Sarri’s liking.
What they didn’t do was finish their chances. Cristiano Ronaldo missed chances, Douglas Costa missed chances, and of course the king of missed chances Gonzalo Higuain missed some as well. Juve fans will need them to get their shooting boots right, because who knows who will lead their lines for the next six months.
Same Milan Problems
AC Milan really struggled in Marco Giampaolo’s first Serie A game in charge on the road against Udinese, losing 1-0. Honestly, they looked worse than the score and worse than expected, even with a midfield of Fabio Borini, Hakan Chalanoglu, and Lucas Paqueta.
Obviously, that is not Giampaolo’s planned midfield going forward. They looked a lot better once Borini and Paqueta had been replaced by Ismael Bennacer and Franck Kessie. As the season gets going and players like Bennacer take hold of their positions, Milan’s midfield should improve.
But their attacking play on Sunday was much more concerning; specifically Suso and Krzysztof Piatek. Suso struggled all of last season, and it’s not likely to get better this season. Playing out of position as a number ten has rarely worked well for him, Sunday was more of the same.
But, the bigger issue is Piatek. With each passing game, he is beginning to look more and more like a one-season wonder, rather than a bonafide scorer. His touch was poor on Sunday and he failed to get a single shot on target. The longer that continues the more concerning it becomes.
Inter Milan Strong Serie A Start
The feelings postmatch were completely different on the other side of Milan after Inter whacked poor Lecce 4-0 at home. Newly promoted Lecce is probably the smallest club in the division, so take this performance with a grain of salt. Even still, the effects of this summer could be seen all over the field for Inter.
Firstly, Romelu Lukaku played well, and scored his first goal in Serie A! Conte wanted to bring him in to be a big bully, and he did just that to Lecce. Lukaku will always be elite at battling for position, creating space either for himself or a teammate. Which is exactly what Conte wants him to be; the reference point for others to play off of.
Those others, like Laurtaro Martinez, or Stefano Sensi, or Marcelo Brozovic all played well on Monday night. However, it was Sensi who really stole the show. He picked apart the Lecce defence, getting himself involved in multiple goals. An excellent passing midfielder like Sensi could be a giant acquisition for Inter and their season.
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