Stephen Maio

In the new ultra-competitive era of professional soccer, clubs across the globe are feeling an enormous amount of pressure to be number one, and in an attempt to stay a step ahead of the opposition, clubs are always changing face.  The past few seasons in Serie A we have seen a reverse of what we are used to. This season feels a little bit more like home.

Italian soccer is an animal that has been constantly changing over the past few years, and isn’t finished changing yet. Like a snake shedding it’s skin, since the summer of 2006 Serie A has been trying to wriggle out of the corruption and scandal tainted lining that overshadowed the beautiful game. The conduct of some of the more powerful figures in Italy disgraced the integrity of the sport for everyone and embarrassed the country’s product. For once if ever, there was a reason not to watch Italian soccer. Such a pity too, as all 23 players who lifted the FIFA World Cup that same summer plied their trade on home soil, tainted soil.

Some of the garbage that rots the game from the inside has since been flushed out, but it remains up for debate as to how far the Italian game has come. They say it is a product of the system, and until the system changes nothing else will. There are though indications that the game is returning to health.

I thought last year was one of the most intriguing seasons in Italian Soccer for quite some time. Calciopoli was a distant memory with the evaporation of any point penalties and the return of Juventus providing more competition than the watered down campaign we all had to suffer through the year prior. The title race went down to the wire between Roma and Inter and there was never a dull moment with regards to the referees. This year looks like it can blow last year out of the water.

Italian soccer has seemingly returned to its pre-Calciopoli form. There are no longer any lingering suspensions or penalties for any clubs. All point deductions have been served and a lengthy explanation is no longer necessary when describing European qualification, nor is it still mucked up with brackets or asterisks. Once again Serie A has four worthy representatives in the Champions League, and the UEFA Cup for that matter.

This year is a chance to return Italian soccer back to the pinnacle of the world game, a position it held in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Back then Serie A held a boastful amount of high profile names in their prime, the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids, Ronaldo, Christian Vieri, Marcel Desailly, Oliver Bierhoff, Cafu and Didier Deschamps who among living legends such as Giuseppe Signori, Gabriel Batistuta, Roberto Baggio, Franco Baresi and Roberto Donadoni graced the fields of play in Italy and made the league arguably the most competitive in Europe.

Andriy Shevchenko, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lillian Thuram, Francesco Tavano, Luca Toni, Manuel Rui Costa, Damiano Tommasi, Bernardo Corradi, and Obafemi Martins are just some of the high profile names that departed Serie A for greener pastures in the aftermath of the country’s biggest match fixing scandal. For the first time in a few seasons, high profile names are coming to and not leaving, Serie A, boosting the competitive factor of the league significantly. The fact that Shevchenko is back is somewhat symbolic. Popular figures in the world game such as Ronaldinho, Julio Baptista, and Jose Mourinho arrive to the Italian brand with little going out.

The competition is mouth watering indeed, and with club rivalries at an all time high, the atmosphere is intriguing. You have Inter who remain strong but changed interestingly during the off-season. Juventus have recovered their financial position to some degree and strengthened their squad for a challenge on multiple fronts. AC Milan loaded up with the same intentions as Juventus. Roma, Fiorentina and Sampdoria are stacked up enough to provide their own familiar fireworks. Then there is always the next class. There could be a potential spoiler hiding in Udinese, Napoli, Lazio or Palermo. Historic clubs like Genoa and Napoli have regained a foothold in Serie A. Bologna and Lecce return, along with the feel good story of the last four or five years, little Chievo Verona.

Before we analyze the campaign in seriousness lets take a quick glance at a few clubs and what they did during the transfer season:

Last season’s bridesmaids Roma have never been a club to splash big on one player, but they have usually spent a decent sum on bringing in a few players that fit into the scheme they have, and this off-season was no different. They decided to strengthen their questionable defence for another Champions league run with the signing of Liverpool’s John Arne Riise and Siena’s Simone Loria.

Late in the off-season the Giallorossi were able to capture “The Beast” Julio Baptista from Real Madrid for around €9M. In other moves, they were able to secure the full ownership of influential Serbian striker Mirko Vucinic. The Giallorossi’s off-season wasn’t void of losses however, as both Amantino Mancini and Ludovic Guily left town for greener pastures and took some parting shots at the club upon their departure. The addition of Baptista will help smooth over the loss but we’ll have to wait and see if Roma can cope without the lively Mancini.

AC Milan, having possibly seen enough of their poor domestic form the past two seasons and maybe pushed over the edge by the fact they were unable to qualify for this season’s Champions League, launched an all out attack on the transfer market to regain their place among the elite. The club’s first move was to return perennial all-star defender Gianluca Zambrotta back to Italian soccer. Their next chess move was to pry the highly-rated French midfielder Mathieu Flamini from Arsenal. While it won’t look like a transfer on paper, the re-calling of Marco Borriello will surely feel like one even if injury will keep him out for a considerable amount of time.

And all of that was just an appetizer, before they dropped the big bombshell, the capture of two time FIFA World Player of the Year and Brazilian magician Ronaldinho from Barcelona. Ronaldinho will combine with fellow Samba stars Kaka and Alexandre Pato to form arguably the most dangerous threesome in world soccer. The Rossoneri continued their transfer assault deep into August, striking a deal to bring Andriy Shevchenko back, returning the two time Serie A scoring champion and 2004 European Player of the Year to the comfortable setting he thrived in for so many brilliant seasons as well as bringing in tough Swiss international defender Philippe Senderos from Arsenal.

Juventus, the most successful club in Italy, pledged upon their return to the Champions League this season to deliver some massive off-season acquisitions, and they disappointed considerably. They initiated moves early with the capture of highly-rated Palermo striker Amauri, a dragged out soap opera transfer that lasted over a month and when finalized set in motion a chain of moves from the big clubs that resembled a falling line of dominos. The transfer did cost them Italian U-21 midfield captain Antonio Nocerino and co-ownership of Italian U-21 striker Davide Lanzafame as well as €12.5M and showed the club’s great desire to win now.

Bargaining with youth seemed to be the idea of the off-season for Secco and Co., who were rumoured to have been using U-21 sensation Sebastian Giovinco as a shopping piece before street protests brought that idea to a halt. One must question if Claudio Ranieri is unwilling to mold young players, as both Nocerino and Lanzafame were sent off and accompanied by Raffaele Palladino and Domenico Criscito.

While the club were unable to bring a “big name” to Turin, they were able to bring in one of the peninsula’s most hated players in Danish hardman Christian Poulsen. Poulsen is best remembered for his role in the spitting incident at Euro 2004 and the vicious marking of Kaka during a Champions League clash a few seasons ago. He is hated by AC Milan and Francesco Totti, and has little to no respect in Italy for his style of play. Say what you want about Poulsen, his transfer is the boldest statement of intent yet from the board, who show they really don’t care what the rest of Italy thinks. Juventus had been rumoured to be close to a host of talented names that never arrived, Xabi Alonso, Alberto Aquilani, Rafael van der Vaart and Diego to name a few.

The most pressing need (defence) was never really adequately addressed. The club secured long time Aston Villa and Swedish captain Olof Mellberg on a free transfer and Livorno defender Dario Knezevic on loan. The pair of moves will only add depth.

Fiorentina in no doubt desiring a squad strengthening ahead of their Champions League push, managed to make significant waves both good and bad.

They were able to secure the services of hotshot Italian international striker Alberto Gilardino from AC Milan for €15M, beating off interest from other clubs. Gilardino was so enticed by the chance to play for former Parma coach Cesare Prandelli and alongside former teammate Adrian Mutu that he took a 50% pay cut just to wear the Viola shirt. In a move that looks like the steal of the off-season already, he will undoubtedly bolster the team’s already strong scoring punch.

They were also able to secure the services of Serbian striker Stevan Jovetic, an up and coming star from Partizan Belgrade, as well as the highly-rated Peruvian defender Juan Manuel Vargas from Catania. Vargas was being pursued by a number of big clubs across the continent such as Real Madrid and Juventus. They also managed to capture Felipe Melo from Almeria, former Torino captain Gianluca Comotto and Juventus midfielder Sergio Almiron on loan, a few moves that will help solidify the defensive hole left by the departure of Tomas Ujfalusi.

On the flipside they managed to botch one of the worst transfer attempts of the campaign. They seemed set to sign local boy Andrea Barzagli from Palermo, who desired a move to Fiorentina and snubbed interest from AC Milan and Juventus to see it happen, only to have negotiations fall at the last hurdle over a minuscule amount of money. The difference in negotiations was around €100,000, and the lack of effort and respect on the part of the Viola sent Barzagli packing his bags to join former teammate Cristian Zaccardo at German side Wolfsburg. That is a serious loss as coupled with Gilardino, the signing of Barzagli would have pushed Fiorentina into that coveted bubble of Scudetto challengers.

They no doubt have the talent to perform (now that Adrian Mutu’s Roma affair is over) and they now have the depth to challenge on multiple fronts.

And of course, there is Inter Milan. It seems as though president Massimo Moratti had enough of the controversy and feared the increased challenge from AC Milan and Juventus because when he sent head coach Roberto Mancini packing in favour of former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. It cost him a pretty penny, $30 million to be exact. Mancini, who famously claimed he was stepping down after the Champions League defeat to Liverpool in February only to reverse his decision a day later, had five years remaining on a contract worth €6M per year and needed to be bought out to be replaced.

Enter Mourinho, whose brand spanking new five year contract pays him a cool €9M per season. That is just a part of the cost of this re-tooling that took place on the blue side the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

The hiring of Mourinho helped Inter attract some big name players, firstly the poaching of Roma’s Brazilian dazzler Amantino Mancini for a cool €13M. Then came Portsmouth midfielder and former Udinese hardman Sulley Muntari for a clean €16M. The club is still rumoured to be pursuing the likes of Frank Lampard, Ricardo Quaresma and Victor Obinna.

Mourinho’s arrival has given Inter an impressive facelift and his public spat with Claudio Ranieri proves that he already comes equipped with his signature colourful comments which have graced the Premier League media circuit for the past four years. A Champions League winner with FC Porto, ‘The Special One’ arrives under Moratti in an attempt to bring him the one trophy that is missing from his cabinet.

Lazio fans may have mixed expectations for the club but the majority will likely expect European qualification of some sort. Unpopular president Claudio Lotito has tried to give coach Delio Rossi more options then he had last season by bringing in names like Juan Pablo Carrizo, Mauro Zarate, Pasquale Foggia and Francelino Matuzalem. The club’s ambitions may be stunted by losses like Rolando Bianchi, Gabi Mundingayi and Valon Behrami however, as well as the temporary loss of Tomasso Rocchi who picked up an injury during the Beijing Olympics. Lazio start the season a bit banged up, but there is enough talent in this squad with names like Goran Pandev, Stefano Mauri, Lorenzo De Silvestri and Christian Ledesma to get them where they want to be by season’s end.

Sampdoria will be a force this season even if they weren’t very active in the transfer market. The faithful are excited about the prospect of having Antonio Cassano around for a full season and believe me he can be they key to Europe’s elite. He will be aided by the addition of Italian U-21 international Daniele Dessena who will team with some real steel in midfield, like Paolo Sammarco and Angelo Palombo help to give ‘Doria an engine in the middle.

Udinese did little to better themselves in the transfer market, and lost some ground in the process The addition of Marco Motta will help the defence. The losses of Andrea Dossena, Giampiero Pinzi, Gyan Asamoah and Giandomenico Mesto will hurt the club. Another solid season from Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale is crucial up front.

Pierpaolo Marino has done well to build a Napoli squad packed with youth and deflected any attempts to prize young star Marek Hamsik away. Andrea Russotto, Christian Maggio and Rinaudo arrive to give Napoli a chance to push into the elite this season. The club is already full of budding stars like Hamsik, Russotto, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Fabiano Santacroce and German Gustavo Denis, and while the last Champions League spot may be far fetched they carry the highest expectations.

The fiery Maurizio Zamparini dipped deep into his wallet to add a ton of raw talent to his Palermo squad for this upcoming campaign. Forced to sell the want away Amauri, Zamparini was able to acquire future stars Antonio Nocerino and Davide Lanzafame. Those two arrive along with Fabio Liverani, Andrea Raggi, Cesare Bovo, Igor Budan and Marco Amelia to give the boys in pink a real punch.

Torino were a team that looked real good on paper last season and never quite translated that to the pitch. Once again this season they look good on paper and will hope this time they can make it count.

The club weren’t very active in the transfer market, losing captain Gianluca Comotto and only picking up journeyman striker Nicola Amoruso and his former Reggina teammate Rolando Bianchi. The club feel that those two are all they need and they will reunite in hope that they can provide more goals than their striking contingent did last season, and it is a good bet since both combined for 35 league goals together during the 2006-07 season. They are added to other talents including Aimo Diana, Eugenio Corini, Matteo Sereni and the explosive Alessandro Rosina to try to push Torino into the top third of the table.

So now that we have taken a closer look at some squads, let’s talk about who has the goods, and make a few predictions, shall we?

With all the big clubs loading up like it’s a draw at high noon, who is the favourite? Well, quality wise you could say the Milanese clubs are a bit stronger then their rivals, but are they going to use that to their advantage? Both clubs have said that the title is a goal, but are they honest, or do they just feel like they have to say that? Could we see a halfhearted domestic challenge in exchange for the possibility of European glory?

It is no secret Moratti desires the Champions League, with the success AC Milan have had in the competition right in his backyard it has made him envious and determined to bring it home himself. He has constructed squads built for the competition in the past without success and the hiring of Mourinho (who is somewhat of a specialist in the competition) sends a clear message. Whether Inter Milan claim the Scudetto is their primary goal or not, no-one in Italy is fooled.

AC Milan find themselves in a different situation than they are used to, playing with Europe’s second tier sides instead of the prime beef. While some will say the UEFA Cup is a trophy not worth pursuing for Milan, it is a trophy which most of the squad haven’t won yet. This year gives them a chance to add a prize to the puzzle that may be fulfilling at the end of their careers when they can possibly look back and say “I won everything with AC Milan”.

The top sides won’t be in the draw but the competition shouldn’t be taken lightly, it is filled with rank outsiders from a vast array of nations that are determined to prove they can cut it with Europe’s elite and even if Milan are vastly superior in talent to some, it is a competition with a history of upsets; Luca Toni’s Bayern Munich proved that last season. Will AC Milan be preoccupied by the opportunity?

If those two don’t put in the effort it takes and honour the Scudetto as the main prize, a host of clubs are looking to take it.

Juventus look like they will be a gritty test for anyone who gets in their way this season. The best strike partnership in Serie A last season in David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero will be aided by the on-fire Vincenzo Iaquinta and Amauri to make the Bianconeri’s striking department a scary sight for the opposition. It is unknown exactly which target Juventus favour, with them making their glorious return to Europe’s premier competition after a two year hiatus. The addition of the hated Christian Poulsen sends a clear message to the Bianconeri’s rivals; we want to win. Still, Juventus may not be at the quality level of AC Milan or Inter and may have to settle for third.

Roma won’t be taking a backseat to anyone and still think they can compete with the rest. They will be targeting the Scudetto and Spalletti’s squad has a taste of playing in the big games and being at the top. Unfortunately for them, they are not at the level of Inter or AC Milan, or even Juventus and may have to settle for Champions League qualification instead.

Fiorentina should be a lock for the UEFA Cup. They just have too much talent not to be there. It seems they may be pushing (and keeping an eye on) Roma all season long for that precious fourth place, hoping to pip the Giallorossi out of it just like they did to Milan last season.

The UEFA Cup battle promises to be intriguing. I think Palermo are going to make a splash this year. They have talent in every department and high ambitions. I say they round out the European spots with Lazio and Sampdoria. Napoli, Udinese and Torino have good years but fall just short.

I will go on record and call AC Milan as league champions. Their weaker European schedule along with the depth amassed during the off-season give them that extra boost. Inter will abandon Serie A and go looking for Champions League glory I presume sometime in January/February. Juventus are good, but just needed a bit more. It promises to be a solid season and it may even be possible we could see the Champions League and UEFA Cup winners both come out of Serie A.

The big name arrivals and various targets each club have make this season a mouth watering must watch. It will definitely feature as many twists and turns as Ronaldinho’s golden boots, plenty of controversial refereeing decisions, many lively Jose Mourinho jibes, and at the end one team will stand alone atop the hill.

It promises to be a classic Campionato if the bulk of the focus can stay on the field of play this season. Finally, it is a familiar picture for Serie A fans as competitive sides, big name players and high quality soccer give both Italians and foreigners a reason to watch again. From me to you, enjoy the Serie A season and everything it brings, and hopefully the Italian game can continue to rise up from it’s own ashes.