The break has finally arrived, in the sense that it is the last one. At least until March. Oh well, we’re more or less a third of the way through the season and so let’s give ourselves some very partial assessments.
HOME INTER – There are those who criticize Lautaro Martinez and, in fact, up to now the captain has not reached his standard level of form nor his goal average, even if in reality he has brought points (see Roma and not only that). There is time to get back on track, in the end the sum will add up and, generally, your total is always quite substantial and brings good things. Scaroni disagreed and made the joke, Marotta responded by proudly showing the tie hidden by the corner of his jacket: “Here it is, see? There are two stars drawn on it, I wish Scaroni to achieve the same goal soon.” The back-and-forth was nice and only registers regular hits above the belt. Well done.
CASA MILAN – Leao is suddenly no longer a problem. Think about it. For the present here it never was. He also became important for Fonseca who, however, often chose to leave him out. Not in the last two matches, where the Portuguese showed how great he can be. Did the spark fly between the coach and the coach? We will live with this question for two weeks, but let’s carry our thoughts forward: Leao must always play. If Fonseca wants to make progress, he should understand this.
CASA JUVE – Behind Vlahovic, the Tartar desert. Everyone is waiting for a new deputy Dusan to reveal himself, but the company’s intervention in the January market seems rather decisive. Among the new signings, only Conceicao (very good) has shone in full light so far, the others – some more, some less – have yet to become fully operational. Douglas Luiz was the least convincing (euphemism). And returning to the January market, it becomes mandatory to invest in a defender who covers the gap left by Bremer and now also Cabal (damn national teams…). Without the Brazilian we saw another Juve, this is an incontrovertible fact which however triggers another: where can you find another equally strong one? It won’t be easy but Giuntoli will have to invent something. In any case, so far, Thiago Motta has done more than well.
THE SURPRISES – But what championship are Lazio, Fiorentina and Atalanta playing? If we don’t want to put Gasperini’s Nerazzurri among the surprises (they still come from a Europa League victory) we certainly can’t pretend to be those of “I told you they would do well”. Because no one here would have ever predicted such a start. At Lazio there was talk of downsizing and when Lotito corrected it with “reorganization” everyone made fun of him. Over time, Lazio said goodbye to Milinkovic Savic, Luis Alberto, Felipe Andersona and Immobile, who had scored a ton of goals. Would anyone have bet that Baroni would have put together a similar set-up when ready? The same goes for a few kilometers further north. After the first championship games here and there we read “Palladino will be the first to jump”. While in August raspberries were flying about the purchase of Kean: “But who did they get?” And elbow down (oh, me for one). And, instead, in the end Commisso always does good business with Juventus. Pay attention: Bernardeschi was never again the one seen in purple, Chiesa left as he left, Nico for now has been more in the infirmary than on the pitch, Vlahovic himself is on alternating current and finds himself in the middle of a delicate issue linked upon renewal. And in all this Rocco took the vice top scorer of Serie A for 13 million plus 5 in bonuses.
And two words about Atalanta, which are necessary: the Bergamo team won the Europa League, then suffered the departure of a crucial player like Koopmeiners. It seems like a season marked towards “normality” and instead here she is the Goddess, splendidly shining. Above all, it would be nice to know the one who woke up one day, went to Gasperini and said to him like this: “Mister, let’s bet on Lookman, the one who has scored 16 goals in the last 6 seasons”. And Gasperini: “Ok, I’m in”. It’s not Bergamo, it’s Hogwarts.
CASA ROMA – It is difficult, indeed, impossible not to agree with the Roma fans. It is frankly complex to understand in which direction the Giallorossi management is operating and everything has become more confusing since they decided to sack Daniele De Rossi. In this case, from the beginning we all agreed on the fact that, given the moment and the situation, Juric could not be the right man to make a change. The former Torino player lasted as long as a match, without ever giving the sensation of being truly followed by Mancini and his teammates. Where do we start from now? In a normal world by De Rossi, but this is not a normal world. And so here is Sor Claudio Ranieri, a foolish choice but at least not so senseless, he is still the Doctor House of coaches.
CASA NAPOLI – Discipline and rigor have exterminated the anarchy that had made its way a year ago, after all this is Conte’s cure, with the shock therapy that the Salento coach offers to all his players when he arrives on a new bench. There’s little to say: it works. The downside is seeing Politano and Kvara defending alongside Di Lorenzo and Olivera too often, with Lukaku alone up front. For the rest I would focus on the real, big market coup of this Serie A and next Nativity scene figurine in San Gregorio Armeno: Scott Mc Tominay. Disruptive, dominant, a Riace bronze. Maybe the gait isn’t the most graceful, but who cares.
Ps. But I prefer Calhanoglu.
Finally, two things about Conte’s words after Inter-Napoli.
Antonio Conte took on the role of the strategist, it doesn’t take much to understand it, just look at what he said and did in the past. He says “We need to change the protocol” and passes it all off as an attempt to bring order to football in general, not just to generate personal gain. But, allow us, “No one is stupid” (cit.).
The people did not translate the words of the former coach with “Long live Conte who wants a more correct regulation for the good of the game and of all of us!” but “Marotta lig! Inter steal!” (with three Bs). After all, if you want to send a “pure” message you do it with a cool head and in the right places, but if you intend to put pressure on your opponent – perhaps the one you consider most competitive with a view to the championship – then you pinch him at the right time.
Since Sunday, there has been nothing but talk of a bizarre “National Case”, namely that of a penalty awarded after having correctly applied the existing protocol. Oh, you may like it or not (for example, I like it very little), but at San Siro the varisti did exactly what the regulations require. As in Empoli-Napoli, moreover, a situation very similar to that of San Siro. In that case, however, Conte preferred not to say a word. Fair enough, we all would have done it. Do you know what’s there? Conte simply wanted to tease Inter, a rival he considers very strong. This is an intelligent move by those who aspire to the scudetto, because Conte is definitely aiming for the scudetto. And rightly so.