2009/10 Serie A Season Preview – Will anyone stop Inter?
The 2009/10 Italian Serie A season gets underway tomorrow, and four-time defending champions Inter Milan are in pursuit of history.
Can anyone knock Jose Mourinho’s squad off of their perch atop Serie A? If you’re a Serie A fanatic, you can stay updated with the lines on every Serie A match this season with our Serie A betting odds section, and if you want to make a wager on who you think will win the scudetto this season, you can find the latest odds on those in our soccer futures section.
Inter Milan
Inter Milan have won four straight Serie A titles, and they go into this season looking to become the first side since Juventus from 1930-35 to win five straight league titles.
Star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sold to Barcelona in a blockbuster deal, but in that same deal, Inter received one of the world’s most lethal finishes in Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o. Even before Ibrahimovic’s departure/Eto’o’s arrival, Inter had already strengthened their front line with the addition of Genoa’s Diego Milito, who scored 24 Serie A goals last season.
Between Eto’o, Milito, and young striker Mario Balotelli, Inter should have no problem finding the back of the net this season, but Inter have a world-class goalkeeper in Brazilian Julio Cesar and a back line that has allowed the fewest goals in the league in each of the last two seasons.
The one potential hiccup for Inter is getting bit by the injury bug, but if they can avoid, then I don’t see anyone keeping them from yet another championship.
Juventus
Juventus have quickly made their way back to the top of Serie A after their brief stint in Serie B in the 2006/07 season, and there’s a lot of confidence emanating from Turin heading into the new season for good reason.
Juve were well within striking distance of Inter deep into last season, but a poor string of seven matches without a win saw them drop off the pace and saw manager Claudio Ranieri get the sack with two matches left in the season. Youth academy chief Ciro Ferrara guided Juve to wins in their last two matches to help them edge out AC Milan for second (on head-to-head results).
Juve didn’t bring in a slew of new faces this summer, but they did spend big in adding some creativity and toughness in the form of a couple of Brazilian stars. Former Werder Bremen playmaker Diego will fill the void left by the retirement of Pavel Nedved, and along with scoring quite a few goals, he’ll set up just as many. While Diego will bring the flair, former Fiorentina midfielder Felipe Melo brings the fire and physicality – he earned 17 yellow cards and three red cards last season.
Along with Diego’s contributions, Alessandro Del Piero, Amauri, and Vincenzo Iaquinta will once again provide the balance of the scoring, but Juve will be even more dangerous up front if veteran David Trezeguet is given a chance to show that he’s still got a lot of left in the tank.
Juve will still need to be strong at the back no matter how freely the attack is able to score, and they still have one of the world’s best goalkeepers in Gianluigi Buffon, but the defense will have to make his job a little easier than they did at times last season. Juve allowed the third-fewest goals in Serie A last season, but 14 of those 37 goals came in that seven-match winless stretch, which is downright unacceptable if you’re a title contender.
The key for Juventus this season will be to avoid needlessly dropping points at home like they did last season, especially in the late skid that cost Ranieri his job. There were home defeats to Palermo and Cagliari, and draws against Lecce, Atalanta, Chievo Verona, and Sampdoria, which they can ill-afford if they’re to make a serious run at toppling Inter.
AC Milan
Can AC Milan challenge for a Serie A title with a new manager and without Kaka?
Well, they weren’t able to win one in the last five seasons with them, so…
AC Milan start the new season with a new manager in Leonardo and without Brazilian star Kaka, who moved to Real Madrid in early June for a then-record 68 million euros (the record was quickly eclipsed by Real Madrid’s 94m purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United).
The Rossoneri didn’t exactly do a lot with the money received from the sale of Kaka, with their only significant purchase being Real Madrid striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but that just means that they’ll be counting on those who are already there to step it up another level. That includes Ronaldinho, whose importance becomes all the more elevated after Kaka’s departure. Ronaldinho had eight league goals and five assists in 16 starts (29 total appearances) last season, but he’ll be expected to do much more this season.
Kaka was AC Milan’s leading scorer last season with 16 goals, but goals shouldn’t be an issue. Not only can Ronaldinho find the net regularly when he’s on top of his game, but AC Milan have one of the game’s top young forwards in Alexandre Pato, a still-lethal veteran in Pippo Inzaghi, and a deadly new weapon in Huntelaar.
Darkhorses/European Hopefuls
It’s tough to see anyone besides one of those three winning the title, but it’s not out of the question that someone else could make a run. Even if one of these sides below can’t catch the trio above, the remaining European places should come down to this quintet.
AS Roma
Roma finished a disappointing sixth last season after falling just short of the title in 2007/08, but they’ll look to bounce back this season. Roma sold star midfielder Alberto Aquilani to Liverpool for 20 million pounds earlier this month, but considering that the oft-injured Aquilani had spent more time injured than fit over the last few seasons.
Francesco Totti is still playing at a high level, and if he can remain fit, it’s all the better for Roma’s hopes for a top-four finish. Key attackers Mirko Vucinic and Julio Baptista are still in the fold after being linked with summer moves, and if talented young French forward Jeremy Menez can have a breakout season, Roma could b
The fact that their financial issues have kept them from being too active in the transfer market this summer keeps me from looking at them as serious title contenders, but Luciano Spalletti has a talented squad that could well make a run.
Fiorentina
Fiorentina have finished in the top four in each of the last two seasons, and despite selling Melo to Juventus, they should contend to do it once again this season, with strikers Alberto Gilardino and Adrian Mutu leading the way. I’d have liked to see them do a little more in the market than they did, but they did land a couple of solid pieces from Juventus in winger Marco Marchionni and veteran midfielder Cristiano Zanetti.
With Roma, Genoa, and perhaps Napoli and Palermo in the mix for fourth, Fiorentina won’t have an easy path to another Champions League place, but they’ve got the inside track to it, given their recent track record of success.
Genoa
Genoa finished fifth last season, just missing out on a place in the Champions League due to Fiorentina winning the head-to-head tiebreaker.
They may have lost Milito and midfielder Thiago Motta to Inter, but they were extremely active in the market this summer and have a squad capable of making another run at a Champions League place. Milito’s loss is a big one, but they bolstered the attack with the additions of Atalanta striker Sergio Floccari, veteran Argentine striker Hernan Crespo, and Boca Juniors star Rodrigo Palacio.
Napoli
Napoli had high expectations last season, but they wound up finishing a disappointing 12th.
As a result, they got busy in the transfer market, bringing in Udinese striker Fabio Quagliarella (21 goals in all competitions last season) and a host of other reinforcements that should see them be a much better overall side this season. If the new signings can make a significant impact and Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi can play up to his vast potential and ability after a rather disappointing season (only three goals and two assists in his last 16 games), I like Napoli’s chances to make a serious move up the table this season.
Palermo
Palermo finished 8th last season, and I like their chances to improve upon that finish this season, and put themselves in position to nail down a UEFA Europa League place, at the very least. They’ve got a solid front line led by Fabrizio Miccoli and Edison Cavani, who both scored 14 league goals last season, and they added a couple of talented young Argentine midfielders who could make a big impact this season in Nicolas Bertolo and Javier Pastore. However, they’ll need to improve defensively (50 goals allowed last season) if they want to make a significant move up the table.
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