The title race will be solved by Inter or Juventus this season. Milan will have nothing to do with it and seven days before the start of the season soccerpie gives you the comparison of three biggest Italian clubs.
Inter – life without Ibrahimovic
Inter are certainly starting the new season as favourites for lo scudetto, however the difference in the quality is not so big anymore, as Juventus are reinforced and much stronger.
Mourinho lost Ibrahimovic, who never excelled in big matches, but he was the decisive factor against smaller clubs. Etoo is not the same kind of player; Italian champion lost a lot with Swede’s departure.
They are still looking for the offensive midfielder and the first target is Sneider but he is too expensive. They are also thinking about Van der Vaart or Aimar. Someone will come, which will certainly add a new quality to the team.
They gained a lot by signing Lucio, Genoa tandem, Thiago Molta and Milito are excellent player and a lot will depend on if Mourinho will succeed in dealing with Mario Balloteli’s temper.
Potential weakness might be the lack of creativity and the fact that Inter are the club that fall apart after only a few failures. Their advantage is a deep bench, huge experience, Mourinho and his ability to lift the pressure off the team, by drawing media attention to him. Also, in the last two years Inter are protected as endangered species.
Whatever happens, champions will fight for the title.
Juventus – the winners of the transfer window
Sports director Secco has learnt his lesson. After signing solid players in transfer windows, but not top-class ones, the biggest Italian club paid 50 million Euros and filled the voids that limited the team in the last two seasons.
Generally speaking, Juventus lacked the creativity in the midfield,
4-4-2 formation, on which Ranieri stubbornly insisted on was based on individual qualities of legendary captain Alex Del Piero. Juve did come in second, but truth to be told, they never even threatened Inter.
Now things are completely different; Melo and Diego are excellent signings, the missing link and we must also mention the return of Cannavaro. No defender shines in Real Madrid, just remember Walter Samuel in his best days. The return to Italy will help Cannavaro hide his real age, stay in form for his farewell campaign on the World Cup in South Africa and be the pillar of defense, with Giorgo Chellini to support him in both Juventus and national squad. We are yet to see if young Caceres, who arrived from Barca can regain his form from the time when he was in Villarreal.
Sissoko and Melo are the best tandem of midfielders in Italy and Pavel Nedved’s retirement will be compensated with the change of formation. Don’t forget that Juve have plenty of options in young players from their academy like De Ceglie, Giovinco and Marchisi.
Their attack is also the best in whole Italy, having in mind all four players: Amauri, Trezeguet, Iaquinta,
and there is no need to speak of Diego, as this Brazilian with German mentality is certainly one of the strongest weapons in “old lady’s” title race.
Juve have weaknesses too; actually defense is not well-covered as neither Grygera nor Molinaro have the champions pedigree, while Salihamidzic is an excellent alternative but he often has troubles with injuries. Many mention the inexperience of Ciro Ferrara, but he has the experience and advice of one of world’s best coaches, Marcelo Lippi.
With their hunger for triumphs “old lady” will be matching rivals to Inter this season.
Milan – end of an era
Rossoneri will have to get used to life without Kaka. This was a tumultuous summer in Milan squad; they sold the best player, without bringing the adequate alternative. Berlusconi bought some peace by signing Huntelaar, but we are not sure that this is the problematic position in Milan.
Maldini left, Nesta will play but his back is in terrible condition. Signings like Thiago Silva and Oniewu don’t fit “diavolo” standard.
There are many doubts, Leonardo hopes that his compatriot Ronaldinho will manage to find the hunger for football he had when he played the first two seasons in Barcelona. What we saw during summer is not at all encouraging.
There are a lot of „ifs“ in Milan’s campaign, if you know what we mean. Few injuries will be enough for the whole team to collapse. Abiatit is injured, Boriello has recovered, players like Zambrota, Pirlo and forever young Pippo Inzaghi have seen their best days.
Pato will stay but it will only be harder for him as at his age he can hardly handle the pressure in such a big club. Last year’s back-ups like Flamini turned out to be failures. They say that the transfer window is not over yet but even if they sign few other big names, Milan will still be much weaker than Inter and Juventus. Their aim should be the third place, but as Galliani himself said it, even that will be hard to achieve.
Don’t be surprised if this is season turns out to be another failure for the famous club.
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