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Serie A shopping spree

Big-money clubs to challenge for Italian title

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Posted: Tuesday August 24, 1999 04:14 PM

Serie A kicks off this weekend after the most expensive summer transfer market ever, with a cumulative expenditure of more than half a billion dollars. Every team thinks it has strengthened its squad, though only one will emerge. Read on to find out who it will be.

Fighting for the title

AC Milan is the defending champion, though it won the "scudetto" almost by inertia. Coach Alberto Zaccheroni's team ground out results with eerie efficiency and treated Serie A like a marathon, rather than a sprint. Milan left the front-running to Fiorentina, Parma and then Lazio, and when they all unraveled late in the season, the rossoneri came on and clinched the title.

Zaccheroni knows it won't be that simple this time around, so he strengthened the squad with some shrewd, if unspectacular moves. Striker Andryi Shevchenko was a relative bargain at US$22.7 million. He's 22 and he's just what the doctor ordered: one of the top 10 players in the world to complement the aging but still impressive Oliver Bierhoff and George Weah.

Quicksilver Brazilian Serginho was called in to man the left flank, and the midfield was further bolstered with promising youngsters such as Diego De Ascentis (from Bari) and Rino Gattuso (from Salernitana). The rest of the squad is filled with veterans who would be superstars elsewhere (Zvonimir Boban, Leonardo, Paolo Maldini), but they accept that Milan's squad system places the emphasis on the collective, rather than the individual.

Lazio made up for the loss of Christian Vieri by buying in bulk. With one bona fide superstar gone, it's betting on a promising youngster (Simone Inzaghi from Piacenza), a reliable workhorse (Kennet Anderson from Bologna) and a gifted, but oft-injured veteran (Alen Boksic, who missed almost all of last season). If one of those three can step it up and replace Vieri's presence and movement alongside Marcelo Salas, then Sven Goran Eriksson's men will be sitting pretty.

Club chairman Sergio Cragnotti has taken care of the rest of the team, which is bursting with talent at the back and in midfield. The defense consists of the magnificent Sinisa Mihalovic (he of the blistering free kicks) and three Italian internationals: Paolo Negro, Alessandro Nesta and Giuseppe Pancaro. Not content with one Argentine World Cup midfielder (Matias Almeyda), he added another three: Juan Veron (a US$31 million signing from Parma), Nestor Sensini (also from Parma) and Diego Simeone (who arrived in the Vieri deal). The only thing standing between them and their second-ever Serie A title is nerves, the same jitters which cost them last year's scudetto, which they lost by a single point.

Parma bought wisely in wingback Michele Serena and Brazilian forward Marcio Amoroso (last year's Serie A top scorer, a US$35.5 million signing from Udinese), less so in Ariel Ortega who will have to fill Veron's big shoes. Ortega is a supremely talented player, but he is also the quintessential individualistic basket case with megalomaniacal tendencies. He is a gigantic gamble and one which could prove to be costly.

Juventus' key acquisition is the return from injury of Alessandro Del Piero. Italy's Golden Boy is set to reform his successful partnership with Pippo Inzaghi, and Juventus has added strongman Darko Kovacevic (a rather pricey US$21 million signing from Real Sociedad) as extra cover up front.

Zinedine Zidane seems to have overcome his homesickness, and with the vicious Edgar Davids and the newly acquired Sunday Oliseh winning the ball for him, he probably won't miss his old buddy Didier Deschamps (who was sold to Chelsea). Two years ago Dutch goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar was one of the best in the world. Last season his form dipped severely, but Juve is betting heavily that he can recapture the old magic.

Fiorentina boss Giovanni Trapattoni has won more trophies than any active manager anywhere in the world, and last season he led the club to the Champions League. They are even better this year, having bolstered the front line with Yugoslav genius Predrag Mijatovic and the steady Enrico Chiesa. Pair them up with goal-scoring machine Gabriel Batistuta and midfield general Rui Costa, and you have one of the best front fours in the business. They'll score plenty of goals, though the defense, apart from goalkeeper Francesco Toldo, is a little suspect.

Challenging for Europe

Inter has once again provided a good example of how to spend gobs of money with little rhyme or reason. The US$50 million lavished on Vieri will be well spent if he and Ronaldo stay healthy. On paper, it's the best strike duo around, and the club still has the Roberto Baggio (or his alter ego, Uruguayan whiz kid Alvaro Recoba) dishing out the assists. But the rest of the lineup is in shambles, and despite spending more than US$120 million, chairman Massimo Moratti has failed to address the most pressing concerns. Newly acquired midfielder Vladimir Jugovic (from Atletico Madrid) is well past the sell-by date.

Last year's back line was woeful, and Inter's solution consists of importing Marseille's defensive pairing of Laurent Blanc (too slow, too old) and Cyril Domoraud (too inconsistent), as well as Panathinaikos' Giorgios Georgatos (too mediocre). And while new goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi is a solid performer, is he really that much of an improvement over Gianluca Pagliuca, who was unceremoniously offloaded to Bologna?

New manager Marcello Lippi has a lot of work to do if he wants to recreate the success he enjoyed at Juventus.

Roma has created an impressive front line by adding striker Vincenzo Montella (from Sampdoria) to the talented Francesco Totti and the hard-working Marco Delvecchio. Fabio Capello is a savvy manager, but he'll have his hands full dealing with a perennially underachieving club that always seems to crumble under the weight of Rome's bloodthirsty media.

Bologna could spring a surprise or two, having added three Inter players: the veteran Pagliuca, the tough-tackling Ze Elias and Nicola Ventola, one of Italy's most promising young forwards. Udinese still looks solid, provided new striker Roberto Muzzi (from Cagliari) can fill Amoroso's big shoes and elegant playmaker Stefano Fiore lives up to expectations. Newly promoted Torino, a club filled with quality veterans including former internationals Luca Bucci and Gigi Lentini (at one point, the most expensive player in the world), could also impress.

Fighting for Survival

Venezia's late-season run surprised many last year, and if newly acquired Japanese midfielder Hiroshi Nanami is up to par, they won't have any problems this year. Perugia's front line of Japan's Hidetoshi Nakata and Croatia's Milan Rapajic can carry it to safety, while Bari expects big things from Argentinean whiz kid Diego Markic. Piacenza's all-Italian lineup is still led by ancient center back Pietro Vierchowod (who turns 40 this season), while Cagliari will rely heavily on talented Uruguayan Fabian O'Neill. New boys Lecce and Reggina, meanwhile will be struggling to keep their heads above the water from day one.

Final Verdict

Expect Juventus to rise from the dead and go head to head with AC Milan and Lazio for the title, with the bianconeri just nipping it in the end. Inter should implode by midseason, unless Moratti takes out the checkbook once again. Reggina and Lecce simply aren't Serie A caliber clubs. They'll go down along with Verona and either Bari, Piacenza or Cagliari.

Extra Time

Why is Barcelona better than Real Madrid? Just look at the first week's games. Both clubs were mired in disappointing situations, Barca deadlocked at home to Zaragoza and Madrid losing at Mallorca. Both came back to win, 2-0 and 2-1 respectively, except while Barca's goals were the result of patient buildup and team effort, Madrid's where a product of luck and individual genius. While the former will eventually pay off, you can't count on the latter. ... Edgar Davids' glaucoma could prove to be more serious than expected. Juventus will find out this week if the Dutch hardman needs an operation. If he does, look for it to join the race for Real Madrid's Clarence Seedorf and firm up its offer for Manchester United's Roy Keane. ... Brazilian striker Romario leaves you unsure whether to laugh or cry. He keeps toiling away for fallen giants Flamengo in front of tiny crowds in the immense Maracana, on his way to his 200th goal for the Rio club. He says he's happy, playing for the club he loves in the city he loves. While it's nice to see a player who puts loyalty and happiness ahead of money, anyone who loves the game and remembers him with Barcelona or at USA ‘94 is left a little sadder to see such a genuine talent playing for such a sorry club. He could still play at the top level in Europe or for a big Brazilian team. He'll go down in history as a great one, but not as great as he might have been.

London-based Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com. To submit questions or comments to Gabriele Marcotti, click here.

 

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