JUVENTUS
Juve have played some of the most uninspiring football in
Serie A.
They are a forgotten cliché in modern football i.e. an
Italian team with
an almost impregnable defence. Ferrara and Montero are
back to their best.
A midfield seriously lacking in flair and creativity have
compensated with
their workrate. Del Piero may be struggling to score but
his service to
Inzaghi is Juve's main source of goals. Daniele Paserman
suggested Juve's
Intertoto cup exploits may come back to haunt them in
March and given the
teams experience and ability to handle pressure that
could be the only
hurdle that stands in their way.
Prospects : Champions - Incredibly difficult to beat.
Sooner or later
Del Piero will start scoring from open play.
Best Performers : Ferrara, Del Piero, Inzaghi
Flops : Bachini, Oliseh
LAZIO
Inspired by Veron this expensively assembled team quite
simply blew away
the opposition at home and in Europe. With no obvious
weaknesses Lazio
looked on course for their first scudetto in over two
decades that is until
the Rome derby. Roma abused their neighbours, running out
4-1 winners.
Lazio haven't recovered. The inspirational Veron has lost
his inspiration
and has been continually substituted in recent weeks. The
defence remains
solid but Salas has dried up in attack and Ravanelli's
signing smacks of
desperation. Eriksson's inability to handle pressure
transmits itself onto
the team. Lazio's 4th week victory over Parma has been
their only success
against their title rivals. They must pass this test in
the second half of
the season if they are to win a long awaited scudetto.
Prospects : Champions League - Will crack under pressure
as they have done in the past two seasons forcing
Eriksson to leave.
Best Performers : Veron, Salas, Nesta
Flops : Veron, Salas, Nesta!
ROMA
Spearheaded by an all Italian attack - Totti, Delvecchio
and Montella,
Roma found themselves top of the league until two
surprising defeats before Christmas saw them overhauled
by Juventus and Lazio. Despite the blip, this Roma team
is much improved over previous seasons. Not surprisingly,
Capello has tightened things up at the back in particular
away from home. Although the central defence still looks
suspect in Cafu and Candela Roma have the best full backs
in European Football, both players equally adept at
attacking and defending. Despite Nakata's arrival Roma
lack is strength in depth, particularly in attack. Next
season with the arrival of Samuel and Emerson Roma will
be serious title contenders this season however they may
have to be content with a Champions League place.
Prospects : Champions League - Not enough depth
Best Performers : Totti, Delvecchio, Candela
PARMA
It took Parma 5 weeks to win their first league match but
they went on to
collect 25 points from their next 10 league games. It's
worth noting however most of these points were earned
against the lesser clubs, Parma's only success over the
title contenders came in week 14 against Roma. Thuram and
Cannavaro remain a formidable partnership but they have
been making uncharacteristic mistakes. Despite the
absence of injury plagued record signing, Amoroso, Parma
have had little trouble in scoring goals thanks largely
to Crespo and Fuser's precision crossing. It's in
midfield where Parma's problems lie. They have zero pace,
Ortega receives little
protection, Dino Baggio has become a liability. Parma
will have to try
again next season.
Prospects : Champions League/UEFA Cup - Will earn most of
their points
against the lesser clubs and lose out to Milan for the
remaining
Champions League place.
Best Performers : Crespo, Boghossian
Flops : Ortega, Thuram, Cannavaro
MILAN
In the early weeks of the season Milan continued to throw
away leads and
miss guilt edged chances to finish off the opposition.
Little has changed.
Milan have one of the worst defences in Serie A and the
best attack.
Shevchenko has struggled to adapt to Milan's confusing
tactics, failed to
develop an understanding with the forwards yet finds
himself 2nd in the
scoring charts! Serginho and Weah, two of the few players
with genuine
flair and creativity in the team have been made
scapegoats for the clubs
disastrous results in Europe and Serie A respectively.
It's obvious to a
blind man that Milan's problems lie in defence and
midfield. The coach's
insistence of picking Ayala, Helveg, Albertini and
Leonardo while
relegating the likes of Serginho, Boban, Ambrosini and
Gattuso to the
bench is bewildering. The arrival of Chamot ensures
Milan's defensive
nightmare will continue.
Prospects : Champions League - Awful defence, awesome
attack. Like Juve
incredibly resilient, very difficult to beat. The attack
should win
enough points to secure a Champions League spot.
Best Performers : Shevchenko, Boban, Maldini
Flops : Serginho, Leonardo, Bierhoff
INTER
Inter looked like potential Champions for about 5 weeks
before giving what
would become an all too familiar insipid away display -
against Venezia.
The team have been hit by injuries to several key players
most notably,
Simic, Vieri and the luckless Ronaldo who is out for the
season. Inter have
collected 7 out of a possible 24 points on the road, the
only two victories
against relegation threatened Torino and Reggina. The
players crumble far
too easily when things aren't going their way. Inter have
a Championship
winning team without a Championship winning mentality.
Prospects : Champions League/UEFA Cup - Require a
dramatic turnaround in away form if they are to finish in
the top 4.
Best Performers : Zamorano, Vieri, Georgatos
Flops : The whole team suck on the road
BARI
At the same stage of the champions last season Bari were
similarly placed
until a disastrous second half slump put paid to dreams
of a UEFA Cup place. Will they make the same mistakes?
Bari have survived the loss of annual top scorer Phil
Masinga thanks to the teenage strike due of Enynnaya and
Cassano, who have caught the eye in recent weeks with
some spectacular goals. Bari's main problem has been
their home form, they have drawn 5 out of their 8 home
games. They need to turn home draws into wins if they are
to secure a UEFA Cup place.
Prospects : UEFA Cup/Intertoto Cup
Best Performers : Collauto, Innocenti, Mancini
Flops : Osmanovski, Markic
BOLOGNA
Bologna have one of the worst attacks in the league but
also one the best
defences. Signori and Andersson will need to continue
shouldering the burden of scoring goals in attack as they
receive little help from the rest of the team.
Prospects : UEFA Cup/Intertoto Cup
Best Performers : Signori, Pagliuca, Andersson
Flops : Ventola
LECCE
A yo-yo team in recent seasons, relegation has always
followed promotion.
This season Lecce's performances suggest they are here to
stay. Sesa is the
provider and Lucarelli the finisher. A long term injury
to either could see
Lecce dragged into a relegation dogfight, if they remain
fit an Intertoto
Cup spot is a realistic target.
Prospects : Intertoto Cup
Best Performers : Lucarelli, Sesa
UDINESE
For the second successive season Udinese have sold off
their top striker,
this time however they have been unable to find an
adequate replacement
for Amoroso, Muzzi started well but has struggled in
recent weeks with
injury and poor form. Long term Udinese risk going the
way of Sampdoria
unless they put a stop to their annual summer sales.
Prospects : Intertoto Cup
Best Performers : Fiore, Muzzi, Sottil
Flops : Jorgensen, Sosa
FIORENTINA
New signings Mijatovic and Chiesa were expected to form a
formidable
partnership with Batistuta. It didn't happen. Mijatovic
was miserable in
the first few months of the season before injury
mercifully ruled him out.
Batistuta continues to lose more pace and precision with
each passing
season. Chiesa works like a dog but with receives no
support from a
disinterested Rui Costa. Fiorentina have been awful in
attack, are no
longer invincible at home and remain a soft touch away.
Prospects : Intertoto Cup
Best Performers : Batistuta, Toldo, Heinrich
Flops : Mijatovic, Rui Costa
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