Serie A Storylines #2538

Serie A

Inter Milan's Lack of Mentality

Inter Milan remains very heavily in the title race. However, it took a big blow Thursday night when they lost their game in hand to Fiorentina. Despite dominating the match in pretty much every conceivable aspect. They conceded three goals in the second half but ultimately killed their possibility of closing the Gap between themselves and Napoli. Inter Milan is the best team in Italian football by a country mile. Theoretically. Inter Milan have won the title twice in the last 5 years. Ever since around 2020, they have an edge over the rest of Italian football. In all honesty, they should have run the table and could easily be going for their fifth consecutive title. Even if that is a stretch since 2020, they should have at least three League titles in their possession. Instead, they've only won twice over that time. Most would be happy with that return. However, the complicated thing about Inter Milan is the fact they have had significantly better sides across the board. They let Napoli and AC Milan win a title on their watch. This was supposed to be Inter Milan's era. Practically ever since Antonio Conte started to build this inter-Milan side, they have been among the best sides in the world. Although they have won the title twice, they have suffered shortcomings in almost every conceivable way. The two League titles they have are nothing to sneeze at. However, Inter Milan or on the verge of possibly throwing away a title to another team that would be considered one of the weaker teams in a decade to win the league. During those two years that they won the title, they had the necessary intangible mentality to do so it quickly faded away. I'm not saying it's game over but the reality is they're still in the title race but there's evidence to suggest now that things are starting to slip out of their control. Thusday night losing to Fiorentina. Even though the viola only held 29% possession. Optically, the decision-making has been questionable at best. While I still believe they will certainly be a part of the title race the rest of the season with a victory on Wednesday as opposed to a loss they will be level on points. Napoli has gone through some serious dysfunction and even though there is quality in that side, the truth is Napoli. Just like Milan in 2021 would be considered two of the worst teens to win the league in a decade. What I mean by this is in terms of the quality of their side from top to bottom. They would be on the lower end of quality sides to have won the league. The worst team to have won the league this decade was the Juventus team that won the league during Conte's first season. They are on the verge of letting another team that would be considered on the lower end of great champions in Italy win a title on their watch. Inter Milan would possibly be responsible for two of the last three weakest champions in Italian football over the past 15 years. They have quality all over the place. They are one of the best teams in the world. At some point, they have to start acting like it. On top of that, they seriously have a problem with the goalkeeper. Martinez was brought in from Genoa for 15 million. He was supposed to be the heir to the throne for aging Sommer. He has only appeared in one match this season. Meanwhile, the Swiss keeper has been exceptional in the Champions League matches and has been not adequate enough in the league matches. At this moment. Martinez started slow although Latuaro it's starting to get into gear. Inter Milan have failed to beat AC Milan in all three matches. They have played this season. The Super Cup may not mean a ton but to lose the AC Milan after having a two-goal lead. Unable to beat them last weekend and honestly have not been able to deliver in the matches that have meant the most. We all criticize Napoli for their inability to beat teams in the top six Inter Milan seems to have the same problem. It's a total mess and I think everyone is starting to lose faith in them as a possible champion. This Napoli side winning the league would not do service considering the lack of qualities that they actually have. Antonio Conte is one of the best coaches in Europe, but if this Napoli side wins the title, it is not anybody else's fault. It is only Inter Milan's fault. We're going to watch two of the weaker sides win the title be crowned while at the same time, Inter Milan holds one of the best squads at all of Europe. In 12 months the mentality has gone out the window. They need to find it before they damage the reputation of Italian football.

A.C Milan's Bring Attack Ignore More Pressing Issue

AC Milan Over the last couple of seasons has backed themselves into a corner with some of the decisions they've made, particularly in the transfer market. This January was a good opportunity to address some of those problems. They were very short-sighted with some of the decision-making that took place. While they finally addressed some of the problems in the attack, they completely ignored their most pressing issue which is in midfield. 2 years ago they spent more money in Italian football than anybody else. 3 years ago they brought in Charles from Belgium. They refused to play him in his actual position. King Charles is a striker, a false nine, or a central attacking midfielder. For most of his first season at AC Milan. He was played in central midfield. Was never given an opportunity in the attack in a true way. The Italian media slandered him as a signing. Furthermore, when he went off to Bergamo they were ripped for it as well. As if they were completely ignoring the obvious. Since he's left town, he's won the Europa League and been to a Copa Italia final. Not to mention has outscored AC Milan's attacking players outside of Olivier Giroud. 15 goals and 11 assists last season. This season he continues to display tantalizing form. Every time Charles puts the ball in the back of the net. That is another 12 million reminders of what AC Milan did. They didn't give him a fair chance they let him go off. They sold him for a negative 12 million profit. Bought him for 40-plus million. Sold him for 24. In terms of transfers we have seen in recent years, it will go down as one of the dumbest decisions in Italian football history, at least in this era. They have finally addressed it. AC. Milan is having one of their worst seasons. This side collectively is incredibly average. The way they have gotten away with insane criticism due to some of the struggles of Roma is remarkable. They've gone through two managers this season. They're not going to make the Champions League this season. And only recently have we seen an uptick with AC Milan. On Wednesday they ended up knocking out Roma in the cope Italian so possibly a cup run is on the horizon. They also did win the Super Cup to be fair. However, collectively, there have been some real issues with this team. It's incredibly average. They're not going to allow King Charles to make them look like donkeys the way he has ever since he's gone to Bergamo. They brought in Santiago Giminguez as the Mexican striker has been scoring goals for fun in the Netherlands. They spent about 39 million on him. They brought in Felix from Chelsea on a loan with a possible obligation of around the 30 million Mark. They brought in Riccardo Sottil from Fiorentina also on loan and so forth. They address the attack in a big way. The new manager has brought in the necessary quality in the attack. Remember this team also possesses Raphael Leao and Christian pulisic. These were very smart signings from a single line. However, the attack is not the reason they've had this sort of season. It's the midfield. They brought in Bono from Monza to me he's a decent player but certainly doesn't move the needle. If we look at AC Milan's midfield they possess one of the best in Europe. There's no doubt about that with Tijani Reijnders. However, he doesn't have quality around him. He has a bunch of imbeciles around him. Yunus Musah wouldn't start for most teams. There are mid-table sides that would not start him. There are relegation sides that would not start him. I know he's partly playing because of injuries, however, the fact that he is a pillar of a starting midfield in lies the problem. Youssouf Fofana is a decent player in his first season. I'm not sure it moves the needle. He's serviceable enough but doesn't completely single out the midfield issues. Leaving Ruben Loftus-Cheek from injury. That's their midfield. Roma has been brutal this season. They have a better midfield. Every team in the top six has a better midfield. The way they ignored this issue so magnificently blows my mind. Milan also have Tammy Abraham in the attack. I'm not knocking their decision to bring in the attacking firepower they did but it's not going to matter if they can't win games in midfield. There were players available in those areas they could have brought in and decided not to. So in some senses, they finally started to make apologies for the way they handled it. The biggest issue was in midfield and they still got almost nothing there. It will be interesting to see how this all develops. They have the attacking pieces and if everything works out up front they'll be golden so they did a very good job. But they also missed the biggest issue which in lies the continued problem with AC Milan.

Raneri’s Adjustments

Napoli do not have European football this season, which in many ways has come at a huge advantage to them. This campaign had they had a more busy schedule, the circumstances could be very different. Roma have played 32 matches this season. Napoli have played 23. That’s a big difference Roma has had to deal with this hectic schedule. The entire campaign, which probably in the long run, has not helped their League ambitions this season and perhaps it’s the reason they struggled so much early on. Given everything that Raneri needs to consider, of course, Napoli is a huge rivalry with Roma. The Derby del Sol is a huge deal and beating Napoli or taking any points they could take off of Napoli is always important. However, considering the number of big matches Roma has had lately, Raneri had to make some choices. Thursday night he played a full squad. He rested some players in the previous match for freshness that his team would have against Frankfort. Weirdly, the 72-year-old tactician prioritized winning that match and was willing to sacrifice some rust that they would have against Napoli. However, was obscure and hard to understand. Ranieri after playing a full deck of cards on Thursday against Frankfurt rotated the squad heavily. Ranieri dropped five starters to the bench before the match against Napoli. Artem Dovbyk, Dybala, Alexis Saelemaekers, Leo Paredes, and Matt Hummels were all dropped. Four of the five ended up coming off the bench throughout the 90 minutes. However, the audacity and the goal to make that sort of bold choice seemed a little bit out of place. Instead of the link-up of the Ukrainians and the Argentine in attack. He went with Shumurdov & Soule The two of them ended up connecting on Roma’s second goal against Frankfurt. That was probably the main eye-scratcher in terms of the lineup. However, Raneri knew what he was doing because it paid off. The thinking behind. That is probably if things get chippy Roma can bring some of Roma’s best players off the bench to change the game. That’s exactly how things unfolded. That’s exactly what happened. Although I thought the front too did play pretty well. Soule was one of the big acquisitions of the summer from Juventus. The Argentine has been very inconsistent this season. With just one goal this campaign after scoring 12 last season. There’s talent there. He just hasn’t been able to have a smooth transition into Roma. He played all 90 minutes. Played well although he didn’t manage to score or get a goal contribution he was a big asset in the attack although his finishing in front of the goal left something to be desired. The only reason Napoli was in front to begin with was an uncommon mistake by Roma’s goalkeeper. Although it may have been outside of the box type of thinking and in many ways was difficult to understand the decision he made to rotate the squad as much as he did turned out to be the right call to make. Remember they have to play AC Milan in the quarterfinals of the Copa Italia on Wednesday. He has to be somewhat mindful of the important games that he has to his disposal. Considering how Roma played and the progress they have made over the last few weeks it turned out to be the right call to make had he played full strength from the start. He would not have had the rotation off the bench that could have affected the game and the way it did. Interesting choices to make, but in the end it certainly looked like the right choice and it paid off for Roma.