Week 19 of the current Serie A season is behind us and James McGhie takes a look at five things we learned watching Italian football's top-flight last weekend

1. Pioli has turned the Inter ship around.

 

After the failed experiment that was the Frank de Boer appointment, Inter wisely turned to an experienced Serie A coach in former Lazio, Bologna, and Palermo manager, Stefano Pioli. Since his November appointment, Inter have quietly gone about their business and, despite an inconsistent start which saw a Europa League elimination and a heavy loss to Napoli at the San Paolo, the nerazzurri have since gone on a run of four Serie A games without defeat, scoring 8 goals and conceding just one. The bigger picture however is actually far more impressive, as since Piolo's managerial debut; a 2-2 draw with city rivals Milan earned via a 92nd minute Ivan Perisic equaliser, Inter have taken 16 points from a possible 21 (5 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw).

 

As a result of this run of form, Inter have crept up into 7th place and sit just two points behind this seasons surprise package, Atalanta, and just five points outside the Champions League places. With January reinforcements on the way in the shape of Atalanta midfielder Roberto Gagliardini, and the promise of major summer investment from new owners at Suning Group, perhaps Inter fans can finally begin feeling optimistic about the future after what was a turbulent 2016.

 

 

It's true that regardless of whatever team you support, no-one likes to see any player go down with a serious injury. Genoa took on Roma at the Marassi on Sunday and while the giallorossi emerged victorious in their continued pursuit of Juventus, the real story was the tragic injury to young Genoa goalkeeper, Mattia Perin. Just seconds after producing a stunning stop to deny Edin Dzeko from claiming the opening goal, the Italian went down after scurrying back across his line and diving to block an anticipated shot on goal. 

 

By now most will have seen the shot of Perin hugging the leg of Roma midfielder Diego Perotti as he attempts to console the visibly upset Genoa player, and tests would later confirm that Perin had torn his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The cruelty of this is that Perin has just returned from an identical injury in his right knee in September last year, and the sad sight of the player on the Genoa bench in tears told most fans that he knew himself his season was over.

 

It is a cruel blow to one of Italy's most promising young goalkeepers who also missed out on a place in Antonio Conte’s Euro 2016 squad due his previous injury and when a queue of potential suitors from both Italy and abroad were lining up for Perin's services, this recent set back couldn't have come at worse time.

 

What has been heartening however is the outpouring of support via social media, from clubs and players across Italy. Milan, Inter, Roma, the Italian national side and even fellow goalkeeper Pepe Reina were amongst those taking to Twitter to wish Perin well in his recovery, and it's fantastic to see rivalries put aside with the Serie A community coming together for a player with the potential to go on and become one of Italy's top goalkeepers.

 

 

While Maurizio Sarri's Napoli are renowned for their one touch passing game, there have been occasions this season where the partenopei have failed to gather maximum points despite a fantastic display of attacking football.

 

At a freezing Stadio San Paolo on Saturday night, Napoli defeated Sampdoria by two goals to one in what was one of their more disjointed performances of the season. In a climate more akin to Glasgow than Naples, the pitch was the main culprit as the ball bobbled around and prevented Napoli from going into their free flowing attack mode. Despite this however, they did still boss possession and tried their best to stick to Sarri's philosophy.

 

The tone was set when Napoli fell behind to an Elseid Hysaj own goal, the right back chesting the ball into his own net in an attempt to cut out a cross which was ultimately falling to the unmarked Fabio Quagliarella at the back post. In retrospect, many Napoli fans would probably rather see Hysaj put the ball in the net, than witness the sight of local boy Quagliarella scoring at the San Paolo.

 

Into the second half and controversy in the 61st minute when Sampdoria went down to 10 men through what was a soft sending off as Matias Silvestre saw red for tangling with Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina. The replay showed that little contact had been made, however Silvestre did make a point of running towards Reina as he kicked the ball out, and in giving the referee a decision to make, he paid the ultimate price.

 

The introduction of Manolo Gabbiadini on 71 minutes resulted in the equalising goal just six minutes later and, in a grand stand finish which saw five additional minutes of stoppage time, it was debutant Lorenzo Tonelli who stepped up to fire high into the roof of the net from a Strinic cut back, to send the San Paolo wild. Tonelli has always stated that his dream since he was a child was to hear the San Paolo crowd roar his name after a goal; Tonelli himself couldn't have written a better script.

 

Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero later stated that Sampdoria were robbed and that his side "crushed" Napoli, however the stats show that despite a red card, freezing conditions and poor playing surface, the hosts still dominated proceedings with 73% possession, 23 attempts on goal to Sampdoria's 9, and a whopping 672 completed passes to Sampdoria's 180.

 

It wasn't the most pleasing performance on the eye, but all Napoli fans will care about, is that 2017 got off to a winning start and they proved, finally, that they can get the job done when the performance isn't going to plan.

 

 

The downside to being a "smaller" club is that on the rare occasions you over achieve, the attentions of bigger clubs will focus on the players who have been instrumental in making it happen.

 

This is sadly looking like being the case for Atalanta who, despite continuing where they left off in 2016 by defeating Chievo 4-1 in Verona in their first Serie A match of 2017, continue to see their best and brightest young talents linked with moves away from Bergamo.

 

Inter have already agreed a fee to take midfielder Roberto Gagliardini to Milan and in what was called a mark of respect, Atalanta left the player out of the squad on Sunday. With Franck Kessie, continually linked with English Premier League leaders Chelsea, currently away on international duty with the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations, many onlookers were curious to see how Atalanta would fare without two of their top performers this season.

 

Despite extending their unbeaten Serie A run to 3 games, a huge Coppa Italia clash with Juventus looms large on January 10th and with reports on Monday suggesting that a €12m bid is inbound from Turin for Atalanta's highly rated right back Andrea Conti, it will be interesting to see just who remains at Bergamo after the conclusion of the Italian transfer window on February 2nd.

 

 

As temperatures dropped across Italy at the weekend and warnings of potential match postponements spread across social media, it was Pescara v Fiorentina which would fall foul of the weather as the pitch was buried under heavy snow and the surrounding area deemed too dangerous for supporters.

 

It was somewhat ironic that a game was called off on the day Serie A resumed from a break designed to skip the worst of the late December weather. In England, the Premier League continues over Christmas and New Year which while resulting in a hectic schedule of games where teams often play twice in the space of 72 hours, supporters embrace and enjoy a glut of football action over a holiday period that is often shared with families and friends with Premier League football becoming something of a Christmas and New Year tradition in its own right in the UK.

 

It would be fantastic to see Serie A adopt a similar schedule rather than break for three weeks for the festive period, especially when the climate doesn't normally require it. And while I'm sure players, managers and staff at clubs up and down the country wouldn't welcome working over Christmas, I'm sure supporters in Italy would love it; and after all, isn't that what matters?




James McGhie (@jrmcghie) is the founder of @SemprePodcast,the original & best SSC Napoli podcast for English speaking supporters across the world.