And here we are again, ready to draw up the year-end balance sheet for the second consecutive year. 2012 brought joys and sorrows to the big names in our football, who are now enjoying the holidays (some more, some less) thinking about 2013, which will open with the repair market. We will use the same criterion adopted in 2011: in giving marks we will only take into consideration the second part of the current year. Needless to explain why: the football seasons follow a different calendar than the "normal" one, so it's a bit like New Year's Eve arrives in May, when championship and cups are decided. In June then everything resets, and at the end of December what happened in the spring is already better than forgotten. In the hope of not ruining Christmas for anyone, we are thus going to judge the great local ones. Wishing you happy holidays, we give you an appointment for 2013, ready to dive into the transfer market and matches. Hoping it can be a better year, even if, sportingly speaking, some have already gone quite well like this.
Juventus 9,5
Exactly one year ago we gave a good 9 to the Old Lady. With a pinch of wide sleeves and a discreet long eye, we predicted that the bianconeri could have achieved great satisfaction. So it was, and the feeling is that we are just at the beginning. With the Scudetto archived, Conte's boys have started again really well. And to think that there was no shortage of problems: from Del Piero's traumatic farewell to Conte's disqualification, the new season seemed to start under a bad star. Instead, Juventus reacted brilliantly, winning the Italian Super Cup and, above all, plowing the championship and the Champions League like no other. In particular, it is the primacy of our house that causes a stir, so much so that many argue that the games are already over. We don't know if that's really the case (but the odds are high), but this Juve certainly doesn't seem to want to leave much to their opponents. There is only one curiosity for 2013: will the black and whites be able to take over Europe as well? Up to now things have gone quite well (record in a difficult group), but history is yet to be written. And this Juve has all the credentials to do so, especially if Agnelli and Marotta give them a top attacking player. The last thing missing to bring the team back to the glories of the past.
LAZIO 7,5
Behind Juve is Lazio, and this in itself is already news. In fact, raise your hand who, last summer, would have predicted such a scenario? Someone could object that second place counts relatively, because at the moment no one really threatens the bianconeri, but this cannot and must not detract from the merits of Claudio Lotito's biancocelesti. In fact, he is the true icon of this Lazio: discussed, criticized, sometimes even contested, the president has taken us again, demonstrating a remarkable ability to combine corporate needs (were it not for the debts of the Cragnotti era, the coffers would even thriving) with sports ones. Lotito's little game consists in carefully avoiding the spotlights of the market, where the figures are often higher than the value of the coaches and players. A choice that often places his Lazio on the sidelines of predictions and forecasts, but what matters is the real ranking. And there the biancocelesti often get great satisfactions. Then Petkovic's move was decisive, a coach almost unknown to critics and fans, who proved to be one of the best in our league. With him at the helm, Lazio has maintained the standards of the Reja era, but adding a pinch of modernity, and therefore of charm. With these premises, the Champions League area is no longer a dream.
NAPOLI 7
Had we written this article a couple of weeks ago, we would probably have given Napoli one more vote. But how, you will say, is 15 days enough to change a judgment? Yes, if the two weeks in question had the power of a Tsunami. During the weekend of the Immaculate Conception, Napoli had the opportunity to challenge Juventus. Instead came the defeat at San Siro against Inter, and the inexorable descent began. In just a few days, everything really happened: from the beating against Bologna in the league to the one in the Italian Cup, passing through the cleaver of the Sporting Justice, which took away from the Azzurri two points in the standings, as well as captain Cannavaro and Grava. It's a good thing that a (suffering) victory came in the last match against Siena, otherwise nobody in Naples would have celebrated… Seriously, the vote for the Azzurri remains good, because all in all only Juve proved to be superior. The feeling, however, is that this team is never able to really make the leap in quality. Market fault? Of the pressures of the square? Or perhaps of Mazzarri, increasingly distant from a future on the slopes of Vesuvius? Difficult to give an answer: if anything, that will arrive in a few days, when the winter transfer campaign opens. There we will understand if Napoli wants to become great, or if they prefer to continue like this. Thus obtaining good results, but without warming the hearts of one's own people.
INTER 6,5
Downhill vote for the Stramaccioni gang, which arrived at the end of 2012 almost crawling. A season that started very early (it was August 2nd) is making itself felt, as is the summer transfer market, which is anything but perfect. Having said that, the judgment remains more than sufficient, partly because Inter had started almost from zero (or rather from a sixth place), partly because all in all we saw more good things than negative. The victories in direct clashes do not lie: the stuff to get up there is. If anything, the problem lies in the quantity of the same, more suitable for a bikini than a long evening dress. Moratti has the task of doing the shopping in January, because Stramaccioni will take care of the rest. The coach deserves a higher mark than his players (at least a 7), who he has been able to, if not dominate, at least involve him in his project. There are two ways of being a coach: with the whip (à la Capello) or with the word (à la Ancelotti). Mourinho (the best seen at Inter since Herrera) knew how to use both methods, Strama, for now, relies more on the second than on the first, but having tamed lions like Cambiasso or Cassano is an indication of a certain intelligence, as well as skill. So why this delay from Juve? Perhaps the error is upstream: but who said that Inter must fight for the Scudetto? January could change the prospects, but for now the only real plausible goal seems to be a place in the Champions League. And the nerazzurri are fully in the race.
ROME 6
Maybe we are. Maybe, because with Zeman you never know. It can happen to witness real slaughters of opponents (Milan knows something about it), as well as suicides that not even Freud would be able to explain (such as against Bologna or Udinese). This is Zeman beauty, and you can't help it, Humphrey Bogart would say, and undoubtedly he would be right. The Bohemian is like a crazy elevator: sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down. At the time of writing, Roma is approaching the upper floors, with lots of entertainment and some jolts (Chievo Verona) just so as not to lose their usual habits. The vote is the consequence of what has been seen so far: a sufficiency, nothing more and nothing less. The game was exhilarating at times, but never transcendental (like last season's Pescara), which brings grist to the mill of the malicious ones: with Zeman it's difficult to win. However, the results improve visibly, respond the followers of the Bohemian, and 2013 could give great satisfaction. Certainly one thing cannot be argued about: this Totti is back to the levels of the past, when the springs on his shoulders (and the scars on his knees) were much less. Thanks to Zeman and his marine-style preparation, which seems to have rejuvenated the Captain in his legs and spirit. But with the Bohemian, the law of retaliation is always around the corner: for every goal you score, there's one you take. And so here is the De Rossi case, on the edge of the squad he wasn't even the last boy of the Primavera. Consequences of a very particular coach, who in 2013 will finally try to make the leap in quality. Just like the Rome of the Americans.
MILAN 5
The vote remained the same as on August 31st, when we decreed the judgments on the summer transfer market. Milan has sorted out its economic balance sheet, but certainly not the sporting one. The last beating came at the Olimpico against Roma, and who knows if Berlusconi, as well as in politics, hasn't decided to take the field on the transfer market as well. Regardless of ideologies, that's where the Rossoneri fans want to see him, because this team needs a good restyling, which only the president's millions can give. It will be necessary to start from the defence, literally devastated by the departure of Thiago Silva and by the farewell of Nesta. Allegri knows this well, as he alternated between men for over three months, to then choose the less bad ones (Yepes and Mexes), with whom he still embarks a lot of water. The midfield also needs to be fixed, orphaned by the various Seedorfs, Gattuso and Van Bommel, also deprived of De Jong. There's no point making fun of yourself: Muntari and Ambrosini aren't playmakers, they're just good matchmakers. On the other hand, arrivals of level in attack are superfluous, unless the sales of Robinho and Pato arrive (rather probable). In short, the summer spending review fixed the accounts, but now we need to think about the team. Otherwise, the Rossoneri will not play in the European cups next year, or at the very least they will compete in the peripheral arenas of the Europa League, with all the economic losses involved. Investing today so as not to cry tomorrow, this must be Berlusconi's plan. Otherwise the May vote will be the same.
