Now that the first leg of the 2016/2017 Serie A championship has practically ended, you can find interesting food for thought on the (by now) usual confirmations and on the pleasant surprises that these first 18 days have offered us.
JUVENTUS - One thing is certain, and those who doubt it would be decidedly not very objective: Juventus, to avoid sensational twists and turns, will win their sixth consecutive Scudetto. If last season Massimiliano Allegri's team had initially given the impression of being worried by Rome, Naples and Inter, this year the music seems different, and the explanation of all this cannot - and must not - be reconnected only to Gonzalo Higuain, despite the fact that the "Pipita" is, to date, among the three most decisive strikers in Europe. The coach from Livorno, perhaps the real protagonist of the last scudetto won, managed to get rid of the ghost of Antonio Conte, his fantastic predecessor, once and for all, continuously demonstrating his ability to adapt his game system based on the situations he encounters along the way. Juve has now become a team that always responds, that knows how to be cynical and ruthless but that at the same time has learned to suffer, even if it is human and sometimes, as in the Doha Super Cup, it can make mistakes.
A LEAGUE - The first big surprise of this season, however, is not represented by a single player or by a particular team, but by a real turnaround: finally, after so many years, Serie A has returned to being a followed championship, which people are passionate about, despite the fact that the final result is, as mentioned, quite obvious. The good news is that, compared to past years, the pursuers - but not only - seem to have understood that to reach Juve it's not enough to spend and spread in the summer or in January, but planning, sacrifice and time are needed, you need to bet on promising young on trained coaches, leaving aside the big names. Certainly it is not a question related to the quality of the game expressed or the beauty of the stadiums, because a Roma-Juventus, a cartel match of recent years, can never be compared to a Real-Barcelona or a Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund.
NATIONAL - Fortunately, the FIGC is also proving to be in favor of this process of change. The Under 19 national team led in midfield by Manuel Locatelli lost the category European Championship in the final against France, still managing to snatch the ticket for the Under 20 World Cup, eight years after the last time. Gigi Di Biagio's Under 21 team will present itself as a protagonist at the next European championship which will take place next summer, being able to count on a group of players who know each other, many of whom are protagonists in the Serie B championship. Finally, the A national team led by Giampiero Ventura, after the fantastic French European of Antonio Conte's expedition, he embarked on the path of world qualifications with a group full of new faces, which has the Juventus defensive block and De Rossi in midfield as pillars.
Most probably the exploit of the national team in France this summer represented the start of the new trend we are talking about. Conte managed to involve an entire nation, transmitting his emotional charge and enthusiasm not only to the 23 players called up but also to all of us fans who supported the Azzurri from home. It had been years now, also considering the bad figures that the blue team has collected in the last continental and non-continental events, that such enthusiasm towards the national team was not perceived. As always, however, good things come to an end. Antonio Conte went to bring his talent to London, Chelsea side, and the president Tavecchio has decided to entrust the fate of Italy football in the hands of Giampiero Ventura, a choice that is anything but random.
YOUNG - No to big names, no to Capello coach, no to Lippi supervisor, the future of the Italian national football team has been entrusted to an expert coach, connoisseur and football teacher, who has always had provincial teams (from Pisa to Bari, up to the most famous Turin) and who above all has always bet on young. The Ligurian CT has launched into football that has players of the caliber of Bonucci, Cerci, Immobile, Baselli and Benassi. His tendency to bet on the green line is also finding space in the choices made in the various call-ups. Donnarumma has now become a staple of the A national team, ready to show his value in friendlies but above all to steal with his eyes from the exploits of Gigi Buffon, the best possible teacher for a young phenomenon from 1999.
Even the defensive department is well blended: the black and white BBC (Bonucci, Barzagli and Chiellini) for now remains the starting defensive trident, but at the same time has the task of acting as brooder for the - very strong - trident that will replace them, made up of Rugani, Caldara and Romagnoli, two born in '94 and one born in '95, just to be clear. The same goes for midfield. Marchisio and De Rossi have experience and quality to spare, Marco Verratti he has now become the point of reference on the Ventura chessboard, despite being just 23 years old. The future, however, seems to belong to the various Locatelli, Benassi, Baselli, Pellegrini and Gagliardini. Young and hungry kids, eager to play and show off but with a great desire to learn. The department in which perhaps the most experience is lacking, but also the potentially strongest one, is undoubtedly the attack. The duo fielded up to now by Ventura is nothing short of exciting: Immobile and Belotti. If the first is by now an established player, thanks also to the – not very lucky – experiences abroad, the "Gallo" is terribly strong but at the same time still raw.
BELOTTI - The growth margins of Andrea Belotti, the true revelation player of this 2016, are impressive. Born in 92, with a past in the Albinoleffe youth team before and with the Palermo shirt in Serie A, Belotti is a powerful, explosive player, a born warrior who runs and fights for every ball and who sees the goal like few others in Italy . President Zamparini chose to sell him two years ago to replace him with some unlikely presumed foreign talent, making a huge gift to Urbano Cairo and the granata fans. Just a few weeks ago, Toro renewed Belotti's contract, inserting a "monster" clause of 100 million euros. The hope is to see Gallo wearing the shirt of a great Serie A player, without taking anything away from Turin, so as not to see another talent from our championship go away, as it was for Verratti, who after a magnificent season in Serie B with Pescara emigrated to Paris and who, to date, doesn't even have a presence in Serie A. Belotti has already scored 30 goals in our league at this pace he will become one of the most prolific strikers in Europe.
THE REVELATIONS – Trying to describe the squad of the Italian national team of today and tomorrow, the names of very promising and talented players came up. All of this is thanks to Ventura's courage, but even before many Serie A clubs which this year have decided to focus on programming and invest in young people. Just think of Atalanta, Milan, Turin and Sassuolo. The trait that unites these four teams is well defined: the respective coaches are first of all football masters who, albeit with different peculiarities, have made their game system a real dogma. Let's take Gasperini for example; to Bergamo the "Gasp" has found the ideal environment, a company that excels at a youth level, a solid and compact ownership, which allows its coach to work without being bound by results. This year the Nerazzurri started very badly, but over time they have grown managing to reach sixth position, also thanks to the contribution of the three young promises Caldara, Gagliardini and Petagna, the backbone of the Bergamo team.
In Milano rossonera the situation is not so different. After the catastrophic last few seasons, in which 4 coaches have followed one another in 3 years (Seedorf, Inzaghi, Mihajlovic and Brocchi) this year Milan seems to have taken the right path. While awaiting developments in the negotiations with the Chinese investors, President Berlusconi gave precise orders to his faithful Galliani: build a team made up of young people, possibly Italians from the youth sector, and restart from a coach who is able to accompany a group inexperienced in the growth process. Until now, both diktats of the Cavaliere have been followed: Vincenzo Montella is doing an excellent job, Milan (with one game to recover due to the Supercoppa Italiana) are in the top five positions of the standings, if they play against everyone, they beat the Juve at San Siro after years that hasn't happened and entertains its fans with perhaps simple but very pragmatic football. However, what makes Milan one of the most pleasant novelties of this season is the starting eleven fielded by the "Aeroplanino". The average age of the team is surprisingly low and the young Rossoneri are showing talent to spare; Donnarumma is now a very regular player, as is Manuel Locatelli, match winner of the match against Juve with a fantastic goal. Calabria, full-back born in '96, is the reserve of De Sciglio, born in '92. To these four young players, who all grew up in the AC Milan academy, are added Alessio Romagnoli, a quick and strong marking defender from 1995, the Frenchman Niang and the Croatian Pasalic.
even the Torino by Mihajlovic is reaping the fruits of the investments made in young people. Despite the defeat in the eagerly awaited derby, the grenades play well and score a lot, showing off all the jewels of their squad: the now very successful Belotti Baselli and Benassi, but also Zappacosta and Barreca, the two full-backs of the Toro eleven who ensure push and cover.
Il Sassuolo of the patron Squinzi instead is paying for an endless series of injuries and also the commitment of the Europa League, a competition that the Emilians have respected and honored up to the last (unlike many other even more famous teams), without however being able to overcome the group. Eusebio di Francesco's team, coach of the Zeman school on the launch pad, is in the slums of the standings today, but will certainly be able to recover, because the game and talent are not lacking: Sensi, Mazzitelli, Pellegrini, Politano and Ricci (all school Rome except the first) are a splendid foundation on which to build the future.
In short, the prerequisites for kicking off a football decade studded with successes and talents are all there, you just need to have the courage to believe it.
