At the end of the year there are still a few days to go, but football, in fact, has already closed its 2021, allowing us to draw up the long awaited pageant a little early. It is always good to clarify the criteria before even starting, because the sport most loved by Italians, as we know, does not follow the solar calendar, rather it overlaps the end of one season with the start of another.
Often, in short, it is almost impossible to combine the two things, but sometimes some manage to do so well, or so badly, that they end up succeeding. It is the case ofInter, who takes a nice 8 both in terms of Conte and Inzaghi management. One has brought a Scudetto that has been waiting for 11 years, the other is sowing its best efforts to do the same and give continuity to a splendid collective work, brilliantly directed by Marotta (vote 9). The difficulties of this summer must not be forgotten, because many, after the farewells of Conte, Hakimi, Lukaku and Eriksen, have thought of an Inter in disarmament, ready to abdicate a newly conquered throne. Instead, the club has been able to move perfectly, plugging the holes in the budget without weakening the team, starting with the choice of a good and intelligent coach (score 8), capable of restarting from the work of his predecessor by adding a pinch of healthy technical freedom - tactic that doesn't hurt.
Right behind it is Milan, which closes its 2021 with a full 7. The vote could have been higher, but the latest ups and downs, combined with the elimination from the Champions League, lead us not to exaggerate. However, the Rossoneri's journey remains very good, because it should not be forgotten where they started from, nor the economic hardships in which Maldini (8), the great director of the team together with coach Pioli (7), moved. The coach is leading a well-built group in the best possible way, but with one big drawback: the injuries, both in the first and in the second part, were really too many, so as to suggest some mistakes in the preparation. Milan's prospects revolve precisely around the aforementioned question, because dreams of glory pass through the recovery of the squad.
A similar argument can also be made for the Naples, whose mark (6+) it's a mix between May's insufficiency (unforgivable to have missed the Champions League against Verona!) and today's full sufficiency, even if with a worrying asterisk related to the last period. The difficulties revealed with Empoli and Spezia, just to stay with the very recent past, create various apprehensions for the blue people, once again grappling with a beautiful team, technically strong and complete, but capable of melting away whenever the bar is raised. Spalletti (score 6,5) first of all has to train his head, also because De Laurentiis doesn't seem willing to help him much on the market, thus fueling the strange discontent that reigns in the shadow of Vesuvius.
Vote 7 instead to Atalanta, now regulars in the Champions League: something that seems obvious but it is not at all, given the incredible economic differences between her and the contenders. Gasperini's work (7 like his team) remains excellent, but there is still no excellence, as we have seen in the last few games, when many went too far to even talk about the Scudetto. And instead, immediately after the bad elimination with Villarreal, here are the missteps with Rome and Genoa, to remind the Goddess how the road to glory, the real one, is still long, as well as full of traps that could even jeopardize the Champions League placement.
Behind him, in fact, there is Juventus, capable of recovering points and positions with a good December, even if helped by a fairly easy calendar. Obviously, this is not enough to avoid its insufficiency, a full 5 mitigated by the qualification for the round of 5,5 of the Champions League, an essential result for the company coffers. Under accusation, more than Pirlo and Allegri (5 for both), however, there is the management: Agnelli (4), net of the well-known off-field events, made the wrong choice of post Marotta, entrusting his creature first to Paratici , then to Cherubini (XNUMX to both). The result was a chain of errors, first of all on the market, with the inevitable consequence of having worsened the accounts without however reinforcing the squad, on the contrary… January, in this sense, can help to reverse the trend, but it is clear that it will not be enough to completely remedy the mistakes made, especially since any reinforcements, barring very rapid moves, would arrive after the clashes with Naples, Rome and Inter (Super Cup), probably already decisive for the continuation of the season.
Behind the Lady there are really the Giallorossi, authors of a very disappointing 2021 (vote 4,5). The first part was downright disastrous, as evidenced by the seventh place finish at minus 17 from the Champions area, the second instead was slightly better, but still far from the expectations of the square. Mourinho (voto 5) was welcomed as an emperor, able to fill the gap with the competitors through his experience and ability, yet the results have not changed that much. Of course, the gap from fourth place is no longer so embarrassing, but today it is difficult to think that Roma can return to the Europe that counts, unless José returns to the Special of the past.
Half a vote more, despite the point less in the standings, for the cousins of Lazio (5), if only for the sixth place of the previous season, which was worth at least the Europa League. Even here, however, the expectations have not been met, because Sarri (5), embraced like the anti Mou, has not yet managed to give a precise identity to the team, actually ending up confusing it and weakening its strengths. The Milinkovic-Leiva-Luis Alberto trio was envied by everyone, but today, a little due to age issues (see Leiva), a lot due to the coach's ideas (Luis Alberto), they are a shadow of times gone by: the result is that the biancocelesti, if Immobile (7,5) does not think about it, end up getting lost in the maze of a game that is beautiful on paper, but difficult to implement as soon as the ideal elements are missing.
The rest of Serie A, net of a far from strong League (5), stands out for the Fiorentina of Italian (6,5), theEmpoli by Andreazzoli (7), the Bologna by Mihajlovic (6,5), the Verona of Tudor (7), the Torino of Juric (6), the Sassuolo of Dionysus (6,5) and the Sampdoria by D'Aversa (6+), able to get up despite the arrest of his president Ferrero, while in terms of individuality it is impossible not to start from Vlahovic (8), the true great protagonist of the championship together with the aforementioned Immobile. On the other hand, Shevchenko's Genoa (4), Mazzarri's Cagliari (3) and the management of the Salernitana case, on which it is good to open a separate chapter, are very bad.
Judging the team would be like shooting at the Red Cross, better to focus on who made such a massacre possible, starting with Lotito, passing through the two trustees, up to Gravina (vote 1 to all): how was it Is it possible not to notice in time a clearly irregular situation? At the time of writing, the club has not yet found a buyer, which means that in January it will be excluded from the championship, significantly distorting the standings. Perhaps instead, by December 31st, the longed-for transfer of ownership will arrive, which would at least put a patch on an embarrassing scenario for everyone. As well as mortifying for the entire city of Salerno, which, however, judging by what has happened so far, nobody seems to care.
