2008-09 Serie A Table Prediction

By: chris | August 28th, 2008

The point of predictions is to say something which will cause a lot of argument and chair throwing while everyone who slams said predictions gets it wrong in the end as well. And for anyone who does get it correctly, well, they’re just the luckiest son of a bitch alive. But it’s still a good time and with the Serie A commencing this weekend, we have no choice. So without further ado, the final 2008-09 will definitely NOT look something like this:

(And I was not allowed to comment on spots 1-4 for reasons which need no explanation.)

1. Inter – The 2007/8 Scudetto win was tighter than it should have been, but for spells of last season Inter were damn near unbeatable. Now they have Zlatan fit, Adriano back to fighting weight and the smart additions of Mancini and Sulley Muntari (look out for his lefty.) Most importantly Inter now have Jose Mourinho in charge, a man who’ll do whatever it takes to win.

2. Roma – Ran Inter close last year and will likely do the same this year. Losing Mancini to a direct rival is a blow, but the pickup of young French attacking mid Jérémy Menez from Monaco could be huge, John Arne Riise is still only 27 and has a hammer for a left foot (he and Muntari should just have a shootout for the title), if Julio “The Beast” Baptista can finally enjoy some regular first team football and Francesco Totti stays healthy the full year then all could be well.

3. Juventus – Some smart smart signings in Olof Mellberg (massively underrated) and Amauri (looking good so far) plus the growing maturity of miniature genius Sebastian Giovinco (did you see the Olympics???) all backed up by the legend that is Gigi Buffon should see the Old Lady not quite challenge for the title, but reaffirm her place amongst the big clubs.

4. Milan – I’m not convinced Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko are particulalrly clever signings. Good for selling shirts, but not necessarily so good on the field. Can Ancelotti organize an attack around both Kaka and Ronaldinho? Can Shevchenko remember how to play football? We’ll have to wait and see. But with quality Serie A campaigners like Pirlo and Gattusso and the exuberance of Alexandre Pato, Milan should still do better than last season and make the Champions League.

5. Fiorentina – Cesare Prandelli and Pantaleo Corvina went on a serious shopping spree this summer, but so did the big boys, which kinda levels the playing field. Gila, Melo and Vargas will certainly give Mutu some help, but once again it’s all about one man: Sebastian Frey. Guys got reflexes that would make a cheetah blush and is far and away their most important player. They took advantage of Milan’s slip up last season, but I’m not sure if you noticed, the Rossoneri did some things this summer. Big four returns to the big four.

6. Sampdoria – Antonio Cassano. Antonio Cassano. Antonio Cassano. Played just 22 Serie A matches last year (mostly because he has a penchant for doing stupid shit), but scored 10 and Sampdoria pushed for a CL spot towards the end of the year. Say he plays 30…

7. Udinese – Their biggest moves in the offseason was keeping all their talent (mainly Toto Di Natale), getting the young stars a year older and bringing teenie bopper and future legend in the making Alexis Sanchez back from loan. Should honestly be enough in Pasquale Marino’s 3-4-3 (PM being one of Serie A’s most intriguing young gaffers as well), as that young, studly back line featuring Cristian Zapata and Felipe will start absolutely locking down attacks one of these days.

8. Napoli – Already in this year’s UEFA Cup, they had a sneakily impressive transfer campaign, adding German Denis , Christian Maggio and ubertalent Andrea Russotto to the already daunting trifecta of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik and Fabiano Santacroce. A bit too young a core to do any serious damage, they’ll still ripple the pond some.

9. Genoa – Lost giver of glorious goals Marco Borriello but they made a bevy of solid, many young, additions this summer, namely on the flanks. And that’s exactly what they’ll be: solid and improving.

10. Atalanta – They inspire no awe whatsoever. Their lineup is decent, certainly nothing to write home about. Shouldn’t battle relegation, but shouldn’t really compete for Europe, either. Holding a couple grande talents in Luca Cigarini and Alessio Cerci, and will also host the Bobo Vieri Retirement Tour. So after finishing 8th & 10th since promotion two years ago, sounds like they’ll wind up round there yet again.

11. Catania – Serie A’s traveling circus of ineptitude. If they played even a fraction as decent away from home as they did in Sicily, relegation wouldn’t even be a consideration. They went 8-6-5 (+7) at home and made it to the Coppa Italia semis through Milan and Udinese, which are both impressive. But they didn’t win a single game on the road last year while netting a whole 7 points. Somebody’s going to pull a shocker, and they can’t be that bad away again, right?

12. Lazio – Rome’s other team got younger this summer, a lot younger. Brought back Foggia, bought up the rest of Radu, after an epic saga finally landed Carizzo to replace Father Time Ballotta in net and convinced Goran Pandev to stick around for at least one more year. Problem is they lost Valon Behrami to West Ham, Tommaso Rocchi fractured his leg in Beijing and Delio Rossi is bound to fuck something up. Should improve slightly, but they’re a long, long way off Champions League football again.

13. Torino – It all looked terrible for Torino earlier this summer but they’ve actually managed to find a couple young, sprightly attackers who might be able to score a goal – something Il Toro had severe issues with last year. Rolando Bianchi was golden with Reggina and Ignazio Abate lit up the radar this summer (banged up a bit, but not for too long), so there’s actually a bit of hope up north this year. Won’t be fantastic, but should show some improvement.

14. Palermo – Coming as a complete shock to absolutely no one, Palermo blew it up this summer – just not in the coach’s box, as they’re accustomed to. They sold off most of their highly profitable assets (Amauri, Barzagli, Zaccardo & Rinaudo) and brought in qulity young talent (Nocerino, Lanzafame & de Melo) to shape the future. Under no illusions, they’re in the midst of a rebuilding period and their table placement should reflect such appropriately.

15. Siena – Very torn on Siena. They just seem like a worthy relegation candidate, but then again don’t. Starting off they made some interesting, and very talented, summer acquisitions. Emmanuel Calaio – even at 26 an incredibly tantalizing “prospect” – and Roma loanees Gianluca Curci and Ahmed Barusso along with the return of the man, the myth, the legend, 18 yo phenom Fernando Forestieri will help immensely. In fact, if Calaio and Massimo Maccarone get going they could form a surprisingly impressive strike partnership. But they still don’t inspire any confidence. Until you realize they conceded fewer goals than all but Inter, Juve, Milan, Roma and Fiorentina last season. If the back line stays remotely as solid and Curci finds that talent everyone’s talking about, they’re staying up and they might just impress a little bit. If Curci has shaky legs….going to be a long year in Toscana.

16. Chievo – And this is where the battle begins. Unlike last year, when proper Serie A clubs Napoli, Genoa and Juventus were being ushered back after their timeouts, this year’s newbies are all in for a fight. Chievo’s main strength is they boast a solid number of players who took part in their last Serie A stint. Obviously it didn’t end up well, but they did finish fourth after the Calciopoli sanctions and did win Serie B last year. Plus it’s a rule teams nicknamed The Flying Donkeys must spend at least two years above water for entertainment purposes. Starting now.

17. Cagliari – Everybody and their sister picked Cagliari to go down last year. It was inevitable. They were playing in Serie A with a midtable Serie B roster. But a weaver of miracles made its way to Cagliari and they miraculously avoided the drop. So guess what? Everybody’s picking them to go back down again. Not happening. Too much fight left in this dog.

18. Bologna – A lot of people are picking Bologna to do well because they wiped the slate clean and brought in wholesale after promotion. Problem is….they wiped the slate clean and brought in wholesale changes. When it comes to this end of the table, sometimes the talent is less important than a cohesive team. We saw it with Parma last year. They had a bevy of talent much of calcio enjoyed plucking at like vultures this summer, but they never quite formed a team and, voila, they now rest peacefully in Serie B. This was the hardest pick to make, and it’s done so with little confidence, but Bologna has a lot of gelling to do in a hurry.

19. Lecce – They’re between here and last, and they only get the benefit of the doubt because of Mario Berretta, who guided Siena to another year of Serie A last season. Other than that, their lineup is just not convincing whatsoever. But if any of the relegation teams is going to perform a head-snapping run towards middle table, they’re the pick…if that makes sense. After all, Livorno went on an epic run last season before reverting back to complete suckage.

20. Reggina – Oh this has been coming for a long, long time. It’s almost as though last season’s survival was a gift for that unfathomable miracle Walter “Houdini” Mazzarri performed two years ago, keeping them afloat after they were handed an 11 point Calciopoli deduction while still being Reggina. Unfortunately, the honeymoon is over and yet again, they’ve done nothing of note in the mercato. The fat lady has begun verse one.

As ever, your predictions are welcome.