We reach the end of the road in our Serie A club previews for 2011-2012 with Udinese Calcio. Not as flash as big brother Juventus, our northerners from the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region do have an eye for young talent. But as Serie A Weekly writer Lorenzo Vicini points out, shame they couldn’t keep at least one of their major transfers out this summer for Champions League competition, already in their rearview mirror (courtesy of London’s Arsenal). 2010-2011 Recap It was [...]

Serie A Weekly welcome guest writer Steven Van Duyse to our crew with an eye to U.S. Lecce. Find out more on the potential of the Giallorossi in 2011-2012 as Steve lets us know if these Southerners will be more than Serie A bottom feeders in their second season up from Serie B calcio. Lecce narrowly avoided the drop last season, five points clear of the relegation zone. 2010 -11 Recap When people talk about US Lecce, the words ‘relegation [...]

2010-2011 Recap Following many changes both in management with the appointment of newly elected president, Andrea Agnelli, followed by General manager Beppe Marotta and manager Luigi Del Neri, the trio brought no fewer than twelve new faces to the squad that had already come off from a disappointing season under former manager Ciro Ferrara, and his predecessor Alberto Zaccheroni. Prior to the start of last season there was mixed feelings amongst the fans for the season, with Juventus starting off [...]

Season Preview: Roma Opening/Recap To say that Roma disappointed last season would be an understatement, like proclaiming that peanut butter and jelly is a somewhat popular snack amongst children. Claudio Ranieri tried to improve his side from the second place finish of the season prior, but was ultimately sacked amongst a midst of horrible results. The low point included a thrashing in the Champions’ League at the hands of the Shakhtar Donestk and throwing away an astonishing three goal lead [...]

Season Preview: Chievo Opening/Recap For a side that rarely spends massive amounts of money if any at all, Chievo managed a fantastic 11th place finish last season. Coach Stefano Pioli organized a side that was superb defensively, conceding the fourth lowest amount of goals of all the teams in Serie A- Only Lazio, Napoli, and Milan conceded fewer. Yet the side had an enormously difficult time scoring, totaling a mere 38 goals in 38 games, the fifth lowest in the [...]

2010 - 11 Recap What a contrast there is between the three newly promoted teams arriving in Serie A this season. Two of them, Atalanta and Siena, make a quick return to Italy’s top-flight after just a season’s absence, the third , Novara, are welcomed back into the peninsula’s premier division for the first time in 55 years . It seemed for much of their previous campaign in Serie B that the club from Piedmont would arrive at Italy’s top [...]

2010-2011 Team Napoli Recap Whether they were known as the “comeback kids”, the “miracle men”, or any other name, Napoli enjoyed a fantastic season thanks to a myriad of factors, chief of which was a never-say-die attitude. Mazzarri’s men had the habit of leaving it late which made for some pretty dramatic finishes. The <i>Partenopei</i> were challengers for much of the Serie A season, surprising many as Scudetto contenders almost until the end. In the Europa League, Napoli were Italy’s [...]

Season Preview: Genoa Opening/Recap Genoa’s tenth place finish last season could be viewed as a disappointment from a number of angles. Most strikingly, the side had finished a place higher the season prior and could have hoped to fight for a European spot last campaign.  Out went Marco Amelia and in came Eduardo to fill in between the sticks - a move that should have turned out to be much better than it did, given the latter’s solid reputation before [...]

2010-11 Recap After the euphoria of the previous season’s treble, the Nerazzurri had to settle for just the Coppa Italia last term as their cross city rivals AC Milan were crowned kings of Italy. Following in the footsteps of Jose Mourinho was never going to be easy but when President Massimo Morratti appointed former Liverpool tactician Rafael Benitez to take over from the self titled “Special One”, even the most fervent fan of the Milan giants must have feared the [...]

Serie A Weekly club previews continue with Palermo, written by our resident Rosanero master, Lorenzo Vicini. 2010-2011 Recap A roller coaster ride that truly defined the Palermo colors of rosa and nero summed up the previous season for the Sicilian side. Palermo stayed in the race for Champions League football up until February when things came crashing down. After exiting the Europa League at the group stages, Palermo focused on their domestic objectives. The hope for a Champions League quickly [...]

Overview At the start of last season many did not expect Milan to challenge for the Scudetto. That was, at least, until the club secured the services of Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the eleventh hour of the transfer window. Luciano Moggi, for all the criticism regularly aimed at him, spoke prophetically when he said that “thanks to him (Ibrahimovic), the title race will be between Milan and Inter”. Moggi said this in September of last year. Then Inter’s crisis [...]

2010 -11 Recap A mid-table finish last term does not tell the whole story of a nerve wracking campaign for I Ducali which saw them flirt with relegation right up until the closing few weeks of the season. A change at the helm in early April, which saw former Bologna tactician Franco Colomba substitute Pasquale Marino in the Ennio Tardini hot-seat, proved a season saving move by larger than life president Tommaso Ghirardi as the former Uefa Cup Winners secured [...]