Prior to the start of the 2018/19 Serie A campaign, there was plenty of hype surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus, and although his acquisition was seen as the panacea to Italian football’s problems, the image of calcio has worsened since then.
This is not the fault of the Portuguese superstar at all but his arrival at La Vecchia Signora says more about the financial strength of the club and does not reflect on the rest of the game in Italy.
Juventus won their eighth consecutive Scudetto with five rounds left, and were leading by as much as 20 points over Napoli before finishing the season with an 11-point margin, having effectively gone on holiday for the last month. The Partenopei were contenders for the Serie A title under coach Maurizio Sarri but the squad hasn’t sustained that challenge under his successor Carlo Ancelotti.
The scary aspect about Juve winning the Scudetto comfortably is that they still rely on key players to get results and they didn’t have a clear playing identity under Massimiliano Allegri, while their rivals still don’t have strong enough squads to compete with the Bianconeri.
Rival fans and clubs will say that the Juventus get preferential treatment from referees. Although, it may seem Juve do get the benefit of the doubt more often than not, the rest of the Serie A need to focus more on where they can improve on and off the pitch, rather than bemoaning favouritism towards Juve.
Although Italian football is becoming less defensive as the years go by, a lot of the teams in the top half lack a clear identity and philosophy.
Napoli are more languid and less fluid under Ancelotti, Lazio aren’t as dangerous on the counter attack as in previous seasons, Luciano Spalletti still uses the 4-2-3-1 when it doesn’t suit his players at Inter, and AC Milan are failing to play a possession-based style.
Atalanta are one of the very few teams with a unique style, and are succeeding with it under Gian Piero Gasperini. So much so they will play in the Champions League next season after defeating Sassuolo 3-1 on Sunday evening, to finish an impressive third.
Sampdoria have their philosophy too, but they have not been able sustain their fight for Europe under Marco Giampaolo and Empoli were pleasing on the eye but losing 2-1 to Inter in the final round sent them back down to Serie B.
A three-point deduction for financial irregularities didn’t help Chievo, but the squad have looked out of their depth and Frosinone were unable to make significant improvements when Moreno Longo was replaced by Marco Baroni as coach. The disappointing performances of both have prompted calls to cut the number of clubs in Serie A to 18.
In lower divisions, clubs like Pro Piacenza and Matera have gone bankrupt while the likes of Avellino, Bari, Cesena, Modena, and Reggiana (now Reggio Audace) played amateur football in 2018/19. How many more will fold in the coming months?
Right now, Serie A seems to be a development league that still thinks it is one of the very best in the world. No longer is Italy a preferred destination for world class footballers, and even the top clubs have to sell their best players to richer European rivals and thus Italian clubs have to know their limitations.
Italian stadia are probably the most dated in Western Europe with little done to improve them. Bar Juventus, Udinese, Sassuolo, and Frosinone, no other top flight side owns its stadium, largely due to Italian bureaucracy being too strict and stubborn, leaving most of the venues dilapidated and in major need of renovation. It also limits the money making power of clubs on matchdays, given they have to pay to hire the stadium from the local council.
Racism has been more prominent than ever in the last nine months. Moise Kean, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Tiemoue Bakayoko have been targeted but offenders have essentially got away scot-free. Incidents like those have portrayed Italians as unwelcoming, backward, and regressive bigots.
Territorial discrimination towards southerners, especially Neapolitans, has continued to rear its ugly head as well.
It is hard to see how Serie A and Italian football can attract new followers and it is evident the arrival of a champion like Cristiano Ronaldo alone can’t fix the plethora of issues plaguing the sport. A number of matches have been poor to watch, a lack of star appeal, tons of refereeing controversy, as well as off-field issues which make calcio look farcical.
There is hope, Italians over history have shown that they are innovators and geniuses in many fields. The rest of Europe has caught up and surpassed Italy in football terms, but Italians have the knowledge to regain ground and get back to where they once were. More investment would help significantly, but getting rid of old mentalities and ideals will go a long way too.
Italian football was once considered to be the best in the world, but the glory days of the 1980s and 1990s are nothing more than memories. If calcio is to get anywhere close to what it was, the arrival one legendary player is not enough to spark change or provide any sort of remedy, more needs to be done and it needs to be one across the board.
