Looking Back on Serie A

As I did last week with the Premiership I am going to quickly revisit my pre-season thoughts on the Italian top flight, although this will be brief by comparison.

I accurately predicted that Inter Milan would retain the crown. If anything I was surprised the Scudetto race came down to the final round. Inter were clearly the best team in Italy and I think a preoccupation with their Champion's League campaign was to blame for dropping points against modest competition during the early months of 2010 and allowing Roma into the race.

Speaking of Roma... I said they would continue to fade from relevance and I was totally wrong. ALTHOUGH... that was with Spalleti still at the helm and in fact they were double digit points off the lead before the Tinkerman came in and turned things around. They deserve all kinds of credit for getting it together and when they return to Europe in the fall they might make some noise.

If I underestimated Roma I was too kind regarding Juventus. Their win against Inter not withstanding the entire season was a let down for the Old Lady. The Brazilian duo that made a splash when they signed over the summer had their ups and downs but the soft spots around the lineup were evident. For a club with a stable of strikers including names like Del Piero, Amauri, Iaquinta, and Trezeguet this team did not look particularly dangerous in attack for long stretches of time this season. Gigi del Neri bolted Genoa to take over in Turin this week. He has his work cut out for him, although not being in the Champs League might clear his plate a bit.

AC Milan finished in 3rd without posing a realistic threat for the title. Yawn.

Of the teams I thought could make a run for the play-in spot I totally missed Sampdoria. They really edged out Palermo, who I liked a lot, by two points. The Cassano-Pazzini combo has gotten all kinds of love and they deserve it, but a guy who did a lot to put Sampdoria in the position they are is Angelo Palombo. His contributious are a little more subtle and further from goal but he is a huge reason they are on the brink of the Champions League.

W/R/T player predictions I got one dead on, one totally wrong, and the third kind of eh...

Felipe Melo was a competent holding midfielder for Juventus and not to blame for their mediocre form, but he did not achieve the level of Cambiasso or Gattuso in years past. They got what they needed from him but I kind of thought he would destroy.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar I thought would tear Serie A apart but he kind of blew it. The Dutchman netted 7 league goals in 11 starts and 14 appearances off the bench. Not terrible to be fair, but 7 in 25 is nowhere near what he did at Real Madrid and Ajax. KJH was given a reasonable chance to show what he could do by Leonardo and for whatever reason it just didn't click.

Javier Pastore was a huge success for Palermo. He came over as a teenager who had never played in Europe and by the middle of the season he was a key part of a Palermo squad that was in the race for Champion's League football until the last day of the season. Playing behind Miccoli and Cavani Pastore was able to implement his creativity in a league that is not always easy for those kind of players. He totalled 3 goals and 5 helpers in 34 appearances which is a pretty decent tally, but beyond that watching Palermo his contribution was apparent. Some faint rumors have him moving away from Sicily this summer but I think he is there for another year at least.

2009-2010 was fun. Let's hope Inter can finish it off on Saturday.