With Round 11 now at a close, it’s time for three talking points from a league where Napoli remain the only unbeaten side and Milan, and Lazio, lead the chasing pack.
By Matteo Bonetti, US Serie A expert
Lazio on the rise
Throughout the summer, much of the talk was about one Roman club in particular – not Lazio, but their biggest rival, Roma – and for good reason. The Giallorossi had just signed a slew of talent like Paulo Dybala and Giorginio Wijnaldum.
Lazio on the other hand, quietly went about their business without a marquee signing. A lot of credit must be given to the club for being able to keep their best players in Ciro Immobile, Sergej Milinković-Savić and Luis Alberto, all of whom have all been at Lazio for a long time and have developed one of the best partnerships in the league. In terms of new additions, the Biancocelesti refurbished their centre-back pairing. Gone was the veteran Francesco Acerbi and the talented but injury-prone Brazilian defender Luis Felipe. In their place arrived the Italian pairing of Alessio Romagnoli and Nicoló Casale – the former, desperate for a change of scenery after his involution at Milan which saw him lose his starting place; the latter, an impressive 24-year-old defender from Hellas Verona, with a bright future ahead of him.
Lazio’s defence is currently ranked first in Serie A, with only five goals conceded after 11 rounds. It isn’t just the new centre-backs who have impressed, but their new goalkeeper too. Ivan Provedel was one of two goalkeepers to join the club last summer alongside former Granada shot-stopper Luís Maximiano. Maximiano was red carded after six minutes in round one and is yet to play another minute for the club. This has been a blessing in disguise for Maurizio Sarri, who was forced to play his backup Provedel. The Italian has since been outstanding and maintained a starting role well beyond Maximiano’s one game suspension.
Sarri’s Lazio is one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. They’re playing their usual “SarriBall” style of high press and a lot of possession, but they’re winning mostly because of a surprisingly stellar defensive unit of former cast-offs and players inexperienced at the highest level.
Napoli remain undefeated
Napoli are the only team in Serie A that has yet to lose a game this season. Nine wins and two draws, a stunning style of play and first place in their Champions League group. Over the weekend, they had one of their stiffest tests of the season, playing José Mourinho’s Roma at Stadio Olimpico.
What stands out more than anything about the way Napoli play is how they don’t change their style for anyone. Whether it’s at home against a provincial or away against a direct Scudetto rival, Luciano Spalletti’s side tries to dominate possession and plays high press off the ball. Napoli’s style meant Roma was rooted deep in their own half for most of the match, often having to play vertically on the counter as they couldn’t build up slower possession.
Victor Osimhen’s stunning goal was even more impressive when you looked at it more than once – it was such a narrow angle that he had, meaning the shot had to be perfect to beat Roma’s goalkeeper Rui Patricio. Osimhen got himself free by being able to bully his way through Chris Smalling in a one-on-one battle. The biggest hope for Napoli is that their Nigerian striker can stay healthy for the rest of the season. He’s been incredibly unlucky with bad injuries in each of his Napoli seasons – from the fractured orbital/cheek to hamstring issues, Osihmen hasn’t had a full season to show off his goal scoring prowess.
Napoli have already picked up three points away to Roma, Milan and Lazio in Serie A. These are the types of performances that show their confidence and personality, especially with a team that was supposed to be in a rebuild this season.
Brahim the dream
Milan’s no.10 Brahim Díaz thought he had lost his starting spot for good after the club spent nearly the entire summer trying to sign Belgian wonder boy Charles De Ketelaere. After finally convincing Club Brugge to accept their 35m Euro offer, “CDK” came to the club with the expectation of being the new star in the trequartista role. Last year, Brahim Díaz began the campaign as a starter, but inconsistent play in the second half of the season saw coach Stefano Pioli switch to the more industrious Rade Krunić to play as the forward destroyer. It seemed like Brahim’s future at Milan as the starting attacking midfielder was pretty much done with, apart from being a situational substitute and rotation guy.
Fast forward to October 2022 and Brahim has thoroughly outplayed De Ketelaere and as a result, taken back his spot in the line-up. Brahim has scored three goals in his last three Serie A games, all of them wonderful efforts – two magical solo runs to split multiple defenders, and a quick turn and fire inside the box, which showed off his clinical touch.
While Brahim has been shining, CDK has been regressing further with every chance he’s been given. Pioli has been quick to support the young Belgian by saying that it took both Raphael Leão and Sandro Tonali more than a full season to get acclimated to their new club and start producing at a high level.
De Ketelaere seems jittery and nervous with his play now. It’s clearly a by-product of the massive expectations heaped onto him by the Italian media and seemingly not being able to perform at the level that made him a stand out at Club Brugge.
This is a battle that’ll continue throughout the season. CDK will need plenty of minutes to improve, so it’s Brahim’s job now to make himself undroppable if healthy. Perhaps the two could even play together under Pioli – Brahim has featured in a wider position in the past, while the Belgian is quite versatile and can fill a few positions throughout the frontline.
(Images from IMAGO)
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