5 Serie A Players Having Outstanding Seasons for Bottom-Half Teams
The headlines in Italy have been dominated this season by the exploits of the top of the table. Players for two-time defending champions Juventus, No.1 contenders Napoli, phoenix from the ashes Roma and dark horse Fiorentina are all feted for their exploits on the field. But what about the players from the teams that aren't so fortunate to be top of the table?
The bottom half of the Serie A's standings still boasts its fair share of great players. Even though their teams haven't been racking up the points, these players give it their all game in and game out. Through that effort, they've gotten results.
For the sake of this article, a "bottom-half team" is hereby defined as a team in position 11 through 20 as of 9 a.m. ET on Friday, November 22.
The following five players represent the best of Serie A's bottom half.
Domenico Berardi
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Nineteen-year-old Domenico Berardi has been in the news since this time last year when Sassuolo was in Serie B.
That was when the U.K.'s Daily Mail reported that the likes of Liverpool, Southampton and both Manchester sides were in the hunt for his signature. Several Italian teams were in the mix as well—and it was Juventus that won his rights this summer. Beppe Marotta sent midfielder Luca Marrone in the opposite direction and allowed Berardi to remain with the Serie B champions for the 2013-14 season.
Berardi has shown why so many high-profile teams were so eager for his signature. He has appeared in eight of 12 games for Sassuolo and scored six times. The capper on his young season was November 3 against Sampdoria. He tallied his first top-flight hat trick to spur the Neroverde to a 4-3 victory.
His followed that up with a stoppage-time goal to deny first-place Roma three points and secure a 1-1 draw. Overall, he has scored 46 percent of his team's goals.
In his last two matches, Berardi has scored four times and hit the target with five of nine shots. He has spent the majority of his time as Sassuolo's center striker, although his hat trick came from a right-winger spot. That versatility, plus excellent defensive contribution from the front, strong passing and a lethal ability to finish makes him one of Italy's brightest young stars.
Francesco Bardi
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One of a glut of talented goalkeepers coming up through various Italian youth systems, Francesco Bardi is having an excellent season.
Livorno have conceded 18 goals in their first 12 games—tied for ninth in Serie A. It's an impressive number for a newly promoted team—both Verona and Sassuolo have conceded more.
ESPNFC statistics credit him with 34 saves in his 12 games. Those saves have helped him keep three clean sheets and led Livorno to thee wins. His efforts also kept the team's three draws intact and, in several cases, prevented bad days from becoming worse.
With a talent like Bardi around, Inter can afford to sell incumbent No. 1 Samir Handanovic once Bardi has a little seasoning on him. For now, he'll try to keep the club he started his career with in the top flight and make his case to Inter's new owners that he's the man to lead the Nerazzurri forward.
Allan
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It's been a disappointing season for Udinese. After Francesco Guidolin's side managed another surprise top-five finish in 2012-13, the Friuli outfit was bounced from the Europa League before the group stage and is currently languishing in 11th place. This Udinese is a far cry from the one that, as late as a year and a half ago, was in a dogfight with Juventus for the top spot in the league.
One bright spot has been Brazilian midfielder Allan. WhoScored.com ranks him as Udinese's best player this year, and if one looks at his defensive production, it's easy to see why.
In 10 games (nine starts), Allan has averaged a whopping 4.7 tackles a game and 1.7 interceptions.
He hasn't been a slouch in the attack either. An excellent dribbler, he averages 2.2 completed dribbles per game and 5.5 successful long balls. Overall, he's completing 86.1 percent of his passes. He hasn't notched any assists himself, but he has put his teammates into position to put away Udinese's 11 goals.
Udinese's attack has sputtered badly this year. Young stud Luis Muriel has misfired, and even though he leads the team in goals, age may finally be catching up with captain Antonio Di Natale. Without Allan anchoring the midfield for Udinese—and without his defensive contribution in particular—the season would be less in the realm of the disappointing and more in the realm of the disastrous.
Daniele Conti
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Radja Nainggolan is the Cagliari midfielder who has been the subject of transfer talk the last few years, but so far this season, it's been Daniele Conti who has shone in the Isolani midfield.
Conti has scored four times from the midfield this year and added one assist. His passing has been superb—his success rate is 90.5 percent, and he's connecting on eight long passes per game.
His skills were on full display last weekend against Torino. He opened the scoring right before halftime with a luscious free kick. Ciro Immobile equalized in the 52nd minute, but Conti made it moot with another fantastic dead-ball display in the 88th minute to give Cagliari their third win of the year and pull themselves four points clear of the drop zone.
Defensively, he's averaging 2.8 tackles, 1.9 interceptions and 2.4 clearances per match. The team is fifth-worst in the league in scoring, so every positive defensive contribution is valuable—and Conti has given them the best out of all of their midfielders.
With Nainggolan and defender Davide Astori potentially set to be sold within the next transfer window or two, Cagliari's captain is a vital key to Cagliari staying up. If the Sardinian outfit loses quality players and Conti drops off, they could find themselves seriously battling the drop for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
Alessio Cerci
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After Giuseppe Rossi, one of the best stories amongst forwards in Serie A this year is Alessio Cerci.
Cerci started his career with that most dreaded of labels—talented but unable to bring it together. He never latched on at Roma and only scored 12 times in his two seasons at Fiorentina. His most notable moment with La Viola was probably his early red card against Juventus in the spring of 2012 that led to a 5-0 thrashing at home.
In his early career, his most successful spell came when Roma sent him on loan to Pisa. He scored 10 times in 26 matches under coach Giampiero Ventura—and it's no coincidence that he's had the best two-year spell of his career under the same man.
Always a winger, Cerci was converted into a seconda punta this season to better pair with new arrival Ciro Immobile, and he has absolutely flourished. He has found the back of the net eight times this season—good for second in the league—and added three assists.
His form the last two years has earned him his first call-ups for the Italian national team. He's also started garnering interest from outside of Italy. Sky Sports reports that representatives from Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are rumored to have had scouts at Craven Cottage when Italy took on Nigeria earlier this week.
Cerci is undoubtedly having the best season of any player whose team is languishing at the bottom of the table.
