Serie A New Year's Resolutions: What Each Club Must Do to Achieve 2014 Goals
The new year is upon us and the Serie A will greet its fans with a massive top-of-the-table clash on Saturday between Juventus and Roma.
As we look into the new year, some teams—such as Juventus—are right on track with where they wanted to be at the outset of the league campaign.
Some are scrambling after a miserable start (we're looking at you, Milan). Some are readjusting their focus after a start that was better than expected (Roma, anyone?).
This article will focus on what each team needs to do to achieve what they want at the end of the season.
For the sake of organization, the teams will be listed in reverse order of the league standings as of 9 a.m. ET on Friday, January 3.
Without further ado, here are Serie A's New Year's resolutions.
Catania
1 of 20
Travel better
Considering that the last two years have been Catania's best ever in the top flight, it's a bit surprising to see them rock bottom. Nevertheless, that's where they are with 10 points.
The team was struggling even before an injury to Gonzalo Bergessio on October 30, but his loss certainly hasn't helped—the team has only scored four goals since a Giorgio Chiellini tackle broke his leg.
Nor does it help the Sicilians that they have racked up four red cards this season—all resulting in losses.
But what has really kept the Elefanti down this year has been their form away from Sicily.
Catania have lost all nine of their away matches this year by a combined score of 25-5.
A significant factor in that massive disparity is a pair of monumental 4-0 beatings by Juventus and Roma. But in a third of those matches, Catania were at one point or another in a position to take home at least a point but gave them up.
That includes October's match against Cagliari when Bergessio gave them a 5th-minute lead. But Victor Ibarbo equalized 20 minutes later, then a straight red to Nicola Legrottaglie forced them to play with 10 men for 50 minutes. The Isolani claimed the winner six minutes from time.
Catania were similarly able to level with Fiorentina and Lazio after falling to an early deficit, only to succumb each time.
That kind of form is what lost Rolando Maran his job.
Catania's home form has been good enough that this team ought to be clear of the drop zone. They have 10 more away fixtures left this year and need to find a way to get some points out of them—otherwise their long stay in the top flight might be over.
Livorno
2 of 20
Score more goals
Livorno won two of their first three games this season, scoring six goals in those two victories against Sassuolo and Catania.
It looked like this team with a top-flight pedigree—the Amaranto were runners-up way back when during the days of La Grande Torino—were going to have a solid return to the first division.
Unfortunately, after those first three games, the goals dried up. In the next 14 games, Livorno scored only 10 times and only scored more than once in a game twice—a 3-3 draw against Torino and a recent 2-2 draw against Milan.
The team has only accumulated five points since that victory against Catania. It's clear that the lack of goals have severely hampered this team's efforts.
Top forwards Paulinho and Luca Siligardi have combined for nine of the team's 16 total scores—with the Brazilian topping the team's charts at six.
Either Davide Nicola needs to make tactical tweaks that will get his team scoring or one of the players needs to step up and make a serious run.
If Livorno continue to fail at the front, it will heap pressure on the back line—not to mention young Inter loanee Francesco Bardi in goal. The defense has been adequate for a newly-promoted side, but if you don't score, the best you can hope for is a draw and this team can't survive getting only one point at a time.
Sassuolo
3 of 20
Defense, defense, defense
Little Sassuolo have given a good account of themselves in their first-ever top-flight campaign, but they have a very visible flaw.
Their defense is absolutely awful.
The Neroverdi have given up 36 goals this year—four more than any other team in Serie A.
That leaky back line has caused some lopsided scorelines. A 4-1 loss against Livorno. A 4-0 thrashing against an angry Juventus side after the Bianconeri had been eliminated from the Champions League midweek. An eye-popping 7-0 home pummeling at the hands of Inter.
Even their signature win of the season so far saw them blow a 3-1 lead against a 10-man Sampdoria team before a late penalty allowed them to leave Genoa with three points.
Their task will be even more complicated with center-back Francesco Acerbi set to miss time due to a recurrence of testicular cancer—and if this writer may be indulged a personal moment, we certainly wish Acerbi the best as he battles his disease.
Sassuolo's pair of Juventus loanees, Simone Zaza and Domenico Berardi, can provide the team with enough firepower up front to keep them up for another year if they can tighten the defense. If the back line remains a sieve, their first tenure in Serie A could be short.
Bologna
4 of 20
Improve the striker position
Bologna are on the very edge of the drop zone in 17th and a big reason why is a dearth of goalscoring.
The Rossoblu have scored only once in their last three games and haven't scored more than one goal in a game since the day before Halloween against a 10-man Cagliari side.
Ronaldo Bianchi was signed from Torino with the expectation that he would help lead the line, but he's only mustered one goal so far this year. Jonathan Cristaldo and Davide Moscardelli have contributed a goal each in 22 combined appearances.
That kind of output from a team's main striker is simply pitiful. Captain Alessandro Diamanti is a fantastically talented player, but he can't be counted on to score every goal.
Bologna need to look into the market in January and find some way to reinforce the striker position. Their spot in the top flight may depend on it.
Chievo
5 of 20
Score more goals
To say that Chievo had a rough start to the season is the understatement of the year.
The Flying Donkeys picked up only four points in their first 10 matches of the season. The run included a six-game losing stretch that saw winnable games against the likes of Genoa, Catania and Atalanta go the other way.
The team managed only eight goals in those 10 games.
Giuseppe Sannino lost his job in November after consecutive goalless draws against Bologna and Milan. He was replaced by Eugenio Corini after gaining seven points from 12 games.
Corini's first three games in charge may have turned his side's season around.
Chievo won their first three games under their new manager, lifting them to 15 points—one above the drop zone.
But consecutive losses after those wins means they are still very much in danger, starting up front.
Chievo have only scored 13 goals this year—second-lowest in the league. Talismanic striker Sergio Pellissier is now 34 years old and showing it. He's been a sub more than a starter and scored only one time this season.
Twenty three-year-old Alberto Paloschi—co-owned with AC Milan—has underwhelmed this year with only three goals in 12 starts.
Frenchman Cyril Thereau is the team's top scorer with four, but Paloschi needs to step up and take the bigger role Milan thought he could when he was in their youth system. That or Pellissier needs to be given a larger role in the hopes that he can come through for the team as he always has.
One thing is certain: If Chievo don't start scoring more goals, they're going to be fighting for their place come the end of the year.
Atalanta
6 of 20
Get German Denis some help
German Denis has been the beating heart of Atalanta's forward line since arriving at the club two years ago. He's scored 37 times over the last two-and-a-half seasons and helped La Dea comfortably elude the drop zone, despite suffering point deductions in consecutive years.
Indeed, Atalanta would have been ninth two years ago if they hadn't been docked six points for involvement in the calcioscommesse scandal. A year ago they would have finished 14th rather than 15th if not for a two-point deduction after more accusations.
Denis has scored six times so far this season, but he badly needs help. The rest of Atalanta's forwards have combined for only three scores, while attacking midfielders Maximilano Moralez and Giacomo Bonaventura haven't chipped in much either. The latter in particular is enduring a drop-off year after a breakout season saw him receive his first international cap in 2012-13.
No player other than Denis has scored more than twice this year, and that dearth of scoring shows in the standings. La Dea haven't scored more than once in a game since a 2-1 victory against Bologna—on November 11.
That was their fifth win in the season's first eight games. It's no coincidence that they haven't won one since.
In fact, Atalanta have only scored multiple goals in five of their 17 games this season.
Denis has worked tirelessly—he's put 18 shots on goal this season and taken 40 overall—but if he doesn't get some help, Atalanta will be much closer to the drop zone this season than in the past. Stefano Colantuono needs to get some production from one of his other forwards—or look to an alternative in the transfer market.
Sampdoria
7 of 20
Let Sinisa Mihajlovic's tactics settle in, improve possession numbers
Possession is turning into one of the most overrated stats in the game, but sometimes it bears taking a closer look at how a team is holding on to the ball.
Take Sampdoria's first 12 games. In only three of those matches did they hold the possession edge. Even in those three games, they only managed to claim a solitary point.
Even in their two wins before manager Delio Rossi's firing, they lost the possession battle—65-35 against Livorno and 57-43 against Atalanta.
Those numbers weren't insignificant. When the disparity in possession is that large—and you rely on the counterattack that much—you run the risk of getting boxed into a situation where it's only a matter of time before you yield to the pressure.
That has changed since the arrival of Sinisa Mihajlovic. The former Fiorentina boss has Samp on a run of two wins and three draws since taking over on November 20, including important holds of Lazio at home and Inter away.
Mihajlovic has deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation in all five of his matches in charge and that formation has helped settle the possession numbers down. They actually held the edge against Inter—a difficult thing to do against the Nerazzurri this year—and kept very close to Lazio, despite playing almost the entire second half with 10 men.
Mihajlovic obviously has found something that has unleashed some potential for Samp. Manolo Gabbiadini in particular has looked very good since being put on the wing in the three-man line behind the central striker.
Samp aren't winning possession every game, but the gaps are no longer ridiculous as they were in contests against the likes of Hellas and Genoa.
Keeping possession also means a better chance of killing games off when they're in the lead. Two of the three draws under Mihajlovic have seen blown 1-0 leads—including one at the death against Lazio. Had those leads held, the four extra points would actually have Samp eighth—and only three points off Torino for seventh.
Mihajlovic has something working. The players need to continue to buy into his tactics and hold on to the ball more. If they do, they could start opening up daylight between themselves and the drop zone.
AC Milan
8 of 20
Cut bait on Massimiliano Allegri—sooner rather than later
Yup, that picture pretty much sums up the season for Max Allegri.
Allegri gave voice to what everyone not living in the sunken city of Atlantis has known for a while now this week when he said that this would be his last year with AC Milan.
Allegri won the team their first Serie A title since 2004 in his first year with the club, but the Rossoneri have been regressing ever since.
His team selection has been baffling. His handling of injured players from Alexandre Pato in years past to Stephan El Shaarawy this year may have ruined the career of the former and will keep the latter on the shelf for almost the entire season.
The prospects of a miracle comeback akin to last year's look slim. At this point last season, Milan had already made it back into the top half of the table before going on that stupefying run of form in 2013. Now they're six places farther back and have only won one of their last nine league games.
The question now is when to let Allegri go. It's possible he'll be allowed to stay until Milan are done in the Champions League. However, that still leaves up to three months of week-to-week uncertainty about his job status—which could further harm a terrifyingly bad season.
Cutting ties with Allegri now would at least give a replacement—presumably Filipo Inzaghi—about six weeks to try to settle the team and make a competitive run at Atletico Madrid in the round of 16. Wait until March or beyond and things could go so wrong that the worst-case scenario—a serious late-season flirtation with the drop zone—could be in the cards.
It's better to give him the axe now.
Parma
9 of 20
Keep hold of leads
Roberto Donadoni has probably been losing the few black hairs he has left this season.
His Parma side have stood toe-to-toe with some of the league's top teams and competed on high levels. It took a 77th-minute goal for Juventus to slip by them at the Ennio Tardini. They beat Milan 3-2, held Inter 3-3 and—perhaps most impressively—claimed a major scalp with a 1-0 victory against Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo.
What must be frustrating for Donadoni is that his team could have a significantly higher point total this year. Seven times in 17 games, the Crusaders have opened the scoring only to give back the lead.
Three of those games ended with Parma on top at the end, but the sum total of the points they gave back in the other four is 10.
To give you an idea of where Parma could stand, had they held on to all 10 of those points, they would be sixth—and only a point behind Inter for the final Europa League spot. Even if they had held on to half of them, they would be even with Torino on 25—six points out of the top five and certainly within the conversation at this point in the year.
Particularly glaring was the Inter game. Parma led that game 1-0 and 2-1 before being forced to equalize themselves at the end of a five-minute flurry that saw Inter score twice before Nicola Sansone made it 3-3.
A 3-2 loss at Hellas Verona that saw Donadoni's men waste a comeback from 1-0 down was probably just as hard to stomach.
The team need to keep the head, particularly when defending in the box—four of the goals they've given up in those seven matches have come off penalties.
Keep the lid on a few more games this year and Parma could find themselves in the top half.
Cagliari
10 of 20
End the Radja Nainggolan transfer saga—and possibly the Davide Astori one too—and reinvest that money to strengthen the side
Radja Nainggolan has been mentioned in transfer rumors for the last two seasons now. It seems that things have finally come to critical mass and it's likely the Indonesian-born Belgian midfielder will finally be leaving the side in this month's transfer window.
Juventus have inquired about the player several times over the years, and Isolani president Massimo Cellino said in November that this January he would not block his player from seeking new challenges.
Roma, Inter and Milan are other teams that have eyes for the 25-year-old.
Italy international Davide Astori is another man who has been catching eyes, especially at AC Milan, where center-back help is desperately needed. English club Southampton are also weighing up another bid for the defender, as the Independent reported yesterday.
Both players could fetch Cagliari eight-digit sums. While their departure could weaken the club in the short term, as long as Cellino invests that money in a rebuild of his side—a smaller-scale version of what Napoli did after the Edinson Cavani sale this year—Cagliari could start themselves on an upward climb.
Such an overhaul doesn't need to happen by the end January—barring something epic, Cagliari have enough points to stay up—and indeed the summer window is probably a more ideal time to make such moves.
If these likely transfers happen, Cagliari need to use the funds wisely.
Genoa
11 of 20
Help Alberto Gilardino out
If you were asked to name the teams with the best defensive records in Serie A this season, one would forgive you if you omitted Genoa from your list.
The Grifone were dead last in goals allowed two seasons ago and and tied for sixth from the bottom last year—and barely escaped relegation both times.
It's a bit of a surprise this year then that they're level with Fiorentina and Napoli for the third-best defensive record in the league. A lot of that has to do with the stellar performance of hotshot young keeper Mattia Perin, who is going to go on to big things.
But Daniele Portanova, Thomas Manfredini and the rest of the Genoa defense have also been playing better this season than in the past.
What's equally astonishing is the fact that even with the joint-third best defense in Italy, the Grifone still have a negative goal difference—negative-three to be precise.
That's because they're tied for fourth-worst with 17 goals scored.
The onus has been on Alberto Gilardino, who has scored seven times even though his peripheral numbers aren't great. Only two other players have scored more than once this year—and one of them, Francesco Lodi, is returning to Catania after only half a season with the club.
Genoa have scored more than once in only five games this season. Not coincidentally, four of them have been wins.
Their other strikers have been so nonexistent, it's almost not worth mentioning them. Small wonder they were so reluctant to part with Ciro Immobile this summer.
Serie A is not the strictly defensive league it used to be. Scoring one goal and holding on until the end isn't going to cut it, and Genoa are wasting that improved defensive performance with a terrible effort on the other end of the pitch. One really bad dry spell and they could start dropping down the table again.
As one-dimensional as Gilardino is, he's scored six times in his last 10 games. Genoa need to give him some support in the winter window or defenses will start collapsing on him to the point where he won't have any space at all and dare the rest of the team to beat them—which until now they haven't been able to do.
Lazio
12 of 20
For the love of all things holy, get this manager situation resolved—on the field and off
This got out of hand very quickly.
Lazio's performances have been subpar this season—including a pair of poundings by Juventus in the Supercoppa, league and embarrassing losses to Hellas and Genoa and a limp performance in the Derby della Capitale that left their Coppa Italia triumph against Roma a distant memory.
All this had Petkovic's job in serious jeopardy. Then, slightly more than a week ago, Petkovic signed an agreement with the Swiss federation to succeed the retiring Ottmar Hitzfeld as the coach of their national team effective at the conclusion of the World Cup.
Notoriously volitle team president Claudio Lotito lost it.
ESPNFC reported five days after the agreement was signed that Lotitio has accused Petkovic of negotiating with the Swiss behind the club's back and was looking to fire the coach with cause and sue him for damages.
It was then reported on December 30 that former Lazio boss Edy Reja had taken over first-team training. But there was one problem—Petkovic has yet to officially get the axe and Reja has no official contract with the team.
As reported in the Guardian and several other media outlets, Petkovic is still proudly claiming the Lazio job.
Things are getting so out of hand that a Football-Italia report says that even the Coaches' Association has urged Lotito to fire Petkovic so as to end the bizarre stand-off.
This whole mess is likely a ploy to get Petkovic to resign and save the club six months' worth of salary money. But if it carries on through the weekend, things could get sticky—if Lotito really wants Reja to lead his team, he has to file the paperwork by Monday in order for him to be in the technical area against Inter.
Beyond that, a potential legal battle between the club and coach could produce a massive distraction for a team struggling to regain league form and with the Europa League to fit into their schedule.
The madness simply has to end.
Udinese
13 of 20
Get Antonio Di Natale and Luis Muriel on the right track
You know there's trouble at the Friuli when your two-time capocannoniere has the same number of goals as one of your center-backs. It's even worse when they're the joint leaders.
Unfortunately, Antonio Di Natale is indeed level with Thomas Heurteaux with four goals. Age might finally be catching up with Toto.
A drop in the captain's form wouldn't necessarily be fatal, but the problem is that young striker Luis Muriel—who was expected to take a jump to the next level this year—has been having serious issues of his own.
After scoring twice in the first three games of the year, the Colombian has only managed one goal since and hasn't played since suffering a thigh strain on November 24.
That has left Udinese without anyone to back their star adequately. As much as age might be a factor, the fact that teams can be comfortable collapsing on Di Natale and leaving his teammates to try to score on their own is probably equally important to his poor run of form.
Hard luck hasn't helped. Di Natale has fired 51 shots this season and hit the target with nearly 40 percent of them. Only 20 percent of those shots (20 in all) have found the back of the net. By contrast, 44 percent of his shots on target (23 of 52) ended up goals last season.
It stands to reason that with peripheral stats such as that the law of averages dictates Di Natale is bound to score a few more eventually. What's important is that Muriel returns to fitness and form as well. If he becomes dangerous as he was last year—11 goals in 22 total appearances—Di Natale will start to get more open looks.
Torino
14 of 20
Keep hold of leads
Torino played out more draws last year (16) than any team in the league.
This year they've been better at turning their draws into wins. They already have almost as many wins this year (six) as they did last season (eight) and have more than half the points (25) they earned a season ago (40—they finished with 39 because of a one-point deduction).
But like Parma a few spots below them, the Granata have also left a ton of points on the table this season.
Like the Crusaders, Torino have blown leads in seven of their 17 games so far this season. In only one of those games were they able to find a winner. The rest turned into draws—some of them quite high-scoring.
That's 12 points they could have had. Half that number would put them level with fifth place. Had they claimed all 12, they would actually occupy a Champions League place.
A major point in their inability to kill games off has been discipline. In three of those six draws their opponent's final equalizer came on a penalty kick.
They're even worse offenders than Parma when it comes to blowing multiple leads or multiple-goal leads—it's happened in four of those seven games.
Torino are firmly in the middle of the pack when it comes to defensive form (joint seventh in goals allowed), but they no longer have a defender of the quality of Angelo Ogbonna. Still, team discipline and organization are the real culprits here.
With Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile firing on all cylinders up front, Torino are a dangerous team in the second half of the year.
They have played the big clubs tough—drawing both Milan teams (games that both should have been wins) as well as Roma and playing Juventus to a close-knit 1-0 draw in the Derby della Mole.
If they can overcome the yips and secure three points in big games down the stretch, Torino can make a serious play at European competition next season.
Hellas Verona
15 of 20
Improve set-piece defense
Hellas Verona have been the biggest surprise of the season in Italy. In August no one remotely considered the possibility of a team playing in its first top-flight season in more than a decade being two points off the top five by the winter break.
But there they are, in spite of all the odds—and some of the numbers.
The Gialloblu are tied for the fifth-worst defense in the league, allowing 26 goals. Five of those have come following set pieces.
The hulking form of Luca Toni (seven goals, five assists) has ensured that the Mastiffs aren't all that shabby on their own set pieces, and Brazilian youngster Jorginho (also seven goals) has been a revelation playing next to him.
The fact that this team is here right now is amazing. To stay in this position—and maybe qualify for the Europa League—they'll need to get better in dead-ball situations. Even Europe's secondary competition would be a financial windfall for a club a season out from relegation and could be used as a springboard to get even better.
At this stage, Verona can stop looking at survival and start looking at bigger things. Whether they can make a shock top-five finish depends largely on improved defense—especially when the ball is stationary.
Inter
16 of 20
Integrate young strikers Icardi and Belfodil into the side
Things have been going well for Inter this year. After the ninth-place debacle of 2012-13 under Andrea Stramaccioni, Walter Mazzarri has arrived to bring a stability and identity to the side that wasn't seen with Strama's ever-changing tactics and formations.
In particular Mazzarri has kick-started Rodrigo Palacio. Long a player valued more for his hard work in front of goal than for style points, Palacio has broken out this season with 10 goals, third in the league behind Giuseppe Rossi and Carlos Tevez.
Palacio has appeared in every game Inter has played, started all but one and played all 90 minutes in 15.
The lack of European competition for Inter this year means Mazzarri has to be less concerned with squad rotation than the likes of Max Allegri and Antonio Conte, but that's still a heavy workload, especially for a player who will be 32 by season's end.
With Diego Milito's injury issues seemingly never set to end, Mazzarri's options to spell Palacio come down to youngsters Mauro Icardi and Ishak Belfodil.
The 3-5-1-1 Mazzarri has been playing all season limits the options for strikers who aren't The Guy, but it would behoove him to get Icardi and Belfodil some playing time. The club spent quite a bit of money on the two, and with Palacio at 32 and Milito at 34 (and perennially injured), the two of them will be expected to lead the line sooner rather than later. It's best to blood them now rather than hope they can be jump-started later.
Giving the two some more playing time would also serve the secondary purpose of diversifying the scoring load—an element that Mazzarri's teams have often lacked, especially in the Cavani era at Napoli. Right now Palacio has more than twice as many goals as any other Inter player.
Giving his two youngsters a chance to show what they have is something Mazzarri should be doing sooner rather than later.
Fiorentina
17 of 20
Re-integrate Mario Gomez into the side
Giuseppe Rossi has been hands down the best story in Europe this season. After missing two years due to severe knee injuries, Rossi leads the league with 14 goals and has worked himself back into the international picture, fulfilling Cesare Prandelli's original vision of Rossi and Mario Balotelli leading his front line.
Rossi's form has been so scintillating that we've almost forgotten about the man who was to be Rossi's strike partner.
German international Mario Gomez was signed from Bayern Munich for €20 million after Mario Mandzukic pipped him for the top striker job in Bavaria. The prospect of facing down Gomez and Rossi was frightening for any defense to consider.
Gomez held his end of the bargain up for the first three games of the season—he scored twice and notched an assist—but was stopped short 51 minutes into Fiorentina's match against Cagliari with an injury to his right MCL.
Gomez was proclaimed recovered by the team in November and has been nursed along carefully so as to avoid a setback.
If the German can once again join Rossi in the Viola attack, it would take a lot of pressure off the American-born Italy international, who has scored 42 percent of the team's goals this season. It would also make the Fiorentina attack—fueled expertly from the midfield by Borja Valero—a terrifying sight to behold.
Making up the 13 points that separate them from Juventus isn't particularly likely, but if Gomez and Rossi reunite and start clicking, Fiorentina could easily make their way back to the Champions League.
Napoli
18 of 20
Improve the back four
Napoli's switch from Walter Mazzarri's three-man back line to a more traditional four-man line under Rafael Benitez has not been without its hitches.
Benitez has been forced to play Christian Maggio and Juan Zuniga—natural wing-backs who are more attacking players rather than pure defenders—at the full-back positions. He brought in new center-backs such as Raul Albiol who are more experienced in a four-man defense, but they haven't been playing particularly well.
Aurelio De Laurentiis has shown no qualms about opening his checkbook in recent years and, after a summer transfer window that was full of high-profile offensive signings, some defensive adjustments might be in order for the winter window. A go at Sunderland target Davide Astori might not be out of the question and a pure full-back—especially on the right, where Maggio has not adjusted as well as Zuniga—would certainly be a need.
Benitez's defense has let him down at the wrong times this year. The team's 3-3 draw against Udinese on December 7 comes to mind, as does the top-of-the-table clash with Roma in October, a 2-0 loss.
But nothing trumps the 3-0 pummeling the Partenopei suffered at the Juventus Stadium in November. That the team lost by such a large margin despite controlling possession—no easy thing to do against Juve—shows just how easily the Bianconeri were able to carve up a line that is still learning how to work together.
At least one upgrade—particularly at full-back—will be important for Napoli as they look to hold off Fiorentina for a Champions League spot.
Roma
19 of 20
Avoid the injury bug
Roma's start was totally unanticipated, but the only unbeaten team left in Italian soccer has proven vulnerable if injuries strike.
The run of four draws the Giallorossi suffered in November that lost them the top spot on the table was prompted in large part by a bevy of injuries that hit their front line in quick succession.
Winger Gervinho, striker Adem Ljajic and captain Francesco Totti combined with Mattia Destro's long-term injury to leave Marco Boriello the team's only viable striker—and then he had to leave the field with an injury, too.
Depth for day-to-day rotation isn't a huge concern for manager Rudi Garcia because his team isn't playing in Europe, but if Roma could be in trouble if they hit another rash of injuries—or one big one. Center-back Mehdi Benatia—the best defensive signing of the summer—comes to mind as a massive blow to the side if he should have to miss any significant time.
For the moment, they're at full strength. Gervinho and Totti are back healthy. Destro returned on December 8 and has scored all three times he's seen the field, finally showing Roma's fans why their team shelled out €15 million for the striker two summers ago.
Garcia must do his part to make sure they stay that way. If they start losing players for significant periods, Napoli and Fiorentina—teams that were built to withstand the rigors of playing in Europe—will knock them out of Champions League contention.
Juventus
20 of 20
Balance the Europa League with Serie A
Juve fans are still smarting at their cruel exit from the Champions League. Whether the game against Galatasaray should have been restarted—or even started in the first place—on a blasted pitch in Istanbul is an argument for another time.
The fact is that Juve have dropped to the Europa League for the second time in three European campaigns.
Most Italian teams treat the Europa League as a distraction, but all indications are that Antonio Conte will go into the competition full bore with the potential for a final to be played in front of their home fans at the Juventus Stadium.
That means Conte will have to rotate his squad in such a way as to ensure that his team can stay fresh on both Thursdays in Europe and weekends in Italy.
Fortunately for the Juve boss, the Bianconeri have proven that they can win games against mid-to-lower-level teams even with significant squad rotation.
Unfortunately, the schedule may not work out in his favor. Juve face a huge game against Napoli the weekend before the first leg of a potential quarterfinal and would square off against Fiorentina the weekend before the first leg of a potential round of 16 tie—although that game could ironically be against La Viola as well, in which case neither team will benefit much.
Juve are a deep team that can beat most Italian sides even if they're underpowered. They have a set of good backup forwards in Fabio Qualgliarella and Mirko Vucinic (provided the latter stays with the team). They have a surplus of top-quality central midfielders and a cadre of defenders that can easily rotate around the back three.
They are also looking forward to the potential return of Simone Pepe after nearly 18 months on the sidelines with an injury. Pepe's return could bring much-needed depth to either wing and would be particularly welcome on the left side, currently manned by the lively but out-of-position Kwadwo Asamoah and the more defensive-minded Federico Peluso.
A third straight title is by no means in hand but it is looking more and more likely every week. If Conte plays his cards right, he could end his season with a "little treble." Not what the fans would have wanted at the beginning of the season—but still an impressive accomplishment nonetheless.
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
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