5 Serie A Players Who Need to Be Benched by Their Managers
The young Serie A season has seen some exciting starts by individual players.
AC Milan's Jeremy Menez brought excitement to a fan-base that sorely needed it. Mauro Icardi started realizing his potential at Inter, scoring a hat-trick in Inter's 7-0 demolition of Sassuolo. Carlos Tevez took Juventus on his back and fired them to wins over Udinese and Milan.
But in every league of every sport there are ups and downs. As well as some played, others have played as badly. In fact, some have been downright woeful.
Today we'll take a look at the short end of the form spectrum—those players that have played so badly that they ought to lose their places in their respective teams.
These five players have been some of the worst regulars in Italy in the first month and need some time on the bench to sort things out.
Etrit Berisha
1 of 5
Etrit Berisha was installed as Lazio's starting goalkeeper midway through last season. After Juventus blitzed Federico Marchetti for four goals twice in the space of two weeks at the beginning of last season, the former Italy international seemed broken mentally, and Berisha took advantage to pip him to the job.
But Berisha has started the season poorly. He was blitzed for three in the opening loss to AC Milan. Last weekend he was caught badly out of position and allowed Mauricio Pinilla to thump home a winner with three minutes left.
His one win this season was a clean sheet against Cesena, but there wasn't much for Berisha to do. Lazio's defense limited the Seahorses to only one shot on target and seven overall.
A change may already be underway. Marchetti started Thursday's game against Udinese. It's unclear as to whether the capitol club will make that change permanent or if Berisha is merely being rested in a midweek contest.
One thing is certain: Berisha can't play this badly for much longer and expect to keep his job.
Marcelo Larrondo
2 of 5
The loss of Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci was always going to make things difficult for Torino this season. Marcelo Larrondo's performance up front has not helped.
In two starts and a substitute appearance, Larrondo has taken only five shots and put only one of them on target.
That solitary shot that found the frame? A penalty that Inter's Samir Handanovic parried away with ease.
Larrondo was replaced by Amauri in the starting lineup in the team's third game against Hellas Verona. Against Cagliari in midweek Giampiero Ventura changed formation entirely and eliminated the need for a partner for Fabio Quagliarella, instead putting Omar El Kaddouri in the hole behind him.
Larrondo was expected to help carry the load up front for the Granata, but so far he's been a failure. Ventura will need to get him right on the training ground before turning to him again.
Antonio Mirante
3 of 5
Parma's goalkeeper was a reserve to the World Cup squad, which makes it a real surprise that he has allowed the most goals of any keeper in Serie A.
We've seen good goalkeepers have inflated goals-against numbers merely because he's had a bad defense in front of him. Mattia Perin's loan spell with Pescara comes to mind.
But Mirante has often just been bad.
In Parma's 5-4 loss against Milan, he simply melted down. Giacomo Bonaventura's first goal could have been prevented had he read the attacker's body position and anticipated the shot, which could only have gone in one direction.
On Keisuke Honda's second, he simply skirted his own goal line rather than attacking the cross.
On Nigel de Jong's fourth, he rushed to the edge of his penalty area to close the angle, simply to see the Dutchman tap the ball past him.
And drowned out by Jeremy Menez's crazy backheel finish for Milan's final goal of the night was the fact that Mirante made a hash out of the preceding backpass. Attacking the ball in an attempt to clear it would have been risky, but it was a better alternative than simply allowing the Frenchman to knock the ball past him to set up the finish.
For a team to allow so many goals also points to a failure from the keeper to keep the defense organized. It's an underrated trait in goalkeepers, and if Parma continue to flail defensively Mirante's ability to do so must be called into question.
Mirante has earned a few more outings before Roberto Donadoni should seriously consider dropping him. But with pressure from the front office to replicate last year's success, Donadoni may be motivated to make a change between the sticks sooner rather than later.
Fernando Llorente
4 of 5
Last year, Fernando Llorente started slow. He had barely played the year before due to his contract dispute with Athletic Bilbao, so it was understandable that he took a while to round into form.
The slow start this year isn't as easy to comprehend. Llorente hasn't scored in five games (four starts) across all competitions and hasn't looked like the imperious target man who emerged from November last season.
His first touch, so important to poachers like Llorente, has been shaky at best. His hold-up play has been decent, but his passes have been off (only a 71.1 percent completion rate, according to WhoScored.com), and his finishing touch has vanished.
A big week is looming for Juventus. A huge Champions League match away from home against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, followed by a massive Sunday clash against title rivals Roma.
The fact that Llorente just started in a midweek game against a newly promoted team may be a sign that Massimiliano Allegri is losing patience. With Alvaro Morata nearing full fitness after his preseason knee injury, Llorente may find his place in the starting XI threatened.
If he doesn't start producing the goals that made him a potent tandem alongside Carlos Tevez, Morata or even Kingsley Coman—who started for an ill Llorente in the season opener against Chievo—could take his place.
Daniele Bonera
5 of 5
Filippo Inzaghi has had a great start to his tenure at AC Milan, but one decision has been baffling the team's fans.
Why, Pippo? Why is Daniele Bonera playing?
The 33-year-old Bonera might be the worst player in the entire league. He's flat-footed when defending, it seems like he has no sense of anticipation and he can't win the ball on the tackle.
He has been directly responsible for goals in each of his last two games. Against Parma two weeks ago he lost Antonio Cassano and allowed the former Milan player to head in the Crusaders' first goal. On Tuesday his attempt at marking Empoli's Lorenzo Tonelli on a 13th-minute corner was limp, and the defender opened the scoring.
Bonera isn't worthy of being on the field for Milan. He's barely worthy of a top-flight team at all. Milan's defense is its biggest weakness, and dropping Bonera will automatically go a long way toward fixing that problem.
Simply put, Bonera should never play in a Milan shirt again. The sooner Inzaghi benches him the better.
