5 Storylines to Follow in Serie A for the Weekend of February 7
The winter transfer window is closed, and this weekend Serie A's clubs will be able to show off the full fruits of their month's labors.
At the top of the standings, Juventus mostly stood pat in January, using the window to plan for the future rather than immediately upgrade for the present.
Their pursuers, however, were far more active. Roma, Milan, Inter and Napoli all made moves that will have a more immediate impact on the second half of the season.
What will we be talking about as Italy's teams display their winter prizes? Here are five of the most intriguing storylines on the peninsula this weekend.
Will Standing Pat Be Enough for Juventus?
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Juventus were heavily involved in transfer rumors early in the season. They were linked to then Bayern Munich midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri by the likes of Goal.com and Galatasaray's Wesley Sneijder by ESPN FC when that deal fell through.
The genesis of these dalliances in the transfer market was Massimiliano Allegri's switch from the 3-5-2 formation of his predecessor, Antonio Conte, to a 4-3-1-2. While the stable of midfielders available to Allegri is deep and obscenely talented, none of them are perfectly suited for playing in the hole behind the strikers. Players like Shaqiri (who ended up at Inter), Sneijder (who stayed at Galatasaray) and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (ESPN FC reported that Juve had interest in the Armenian, but a bid was never made) would fit that bill perfectly, but Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta wasn't able to draw any of them to Turin.
When it became clear that the position would have to be addressed next year, Marotta went about the task of reinforcing the depth chart and planning for the future. Sebastian Giovinco departed to Toronto FC in MLS, replaced by the returning Alessandro Matri, who will be on loan until the end of the season. Midfielder Stefano Sturaro, purchased from Genoa in the summer, received an early recall from his loan with the Grifone.
Paolo De Ceglie was likewise recalled from a loan at Parma to reinforce the depth at left-back. Perhaps one of the more important moves they made in January was to resolve the co-ownership of Daniele Rugani. One of Italy's brightest young center backs, he had attracted interest from Arsenal, according to Football Italia. Juve responded to the threat by buying the second half of his rights from Empoli. He will spend the rest of the season in Tuscany before returning to Juve in summer.
All these moves were nice, but the question is whether it will be enough for Juve to win a fourth-straight Scudetto. The teams behind them are all improved from last year and were all active in the transfer market. Will they be able to hold off their pursuers without doing the same? After an unconvincing performance against Udinese last week, Saturday's game against Milan is going to be telling.
Will Milan's Defensive Signings Mesh in Time?
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Since selling Thiago Silva in the summer of 2012, AC Milan's defense has best resembled a sieve. The list that has manned the center back spots since then has been a who's who of retreads and subpar players.
The likes of Cristian Zapata, Daniele Bonera, Alex, Adil Rami and the human red card that is Philippe Mexes have all tried to plug the holes. The full-back positions have not been better. Ignazio Abate is serviceable but limited on the right, and academy product Mattia De Sciglio has regressed in a major way over the last season-and-a-half.
Milan spent January looking for reinforcements at the back. The first arrival was Salvatore Bocchetti, who came on loan from CSKA Moscow. The next was full-back Luca Antonelli on a loan with an option to buy from Genoa. The big surprise—and perhaps the biggest move—was the signing on a full transfer of Gabriel Paletta.
Part of a mass exodus from financially troubled Parma, Paletta has been limited by injuries this year but is now back at full steam and was the league's best center back last year. He's by no means the player Silva is, but he's the best center back the team has gotten their hands on since selling the Brazilian.
The three newcomers could well be dropped into the fire this weekend against Juve. If they can't pull together for Saturday's game it's not exactly shameful—they'll have been together less than a week. But their ability to pull together and improve Milan's defense will go a long way toward turning Milan's season into something respectable.
Their big test against Juventus will at the very least give fans an indication of whether the defensive augmentations have promise.
Who Will Actually Play for Parma?
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As mentioned before, Parma is in trouble.
Financial problems saw their best player, Antonio Cassano, leave the team for nothing after terminating his contract for unpaid wages. Six more players left on deadline day, one a contract termination, two loans, two loans with purchasing options and one permanent sale.
Parma's players and staff haven't seen their paychecks in six months. Players union president Damiano Tommasi was quoted on Football Italia on Wednesday as calling the situation with the team "intolerable" and he warned that the situation makes the Crusaders more susceptible to approach by match-fixers.
The question now is who Roberto Donadoni will actually field in Sunday's relegation showdown with Chievo. Monday's sell-off may be a sign of surrender to the drop, but given the team's predicament, relegation may push them not into Serie B, but insolvency.
The once-proud Seventh Sister is on the brink. Time will tell if she can be saved.
Can Roma Halt the Slide?
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So far 2015 has been a year to forget for Roma.
The Giallorossi had missed out on several opportunities to stay as close as one point from Juventus in the season's first half, but they went into the winter break down only three, constantly pressuring their opponents for the Scudetto.
Roma started 2015 with a 1-0 squeaker against Udinese on January 6 but has only won one game since then. That contest—a 2-1 victory against Empoli—came in the Coppa Italia and took extra time and a debatable penalty call to get through. Otherwise, they've seen four-straight league draws and lost 2-0 at home to Fiorentina in the Coppa quarters.
Rudi Garcia now finds his team seven points behind Juve and is lucky not to be down nine. The team is in danger of falling out of the title race entirely. To make matters worse, they have to deal with something that they didn't have to last year—pressure from below. Napoli is only four points back and keen to avoid the Champions League playoff that proved too much for them in August.
To top it all off, the team is still missing Kevin Strootman and Daniele De Rossi (both injured) as well as Gervinho, who is playing for the Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations. This team is depleted at the worst possible time—and if Juve keeps winning they may be running out of time to get things right.
Is Mancini's Legacy Slipping Away?
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Roberto Mancini's return to Inter was hailed as a watershed moment for the rebuilding club. Inter's dominant five-year period at the end of the last decade was started by Mancini, and after Walter Mazzarri was fired the club's fans hoped for similar form with the Italian back in charge.
So far, they've been disappointed. Mancini has only managed two wins in 10 league games. He took four points in the Europa League group stage but was eliminated from the Coppa Italia on Wednesday by Napoli.
Fortunately for him, his front office has been active in January and has given him some reinforcements in Lukas Podolski and Xherdan Shaqiri. He'll have the next few months to fix things up. But if things don't start turning around, the legacy of his greatest triumph as a manager could be irrevocably tarnished.
His first step is this week's game against Palermo. Beating the high-flying Rosanero will mean a step in the right direction.
