5 Things We Learned from Round 3 in Serie A

So, a busy week in Italy's football circles, where the FIGC managed to cram in a midweek round of Serie A for us to feast on.

It did not disappoint. Plenty of goals and upsets with the early pacesetters—Napoli, Juventus, Cagliari and Udinese—all losing their perfect records.

In Italy, there is an obsession of worrying about what others are doing rather than concentrating on one's own project, so just a few bad results will leave the manager somewhat nervous with corners of the press normally linking his job to every other successful manager in Europe.

Italy may be playing catch up with the rest of Europe after missing its opener over the strike but there are no shortage of headlines to run by in this week's five things we learned.

Referees in Italy Aren't All Cuckolds

It is probably an understatement to say that Italians are dubious as to the honesty of referees.

In fact, most consider them "fascists" if you like with calcio fans proclaiming for years that they only go into refereeing because they are power hungry and for 90 minutes each weekend they hold total power over the players and a game watched by millions.

The accusation is absurd but referees are easy targets, even more so in Italy when in recent years, clubs have been found guilty of attempting to manipulate them.

Generally across world football, referees would tend to favor the bigger teams and smaller sides bemoan their bad luck each and every time they visit a giant club's home stadium where the referees, self consciously or not, are prone to buckling under pressure. 

This is why a referee makes it into the five things we learned this week as Gabriele Gava did something that most would not do.

He sent off Mirko Vucinic in Juventus's brand spanking new stadium when it would have been so easy to ignore the decision that needed to be made and continue with no real ramifications afterwards.

Vucinic got himself a second yellow card for arguing with the officials about a foul, right so, he was in the book.

Now once you are booked, you are always treading a tight rope, so it is normally good advice to stay on your feet, easy if you are a striker, take the night off from defending, nobody will notice anyway.

Vucinic was not that clever, he was tracking back Archimede Morleo who had set off from left back only to be upheld by the Montenegran international, who had earlier given Juventus the lead.

He was late and he knew it, Juve players surrounded the referee, pleading with him not to do what was necessary.

For a moment, it looked like Gava had bottled it, but he came to his senses and stood strong, brandishing a second yellow and leaving Juventus to battle for 45 minutes with 10 men.

This is what football should be like every week, fair calls, down the middle, no matter how big one team is or how many supporters are screaming at the referee to do as they desire.

Bologna deserved the opportunity to face 10 men for 45 minutes due to Juventus's poor discipline and so they did.

Daniele Portanova climbed high to nod home a Gaston Ramirez corner despite the feeble attempts of Giorgio Chiellini and that was enough, 1-1 it finished but it will be remembered for a rare moment when the referee made a correct decision nobody expected him to make.

Stevan Jovetic Is on the Verge of Becoming Serie A's Biggest Star

Stevan Jovetic endured a torrid time last season as he sat out the majority of the season with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Fiorentina despaired as their mercurial talent was snatched away from them and prevented them from mounting a challenge on the top four.

The Montenegran is back though and he looks sharper than ever, grabbing his first goals of the campaign on Sunday to guide the Viola to a 3-0 victory over Parma.

He has it all, pace, trickery, vision and considerable experience for such a young man.

At 21 years old, Jovetic is ready to fulfill his potential and the Artemio Franchi is the best place to do so where he can be the star of the show.

Just watch this boy this season, it could be something special.

Inter: Progress Is Never Achieved When the Manager Is Not Backed

Inter Milan slumped to their worst start in almost half a century on Tuesday night as they were swept aside 3-1 by a buoyant Novara side who went for the Nerazzurri like rabid wolves.

They sensed a weakness and they pounced.

Yes, Inter entered this game in dreadful form, but they could have salvaged the situation in the days before by publicly showing a sense of unity.

Massimo Moratti, Inter president, was questioned in the days before the Novara game and asked if he would give reassurances to manager Gian Piero Gasperini.

His silence said it all and even if he truly did not believe in Gasperini, he should have backed him. This would have sent the message to the players that they need to work hard as change is not imminent.

Instead, Gasperini has had to endure semi-official strops from the likes of Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forlan about their positions in the team which put him on the back foot immediately going in to the Novara game.

Also, this summer transfer window has been a disaster for Inter, not so much losing Samuel Eto'o (their most important player last season) but the failure to even address the needs of the manager or even consult him on those players he would desire.

The likes of Forlan and Mauro Zarate simply do not fit in to Gasperini's formation while Diego Milito is the main striker, furthermore, there were no reinforcements in a speedy central defender capable of covering Walter Samuel and Lucio in Gasperini's favored back three. All these decisions were baffling.

Moratti never gave Gasperini a chance and it may be true that there is not so much money these days at the Nerazzurri, but if that was the case then why hire a man whose tactics will clearly require a complete revamp of the squad?

Moratti should have looked at the squad and found a candidate capable of working with what he would inherit and somebody that would not necessarily require the squad to undergo major surgery.

Instead, Inter are reeling and new manager Claudio Ranieri will have major pressure from the get-go. 

Lazio: Progress Can Be Achieved If Your Squad Rallies Round Their Coach

Lazio's players are a shining example to the Inter players who seemed to leave Gian Piero Gasperini out to dry.

President of Lazio Claudio Lotito was furious with the abject display at the weekend in the 2-1 home defeat to Genoa and demanded a reaction.

The players have affection for Edy Reja and rallied round the coach.

They even showed character to come from 1-0 down, when Adrian Mutu scored for Cesena.

But Hernanes and Miroslav Klose turned the game around to give Reja some time to develop the side without the threat of the sack.

Hernanes repaid the faith shown in him by the manager and now the team seems to be pulling in the right direction.

Inter take note.

Napoli Can Win the Scudetto but Not by Resting Their Best Player

Napoli came in to the Chievo game Wednesday night off the back of some scintillation form that left Milan for dead and nearly claimed Manchester City as a scalp on their Champions League debut.

It was thus bizarre that Walter Mazzarri decided to stop the momentum when Napoli have been fortunate enough to hit the ground running.

Victory on Wednesday night against a struggling Chievo side with one point from two games (even that point at home to Novara came after they blew a 2-0 lead. Ideal opposition then? Not quite.

Not quite, when the Flying Donkeys have won their last two meetings against the side from Campania.

Not quite, when you rest the most in-form striker in Europe.

Not quite, when two defensive rocks in Hugo Campagnaro and Paolo Cannavaro  are left out of the starting 11 in favor of two very inexperienced Argentine center backs in Ignacio Fideleff (at fault for Davide Moscardelli's stunning volleyed winner) and Federico Fernandez, both in their early 20s. Next to Salvatore Aronica who is not exactly faultless.

Furthermore, Gokhan Inler and Marek Hamsik were also left out, almost as if the game was a formality, only it was not.

Chievo played superbly and mixed up their tactics to great effect, using the brute force of Moscardelli combined with high pace and intensity epitomized by US international Michael Bradley who looks to have settled nicely in Verona.

Napoli have some extraordinarily talented players, but those exact players are the ones that will bring the Scudetto back to Naples, not the stand-ins.

On this evidence, Mazzarri is clearly targeting the Champions League. 

Foolish in my opinion when a title would mean so much to the fans who have yearned for one since the days of Diego Maradona.

Even more foolish when you consider they have the toughest group of them all with Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Villarreal. Whereas Milan are struggling, Inter are in crisis and Juventus and Roma are rebuilding.

Yes, this is a golden opportunity for Napoli, but it looks like Mazzarri is passing it by. They should have been seven points clear of the Champions already but instead it is just four.

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