Serie A: 5 Things We Learned from Week 11

Jack Alexandros RathbornNov 22, 2011

Serie A is back after the disruptive international break and is as fascinating as ever.

We ended Week 11 with four sides, Juventus, Lazio, Milan, and Udinese, all within one point of each other at the top of the table.

The league is fast proving to be the most competitive in Europe.

There is an abundance of quality and sides are not tactically naive in their approach to matches.

The international break also saw the sentencing of those found guilty for their part in the Calciopoli scandal as antagonist Luciano Moggi was handed a sentence of five years and four months for "sporting fraud."

An additional 18 individuals were punished with custodial sentences or bans from football.

Moggi plans to appeal, as do many others, but it is encouraging to see such severity from the courts.

Roma: Pablo Osvaldo Denied Greatest Goal That Never Was Against Lecce

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Pablo Osvaldo is on fire. The Argentine-born Italian international is finding the form of his life since joining Roma from Espanyol this summer.

The 25-year-old is capable of the spectacular and his prior history suggests this weekend's wonder goal, wrongly ruled out for offside, was no fluke as he displayed similar quality against Torino while with Fiorentina earlier in his career.

This would have been even more special though. Osvaldo leaped high to acrobatically volley in Fernando Gago's brilliantly chipped delivery, leaving Julio Sergio completely helpless.

The commentators and fans around the stadium were in joyous celebration but it was to be short lived as the linesman cruelly disallowed the goal when it was clear in the replay Osvaldo was not in an offsides position.

If Osvaldo continues to attempt the audacious, it won't be long until his next spectacular goal and hopefully next time it will stand.

Juventus: Alessandro Matri Is Fast Becoming One of Europe's Best Finishers

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Alessandro Matri is on the fast track to become one of Europe's most deadly strikers.

Matri is proving to be one of Italy's most in-form players as he scored his fourth goal in as many games this weekend against Palermo with an angled drive that skipped past the despairing Alexandros Tzorvas.

Matri is a predator and a rare breed of striker in today's game. He operates in and around the penalty area, thriving on the slightest chance and drills the ball with terrific technique towards goal.

Antonio Conte tried an ambitious 4-2-4 earlier in the season but soon scrapped the idea when he realised he could incorporate dynamic Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal as well as bring the best out of Matri.

Since then Juve have looked far more solid and can assume the majority of possession with Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio pulling the strings in the center of the pitch.

Juve have pulled off three victories in succession and the side looks well balanced, creating numerous opportunities. Expect Matri to continue scoring and pose the question to Azzurri manager Cesare Prandelli about whether he should be starting ahead of Mario Balotelli or Giampaolo Pazzini.

Genoa: Miguel Veloso Is Finally Fulfilling His Potential with the Grifone

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Miguel Veloso is becoming something of a cult hero at Genoa this season.

The Portugal native is finally influencing games the way he should be. Many of Europe's biggest clubs clambered to steal his signature but the move never materialised and he eventually grew stale with the Lisbon giants.

For his own development, a move was essential and Genoa is the perfect fit.

In one of Europe's best leagues, Veloso has the platform to showcase his skills while also knowing expectations are not as high as at some clubs; meaning he is guaranteed a sufficient amount of playing time.

Veloso is an all-action midfielder this season and he has taken responsibility to run the Rossoblu engine while Juray Kucka continues to be rested.

Responsibility has shaped Veloso into one of Serie A's finest. Veloso is tenacious in the tackle and is able to be productive on the ball and links superbly with the mercurial talent Alex Merkel among others in the midfielder.

He is also able to spray long passes into space, passes which Rodrigo Palacio thrives on. This is Veloso's team now.

Sunday confirmed all of the above as Genoa found themselves down to 10 men at home to Novara after Luca Antonelli was shown a red card on the stroke of half time.

In the second half, Veloso showed great determination to give his side a chance to win despite being a man down.

Fittingly, Veloso claimed the winner in the 86th minute to ease the pressure on Alberto Malesani, who has sent out some intriguing sides this season with some interesting ideas but not always been given the rewards the side deserves.

Genoa will hope Veloso can continue to pull the strings and lead them to a European place.

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Inter Milan: Philippe Coutinho Could Be the Spark to Ignite Nerazzurri's Season

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Philippe Coutinho is having something of a renaissance at Inter this year.

The young Brazilian burst onto the scene last season under Rafael Benitez but after his departure never really had the same opportunities under Leonardo and then never seemed to figure into the plans of Gian Piero Gasperini's short spell.

Claudio Ranieri is looking for a new star to bring this Inter side into a new era and to distinguish his side away from those of Jose Mourinho.

If Chelsea's recent history is anything to go by, then it will be tough for Inter to dispose of Mourinho's legacy any time soon.

But Coutinho seems the ideal candidate to spearhead a new era for the Nerazzurri as Wesley Sneijder continues to struggle for perhaps motivation rather than form.

Massimo Moratti must be rueing the day the Dutchman seemingly priced himself out of move to Manchester United as it seems inevitable that he will move on. While the team is not good enough to challenge for the Champions League or even the Scudetto, it would be beneficial for the side to make the transformation as soon as possible.

Perhaps a move will materialise in January and then Inter can begin to rebuild the mess that is the aftermath of the Mourinho era.

Coutinho has displayed lovely movement at times this season and an intelligence to use the ball. While he sometimes naively looks for a champagne moment, and understandably so, there is clearly potential.

He capped Saturday's bright performance by cutting in from the left and squeezing a crisp shot inside the near post of Michele Agazzi to put Inter 2-0 up.

The Nerazzurri faithful applauded their new hero after 68 minutes and his development in the coming weeks ought to show us whether the time is now for Coutinho.

Fiorentina: Delio Rossi Has Much Work to Do with Dreadful Viola

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Delio Rossi is the man to finally replace Siniša Mihajlović after the Serbian was relieved of his duties by the Della Valle owners.

It seems that fan power has won the day and although Mihajlović hardly made his position safe with a string of lacklustre performances, the players he is working with might want to ask themselves whether they really gave their all during his tenure.

Rossi's first game in charge did little to dispel any unhappiness for the Artemio Franchi faithful as whistles were heard throughout Saturday's game against reigning champions, Milan.

It was a rather dull display from the home side who you would have expected to have at least some reaction to the incoming manager. Instead they scraped the 0-0 draw with very few efforts on goal.

Milan were the only team who looked like scoring and were themselves, below average at times.

This posed the question whether Rossi will be that much of an upgrade over Mihajlović and while there is a talented group of players at his disposal, the team needs serious surgery to reignite their season.

The only positive from Saturday's showing was the performance of Serbian defender Matija Nastasić who gave a resilient display against some of the best attacking talent on offer in this league.

He was positive in the tackle and as physical as he needed to be against Ibrahimovic. The 18-year-old must surely figure into Rossi's immediate plans as he aims to rejuvenate a stale squad.