Five Things Learned from the Opening Weeks of the New Season

After three weekends of action, it’s time for Serie A to pause for the first international break of the season. While Italy will face France and Israel in the Nations League, Serie A’s 20 managers will have the time to assess their situations and take stock of what they’ve experienced so far in the opening three games of the season.

Of course, it’s still very early in the campaign to be making grand proclamations over how certain things will go. Lots can change between now and Christmas, let alone between September and the end of the season. Yet even at this stage, things aren’t going quite as imagined for some clubs, while certain managers could be fearing for their jobs after just 270 minutes of football. 

Here are five things Destination Calcio has learned about the start of the Serie A season after the opening rounds.

Inter still look the team to beat

Inter didn’t make any flashy signings in the summer window. Piotr Zielinski and Mehdi Taremi were brought in to strengthen the squad on a free, but the reigning champions have pretty much kept things as they were from last season.

The 4-0 demolition of Atalanta at San Siro last Friday night sent a clear message to the rest of the hunting pack that they’ll still be the team to beat this season. Marcus Thuram has started the season on fire, while Nicolo Barella is already scoring crackers, with his left-footed volley against La Dea the goal of the weekend.

It’s a cliche, but whoever finishes the season above Inter will win the league, as the Nerazzurri remain the team to beat.

Fonseca on thin ice already

There are already whispers that AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca could be sacked should results not go his way after the international break.

The Portuguese’s time as Milan coach hasn’t got off to the best of starts: no wins from three games and a defeat to newly-promoted Parma. Defensively Milan look extremely vulnerable every time someone attacks and the signing of Emerson Royal at right-back raised eyebrows as, while he’s good going forward, the former Tottenham man isn’t the most reliable of performers in the other direction. 

Fonseca was a questionable choice from Milan to replace Stefano Pioli in the summer, and for the game against Lazio dropped Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez in order to make a point. Yet with the Biancocelesti winning in the Stadio Olimpico, Fonseca had to turn to both in order to turn the game around in the second half, with Leao scoring the equaliser in the 2-2 draw.

According to reports in Italy, Fonseca isn’t in immediate danger, but should the club not see a turnaround against Liverpool in the Champions League and against Inter in the first Derby della Madonnina of the season on September 22, then things could change. 

Former Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi believes Fonseca needs ‘time’, but he may not get it.

Parma’s kids will be okay

Parma won Serie B last season with a young but dynamic squad under coach Fabio Pecchia, and the question was whether this group of players could make the leap to Serie A and survive. It’s still early days, of course, but for now the answer is a resounding yes.

Faced with three difficult fixtures in Fiorentina, Milan and Napoli, Parma could’ve shown some trepidation going into the season opener against Fiorentina. Yet with Destination Calcio in attendance, the Gialloblu should’ve won the game against Raffaele Palladino’s men, but had to settle for a point. The following week they beat Milan — and deservedly so — at the Ennio Tardini before narrowly losing to Napoli by two late goals after going 1-0 up.

Pecchia told Destination Calcio in August he wanted to trust his kids this season, and so far Parma are proving the kids are alright. 

Thiago Motta has Juventus going in the right direction

Juve’s drab 0-0 draw with Roma on Sunday night was proof that Thiago Motta’s exciting new iteration of The Old Lady isn’t the finished version just yet, and some extra polish is needed.

After consecutive 3-0 wins against Como and Hellas Verona, excitement went through the roof leading into the fixture with the Giallorossi, but the lack goals, or indeed anything, against Daniele De Rossi’s team should calm expectations. Motta has a lot of summer signings to integrate into the squad, and the former Bologna coach is still trying to figure out his best starting XI. The likes of Teun Koopemeiners, Douglas Luiz, Nico Gonzalez and Francisco Conceicao all started on the bench against Roma, but this will likely change following the international break. 

It’s evident after the opening three fixtures that Motta is slowly imposing his style on the Bianconeri, but they are still very much a work in progress at this stage. Yet after three long years of Max Allegri’s non-football brand of football, at least Juve are watchable again.

Here’s our podcast on Juve, recorded at the Allianz Arena:

Best of the rest still finding themselves

Atalanta, Roma, Fiorentina, Napoli and Lazio are still in an adjustment phase, three games in. This is mostly due to coaching changes for Napoli, Lazio and Fiorentina, while Atalanta and Roma have made multiple new signings and both Gian Piero Gasperini and De Rossi are attempting to figure out the chess pieces in their respective sides. 

The five teams have only earned four wins in Serie A between them from the opening three rounds, with Napoli accounting for half. Moreover, all five haven’t exactly had the most arduous of fixture lists to kick the season off. 

Once the international break finishes and we get back to the humdrum of the club game, it would be a surprise if Atalanta, Roma and Napoli don’t kick into gear and climb up the league, yet the start of European fixtures will muddy the waters. This is where Napoli can make serious headway under Antonio Conte, with the Partenopei having no continental competition to partake in this season.  

Catch up with our latest podcasts, recorded at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Stadio Arechi and more: