Serie A last season was one of the closest fought and interesting campaigns in recent memory. From a position of seemingly unassailable dominance Inter were brought crashing back down through a combination of terrible luck with injuries, poor form and the ill-judged appointment of Rafael Benitez. The race for the Champions League and relegation slots ran until late in the season while the play of Napoli, Udinese and Lazio was both refreshing and entertaining.
So far this term has been even more intriguing, with just four points between Inter in 16th place and the two leading teams, Juventus and Udinese. While much was said and written about many of the leagues standout performers last term, such as Edinson Cavani’s transformation from energetic wide player to one-man strike force, Marco Di Vaio’s astounding leadership of Bologna both on and off the field and the superlative performances of Ezequiel Lavezzi and Hernanes, the league was ultimately decided by defence, and one defence in particular.
Receiving much less press recognition but arguably in better form than any of those names already mentioned, the back five of eventual champions Milan was the difference in the Rossoneri finally wrestling the Scudetto from their city cousins. They ended the campaign with what was comfortably the best defensive record in the league, the 24 goals they conceded a remarkable 15 fewer than Napoli, the side allowing the second fewest total.
The key men in that solidity were goalkeeper Christian Abbiati and the central defensive pairing of Alessandro Nesta and Thiago Silva. The goalkeeper was in amazing form and he manged to post some staggering statistics from between the posts. In 35 starts – during one of which he came off injured before the 20 minute mark – he kept 18 clean-sheets and made 110 saves while only conceding 18 goals. Those numbers look even more impressive when compared to his fellow ‘keepers in Serie A – nobody had more shutouts, he conceded at least 19 less goals than anyone who has played more than 3000 minutes and his 0.54 goals against average is almost half a goal better than any player in the league (Morgan De Sanctis is in second place with 1.03).
In front of him Nesta and Silva really commanded the back-line with both men showing real maturity and experience on the 19 occasions they played alongside each other. The pair only conceded 8 goals in those games and the Brazilian in particular shone. He registered 73 interceptions, won almost 74% of tackles and 79% of aerial duels and in 33 league games he was booked only once, while Milan conceded just 18 times in those games. That works out at an average of 0.54 per game while in the five Serie A games he missed, the team allowed six goals (1.2pg).
The title that was so richly deserved by the San Siro side would arguably have been lost were it not for the performances of the trio, especially considering the alternatives were Luca Antonini, Daniele Bonera, Mario Yepes and Sokratis Papastathopoulos. As they prepare for this weekends visit to Turin however, the team that will face Antonio Conte’s Juventus is seriously lacking that defensive assuredness.
Indeed this past weekends 1-0 win over Cesena was their first in all competitions this summer, conceding 9 goals in just 5 games, a fact made all the more surprising by the fact that the Abbiati-Nesta-Silva trio were present in all but the most recent game when Yepes replaced Nesta. Reigning in this new-found paucity will be essential if they are to set the pace atop Serie A as they did for much of last season. Further forward the injury list is as alarming as the goals against column but appears to be easing. Unlike during the midweek Champions League game, Filippo Inzaghi and Stephan El Shaarawy are eligible to play and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is expected to play some part in the match. The Swedish striker has only featured twice for Milan this term, netting two goals and showing once again the way his team depends on him when he is available.
Indeed, looking more closely at the team as a whole using WhoScored.com's ratings system highlights some interesting points. The new arrivals in the regular line-up - Antonio Nocerino (current average 6.8), Clarence Seedorf (7.1) and Alberto Aquilani (7.0) have settled quickly, improving slightly on those they replaced: Kevin-Prince Boateng (6.8), Gennaro Gattuso (7.0) and Matteiu Flamini (7.0), while at the back Abbiati (current rating 6.2, last terms avg 7.0), Abate (6.8 down from 7.4) Nesta (6.1 from 7.0) and van Bommel (6.8 from 7.1) all show a worrying decline, only prevented by the consistency of Silva (7.5 in both seasons), all of which serves to reinforce the feeling it is last years standout performers who are the ones faltering.
Of course it is still early in the season, and there is no reason to write off the Champions as yesterdays men. There have been many signs of promise even as results have been disappointing, led by the performances of Antonio Cassano who has 3 assists and a goal to his name in just 4 Serie A matches and is one of only two men (the other being Antonini) who's average rating has actually increased this season. Whether or not that is enough to win this weekend or indeed lift silverware at the end of the season remains to be seen.
