Is there anything more boring than a debate on which is the best league? We all have very good reasons to prefer a league over another, but usually an emotional connection will trump all other factors- it's also highly unlikely we'll change each other's minds. I grew up on Italian football and I seriously doubt that no matter what happens another league will mean more to me, but I also respect fact that another league may have same impact on you. But now that we got that out of the way, I can tell you that Serie A is not the boring and defensive league that you may have heard of if you aren't that familiar with it. The goal of this weekly column is to give you some reasons to check out Serie A, so without further due let's get started:
Joe Hart makes his debut against Atalanta- Torino's new coach Mihajlovic has a knack for being associated with goalkeepers. Last season he launched Donnarumma at Milan despite the fact that "Gigio" was just a teenager and he had Diego Lopez on his squad, and now Mihajlovic ready to give an English keeper his debut in Serie A after one of the most surprising transfers of the summer.
Hart will have plenty of opportunities to shine playing behind an almost brand new defense since Glik, Maksimovic and Bruno Peres left and were replaced by journeymen like De Silvestri and Castan. Atalanta went from having a very defensive coach like Edy Reja to an offensive mind like Gasperini, and they feature some intriguing attacking options in former Swansea striker Paloschi and Milan transfer target Papu Gomez.
Palermo hires a promisimg offensive mind in Roberto De Zerbi- in the least surprising development of the season so far, Palermo made the first coaching change in Serie A. Ballardini played a key role in ensuring the Sicilian club avoided relegation last season, but after some disagreements with president Zamparini, he decided to leave Palermo despite just obtaining a draw against Inter at San Siro.
To replace him, Palermo is gambling on Roberto De Zerbi who never coached above Lega Pro (Italy's third division) and is now the youngest coach in Serie A at the age of 37. De Zerbi earned the nickname "la Luce" (the light) because of his creativity as a trequartista in his playing days, he has continued to foster an offensive style as a manager making name for himself at Foggia, the same club that launched Zeman's coaching career.
Is Berardi following in Di Natale's footsteps? Other than Marco Verratti there is no Italian player more exciting than Domenico Berardi. The 22 year old striker already has 40 career Serie A goals, and this is despite coming off arguably his worst season as a professional. But Berardi's current coach Di Francesco has described him as "peculiar", "introverted" and "shy"- while his scoring record is impressive, the fact he has had multiple three game suspensions is also concerning.
Berardi has also turned down the opportunity to play for Juventus for three summers in a row (and this is after declining to join them when he was 12), in addition he almost always seems to miss facing the bianconeri either because of injuries or suspension- which gives him something else in common with Di Natale who always seemed to miss Udinese's away matches. Could Berardi's personality ensure he will follow in Di Natale's footsteps career wise, and be known as a big fish in a small pond? Berardi will miss Sassuolo's match at Juventus Stadium because of an injury, but only time will tell if he'll ever move to a big club.
Can Muriel continue his strong start? Just two years ago Muriel was being considered as a potential replacement for Luis Suarez at Liverpool- now he finds himself at a crossroad at the age of 25. The Colombian striker has always modeled himself after the Brazilian Ronaldo, but unfortenately his lack of discipline made him more similar to the (fat) Ronaldo we saw at the end of his career rather than the "Fenomeno" phase. But there are finally some encouraging signs, Muriel is off to a fast start this season at Sampdoria and Ferrero's club has made him the centerpiece of their attack after Cassano (another player known for not making the most of his potential) was frozen out of Giampaolo's squad, let's see if Muriel can continue his hot streak against Roma at the Olimpico stadium.
Will Lapadula follow in Toto' Schillaci's footsteps? When I don't know much about a player involved in transfer rumors, I try to look at the teams linked to him to gauge how good he is. Gianluca Lapadula was being pursued by Juventus and Napoli (arguably the two shrewdest clubs in Serie A) as well as Leicester, but then surprisingly ended up at Milan, who signed him right after Roma redeemed El Shaarawy's rights. At the time it looked like Bacca was on his way out at Milan and that Lapadula would get plenty of chances, but later in the summer he became an afterthought on Montella's squad.
But now that Niang is suspended, Lapadula is expected to start against Udinese on Sunday. The former Pescara striker shares many similarities with World Cup '90 hero Toto' Schillaci, both got a shot at a top Serie A team in their mid to late 20s after tearing it up in Italy's lower divisions. Milan could certainly use a boost from Lapadula just like Juve did with Schillaci back in late 80s/early 90s.
