The mixed bag of Serie A

Aside from the World Cup victory, there wasn’t a whole lot to cheer about in Italian soccer in 2006-07. Already rocked in the aftermath of Calciopoli, police officer Filippo Raciti was killed in senseless rioting following Palermo’s 2-1 win at Catania in early February, causing the cancellation of games for the following week (which included Roma-Inter and Italy’s friendly with Romania) and the imposition of tough new stadium security measures that UEFA itself labelled as “extreme but necessary”. The pitch itself didn’t see any major incidents- at least none as big as Calciopoli (not at the moment, anyway)- but those hoping for a close scudetto race would be disappointed. Forget everything said by the naysayers- Inter Milan were head and shoulders above the rest of Serie A in 2006-07 (regardless of the point penalties and Juventus’ absence), comfortably winning the scudetto by 22 points over Roma (a margin greater than any of the point penalties). Inter’s track record also included records for longest winning streak (17), most points (97) and most wins in a season (30), as well as tying the record for earliest scudetto victory (five games). Inter also had a 30 game unbeaten streak, scored the most goals in Serie A (80) and had a 22-game scoring streak. At the peak of Inter’s dominance- from January to March- Inter had become “the most hated team in Italy” to which defender Marco Materazzi- himself no stranger to controversy- replied “that means we’re doing our jobs”.

The summer transfer window provided more heartache for Italian soccer fans, as stars Luca Toni and Cristiano Luccarelli both departed Serie A for Germany’s Bayern Munich and Ukraine’s Šaktar Donetsk (respectively), although neither moved because of the state of Italian soccer- Toni’s departure had been rumoured for a while, while Luccarelli quit his hometown team after fans accused him of throwing a late season game. If that wasn’t enough for Serie A to handle in the preseason, Lazio fans were accused of using racial epithets during a game against Dinamo Bucharest that almost evicted the Biancocelesti, although all Lazio received from UEFA was a fine.

This season presents, perhaps, a different story. Perhaps it was expected given the sensitivities behind the trauma of Raciti’s death, but it seems like every week there are a stories of fan misconduct. Right before the season began, Genoa city officials barred Milan fans were barred from entering the Stadio Luigi Ferraris (Genoa C.F.C.’s home grounds) over fears of violence, and Napoli supporters have seen bans from entering games at Inter Milan earlier in the season (although 1,000 managed to buy tickets for that game), at Palermo this coming Sunday and from their own home ground against Genoa in September (that one being played behind closed doors). Meanwhile, Juventus may face discipline after a slew of incidents during Inter’s visit to Turin that saw the game delayed by 15 minutes.

The news is certainly disheartening; and not just because fan misbehaviour isn’t going away as quickly as the FIGC might have- faintly- hoped. The incidents in question are all over the spectrum- at the extreme end, we have Juventus supporters pelting Inter’s team bus with eggs (causing Inter manager Roberto Mancini to quip his team were pelted “with omelettes”) and holding a sign reading “Zlatan zingaro” (aimed at Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who acrimoniously left Juventus before its Serie B demise in 2006), which translates to either “Zlatan the betrayer” or “Zlatan the gypsy”, meaning the sign could be adjudged to be racism (although Ibrahimovic was born in Bosnia, Bosnians are Slavic much like the ethnic Gypsies, who are Romanian). Not to be outdone are the Napoli tifosi, who were so incensed at a call made during the match against Livorno that bottles were hurled onto the pitch, one of which struck the fourth official.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, reveals just how far- too far- the FIGC directives have gone. The decision to bar Milan fans from Genoa could only be because of sensitivity, since it was only a week prior Lazio had their incident at Dinamo Bucharest. Obviously, the Genoa officials wanted to take no chances, especially after the last game in Genoa between the Ligurian side and Milan in 1995 saw a Genoa fan fatally stabbed. Still, Genoa team officials argued the team- and the country- needed a fresh start and, although another fatal incident would definitely set the season on more of a wrong foot, the stabbing was 12 years ago, and banning fans for something they “might do” (not did) certainly sends the wrong message to them. This false perception is more of a problem with fan treatment as a whole, not just with Milan fans- far too often in European soccer the majority are made to pay for the minority. Granted, incidents such as Raciti’s murder and the stabbing in 1995 are no small incidents, but it needs to be said that those are actions made by a handful of fans, not the fanbase as a whole.

However questionable the Genoa decision may be, nothing could be more absurd than what happened at the Napoli-Livorno match. This isn’t a reference to the bottle-throwing incident, which *is* serious, but a reference to an official removing a sign that simply read “Livorno merde” (“Livorno’s crap”). The official explanation was that the sign was “offensive” and “could spark violence”, which doesn’t need a rebuttal since this is utter nonsense- if Livorno fans can’t handle some playful bantering (which is the message here) then they shouldn’t be attending games (or following soccer) period. Harmless heckling is a fundamental part of the fan experience (no matter the sport), and if the FIGC believes even that could cause problems they’re insulting the fortitude of their fans (not to mention their players). Presumably, the only signs that will be allowed will be ones praising the other team and its players, because any of hint of animosity will be squelched by Big Brother at the FIGC. Yeah, good luck with that- the day I see a Roma supporter holding a sign calling Lazio forward Goran Pandev “the ball wizard” will be the day after Hell freezes over.

At least on the pitch the FIGC has a good story, as six teams are within seven points of first place Inter after 11 games. Inter have set the pace at 25 points, with Fiorentina two points off the trot, Roma three points behind, Juventus four, Udinese six and Atalanta seven. It is not surprising to see Inter and Roma in the championship mix- both teams are improved from the sides that finished one and two last year- but the rest are surprises. Fiorentina looked to be mid-table at best after losing Luca Toni, but a cohesive, determined, team-oriented approach led by a revitalized Adrian Mutu is fueling the Florentine club’s surprising start. Juventus, being a shell of its former all-conquering self, were probably tagged to be at least top six (enough for a UEFA Cup spot), but they’re also putting forward a determined effort, playing with a lunch-pail ethic that’s in sharp contrast to the arrogant sides that dominated the middle part of the decade (and might warm a few Italian hearts if they weren’t Juventus). Udinese showed flashes of brilliance last season- they were the only team Inter did not beat in 2006-07- doing it with the same lunch-pail effort the other “bianconeri” team are using, while Atalanta are led by veteran Cristian Doni (who leads the team in goals (6) and yellow cards (7)), one of Italian soccer’s more under-appreciated players. Right behind Atalanta is Napoli at 15 points, *the* surprise of the season as, despite their status as Italian soccer giants, their “no name roster” didn’t suggest the kind of heights the club is so far achieving this season. Yet the “no names” move the ball rather freely and at will, being sparked by the attacking tandem of Marcelo Zalayeta (four goals) and Roberto Sosa (three), with Maurizio Domizzi chipping in with four from the back end (two of them coming from the spot against Juventus). The tightness of the race is generating interest and drama that was absent from last season’s scudetto race (which was more of a coronation for Inter than an actual competition); although the race was this tight last season as well, so more should be said if the race holds up at Christmas.

At the other end of the pitch story are this year’s biggest disappointments, chief of which being AC Milan, mired in ninth at 14 points, eleven off the trot. Depth is a concern for the men of Carlo Ancelotti (Serie A’s longest serving manager), particularly in the middle as the youngster Youann Gourcuff and the fading Cristian Brocchi have failed to be adequate replacements in the league games for the first choice team which has no problems competing at the European stage. Of course, last season Milan started poorly before roaring to a fourth-place finish last season so there isn’t a lot of panic among the milanisti, but Milan would do better to improve its home record, where they have yet to win and have scored just three times in six games (results that include 0-0 draw with struggling Torino and a 1-0 loss to bottom-of-the-table Empoli). Not to be outdone in the disappointment department is Palermo, who sit in eighth on goal difference tied with Napoli after many prognosticators believed they had a legitimate shot at the title. Palermo is still playing with the effort they displayed last season, but the confidence- particularly at the back- is lacking, which may be a carryover from last year where the team didn’t win for over three months after Raciti’s death, scuttling them down from third to fifth. Sampdoria, a sleeper pick for the title and a threat for European qualification, are also proving to be a disappointment mired in 12th, as the expected goal production from Antonio Cassano (one) hasn’t materialized, although Cassano began the year carrying an injury; while Lazio, who haven’t recovered from the loss of Luis Jimenez’s creativity sit in 15th place. Finally are the cases of last season’s surprise outfits, Empoli and Reggina, the gulf in class catching up to the former, whose plucky play earned them a seventh-place finish last term but are 17th this term, while the latter’s goal scoring woes (seven in eleven games) continue to dog them, gutting one of Serie A’s better defensive sides to a last place start.

Thus, after the first two months of the season, Serie A is a mixed bag of the wrong kind of sorts. The pitch story is there to provide excitement and drama that was missing from last season’s campaign, but the hyper-sensitivity following Raciti’s death is threatening to destroy fan involvement in the game. That action needed to be taken after the riots in Catania is undeniable, but one wonders if the extent of the extreme measures are really as necessary as UEFA suggested because, what good is an exciting pitch story if no one is there to watch it. Thus, Serie A is at a crossroads- it’s either on course for the most exciting, special season in recent memory or in a season that could erode fan interaction for good; and, with all due to respect for the Racitis (who would not want to see the death of the fan experience), that would be the ultimate tragedy.

-DG