Serie A Power Rankings: Week 2

By Sam Little

Using my pre-season predictions as the starting power rankings, let us see how things look in Serie A after one weekend of play:

Before stepping into the power rankings a few things of note this week in the transfer market. Roma have made some intriguing moves in the transfer market. Tottenham’s coveting of Eric Lamela finally had Roma sell him to the Premier League side, hoping for him to replace the impending departure of Gareth Bale. While Lamela is a huge loss, Roma were able to bring in Adem Ljajic from Fiorentina, which is a player of similar style with actually somewhat similar stats. Roma continue to make smart purchases, while making sales that overall put them in the black in the transfer market. Fiorentina also signed youngster Ante Rebic this week to replace Ljajic, he is less of a known commodity and more of an investment, but one of talent.

                

Also in this past week, AC Milan strengthened their strike force by adding Alessandro Matri to their side, which gives them more depth up front behind Ballotelli. They will however likely sell Kevin Prince Boeteng to Schalke in a move that has come as a bit of a surprise. These are the big names that were thrown around this week, but with the transfer window winding down, I would not be surprised if after this weekend a few teams realized their needs and made some more big purchases before it ends.

Now for rankings and awards

Player of the Week: Luca Toni (Hellas Verona) 

Toni’s brace in Hellas Verona’s win over Milan was an absolutely inspiring performance. The striker continues to defy his age and will prove to be a solid signing for the newly promoted side. Toni was deadly on the set pieces and was the clear difference maker for his side. Toni gets a tip of the hat for being the most important player for his team this week.

Goal of the Week: Daniele De Rossi 

An absolute beauty from distance is a big winner this week. De Rossi showing power and precision that makes him absolutely deadly from distance.

Power Rankings

   

1. Juventus (E)

1    

         The Champs were rather impressive this week. Sampdoria proved to be a tough challenge as usual for Juventus. Before this past weekend Juventus had not beaten Sampdoria in it’s past 5 meetings. Being able to get the win on the road despite a pesty Sampdoria Side is a good way for Juventus to start. Additionally Tevez goal shows that he a Pogba have already developed a very chemistry up front.  While they have not established dominance, one can’t really find too much to criticize with the Juventus performance.

       

       2.  Napoli (E)

           Solid win by the Naples side, with an even more impressive performance from Merek Hamsik. While Bologna is not a side that is going to pose Napoli a difficult time, they played solid defense, and were stellar moving forward. Best offense of the week probably goes to Napoli, though Hellas Verona gave them a run for their money in my book.

       

       3.  Fiorentina (E)

          Montella was estatic with his sides Monday victory over Catania, and he should have been. Fiorentina moved the ball well, and despite not getting the clean sheet were rather solid defensively. We have always known they were going to have a strong offense, so one can’t be to surprised by their performance.

       4.      AS Roma (+1)

         The main reason Roma has jumped up the fourth is because Milan really dropped the ball, but we will get to that later. Without Strootman and Destro though, Roma did something they had not done in five years in winning their opening match. The first half was bland but an absolute beauty from De Rossi, and a great run from Florenzi helped Roma start Rudi Garcia’s tenure with a win. Additionally it was a positive sign for Roma’s fans to see a clean sheet from a team with arguably one of the worst defenses last season.

       5.      Inter Milan (+1)

          While I expected Inter to get the win, I did not expect them to be troubled so much by Genoa early. They are bumped up because they were able to do what AC Milan couldn’t, and beat a lesser opponent. Two late goals in the second half was enough for Inter, but a number of calls going against Genoa likely gave Inter some much needed breathing room.

     

       6.      AC Milan (-2)

           AC Milan proved this weekend why I am just not always satisfied with the job Allegri does managing this side. He has done a fantastic job at developing talent, but he has one flaw I fear will give him issues his entire managing career, his lack of aggressiveness. Once Milan has the lead they were content to just counter, and sit back a let their defense win them the game. This however was their downfall In the Champions league against Barcelona last year, and in the first game of the season to Hellas Verona. All the credit to Verona, but something has got to change this week or Milan fans could start becoming unsettled.

       7.      Lazio (E)

          Lazio were impressive in the first half, specifically the first twenty minutes. Topping Udinese was a tough challenge to say the least, but they were able to hold off a late comeback, despite a lackluster second half from the Roman side. 

       

        8.      Udinese (E)

          Were sloppy on defense early, and that clearly contributed to the fact they fell down 2-0 early on. Despite that a solid second half, and near comeback allows them to keep the 8^th ranking, mainly for the fact that they did lose to an opponent I expected to win.

        

        9.      Cagliari (+3)
While still Pessimistic about Cagliari’s chances down the road, a strong performance against a tough Atalanta side, showed they may have more in the tank that I gave them credit. Once they went down early, they immediately responded and from that point looked to be the stronger team in my mind. Quality win bumps them up three places in the power rankings.

      

        10.  Atalanta (-1)

           Atalanta looked very strong in the first fifteen, and then they took the lead. From that moment, they gave up a quick goal, and really seemed to lose their focus in the match. To their credit Cagliari did really well in the game, so I can’t discredit them too much, but Atalanta need to learn a lot from this defeat.

      

        11.   Torino (+2)

          Still in my opinion one of the most intriguing teams in Serie A, Torino played very well this past weekend, and bump themselves up a few spots in the rankings. Really was very little to complain about in their win.

      

        12.   Hellas Verona (+5)

           No shock here, Hellas Verona were one of the best teams this week. Luca Toni was fantastic on the set pieces, and the newly promoted side is showing early that they deserve to be here. In addition fans will be estatic, it is not every day you beat Milan on opening day. Big test this weekend though in Roma, I expect Luca Toni to continue to be a pest in the air, and help this side be a pest in Serie A.

        13.   Sampdoria (+1)

           One of the few teams that would move up when losing, Sampdoria were nothing but impressive despite not scoring in their loss to Juventus. Defensively they were sound, and some great goalkeeping was helpful as well.

        14.   Parma (-4)

           Very disappointed with the performance by Parma this weekend. They are going to need to perform well against a team like Chievo if they are looking to finish even somewhat high in the table this year. A scoreless draw to start off the season is not the start one would expect from a well managed side. This may be a sign that they need to make some moves at the end of this transfer window.

       15.   Sassuolo (E)

           Frankly Torino was a team I expected to beat Sassuolo, and despite the loss I do not feel they warranted a move in either direction. Additionally some moves in the past week for transfers could help them in gaining some strength.

       16.   Catania (+2)

           Surprisingly decent performance against a strong Fiorentina side, though the real reason they get bumped up is because of the teams below them that played so poorly.

       17.   Bologna (-6)

          Yes they were playing Napoli, yes they locked up Diamanti for a while, but Bologna looked lousy on Sunday. Defensively they allowed Napoli to trample them into the ground. While I did not expect them to win, they should have put up a better performance for a side with better offensive ability than they showed.

       18.   Genoa (-2)

-          A number of calls did not go their way this weekend, but Genoa seemed to let that get to their heads to much. A strong first half gave them hope, but they gave Inter too much space to work with in the second, making it frustrating to watch.

       19.   Chievo (E)

-          Not an impressive showing against Parma, but frankly they played better than I did expect them too. Going to have to see consistency though before I consider jumping them up the rankings.

       20.   Livorno (E)

-          Roma dominated Livorno the entire game. Some great goalkeeping kept them alive in the first half, but a lack of offense and experience hurt them the most in this game. However they did show some flashes of talent, and may be able to do some damage if they can control their Talent