Analysis of the 2005/06 Serie A (1)

Although the 2005/06 Serie A came to a dramatic end a few days ago, many issues are surprisingly still in the balance.

It is not a case of waiting for vital play-offs to determine positions. On the field of play, everything has been settled but ongoing investigations on cases of irregularities may alter everything including the crowned champions, the Champions League and UEFA Cup slots and also the three relegated sides.

At this stage, we still feel it's too early to judge and, for now, one should focus on results attained on the field of play.

As happened before, there were teams that went beyond expectations, others that performed badly while some were just happy to have reached their pre-established targets. In the first part of this analysis, we shall take a closer look at those teams that had a satisfactory campaign.

The first team that springs to mind is Fiorentina. Coach Cesare Prandelli had a mammoth task to mould a squad that comprised several new players.

Fiorentina were the main protagonists of last year's close season transfer window with the signings of players like Luca Toni, Sebastian Frey and Stefano Fiore. But it was always going to be difficult for Prandelli to turn Fiorentina's fortunes considering that in the previous year they had escaped relegation on the very last day.

Fiorentina, buoyed by Toni's goals, were off to a flying start. They were simply superb at home and performed consistently well in away fixtures. As the competition progressed, their main challenge was to keep up the good work of the first round and, therefore, hold on to the fourth spot.

At one stage, qualification to the Champions League was in jeopardy as Roma threaded a record-breaking run of 11 straight wins and came within sights of Fiorentina.

Suddenly, Prandelli's men started to find the going tough and Toni went through a dark phase during which he could not find the opponents' net.

Fiorentina's lack of strength-in-depth made their lives even more difficult. However, at the end, the Viola managed to resist Roma's stiff challenge and finished fourth behind Juve, Milan and Inter.

The Della Valle family spent a fortune to revive Fiorentina's ambitions but the same cannot be said of Lazio and Chievo.

Touted among the sides likely to struggle to maintain a trouble-free mid-table spot, both ended up booking a UEFA Cup berth. Not an easy feat for two clubs with a notoriously restricted budget.

The men behind the revival of Lazio and Chievo were coaches Delio Rossi and Giuseppe Pillon respectively. No one would have thought that in their first year in charge, Rossi and Pillon were going to steer Lazio and Chievo to such creditable placings.

The achievements of these two clubs further confirmed that money alone does not buy success.

Livorno's season could have been even better had club supremo Also Spinelli kept faith with coach Roberto Donadoni for the entire season.

When Carlo Mazzone took over, Livorno were on the right tracks for a place in the UEFA Cup. But then a string of setbacks saw them taking a nose-dive in the standings and eventually finishing out of the Euro zone.

Indeed, if there was a change of coach that was counter-productive, then this was it.

Ascoli shine at home

Ascoli and Empoli, both newcomers to the Serie A, did not lose much time to find their way out of troubled waters.

Ascoli, in particular, were never in relegation trouble. Since the 1-1 draw with Milan on the opening day, Ascoli became a force to be reckoned with.

They were difficult to beat at home and did consistently well even on their travels.

As for Empoli, they were off to a flyer only to experience an evident dip-in-form and results which led to the sacking of coach Mario Somma.

When Empoli seemed destined to go down, new coach Luigi Cagni spearheaded their fightback with a series of victories. Eventually, such was Empoli's revival that they finished comfortably in a mid-table spot.

Cash-strapped Parma were on the verge of becoming the property of Spanish tycoon Lorenzo Sanz, a former Real Madrid president. However, for one reason or another, the deal never got through.

Parma, former UEFA and Italian Cup winners, remained without an owner for all season but still managed to get the results needed to stave off the drop for the second year running.

New coach Mario Beretta was Parma's winning card. The ex-Ternana and Chievo man proved to be a motivational figure that inspired his players to some surprise results.

Cagliari seemed doomed after only the first month of the Serie A campaign.

Club major shareholder Massimo Cellino changed three coaches inside the first month and notwithstanding this, the Sardinians could not get going. But, with the arrival of veteran Nedo Sonetti, Cagliari started climbing up the table and finally avoided relegation by a whisker.

Sonetti's accomplishment becomes even more significant when one considers that Cagliari had to do without Gianfranco Zola.

Reggina, too, had to do without a number of key players who were offloaded to balance the books of the club.

But Walter Mazzarri's men were still good enough to avoid going down for the second season running. For the southerners it was a question of having achieved practically the same results with less high-profile players.