Alasdair Mackenzie: Serie A striker roulette yet another reason to back Inter for Scudetto
ROME: Much of the pre-season chat around what the 2024/25 Serie A season will bring focused on the huge number of coaching changes.
Fair enough. There were 14 after all. That’s absurd.
But looking back at the events of Matchday 1, anyone who hasn't been keeping a hawk-like gaze on the transfer window might instead be asking - where have all the strikers gone?
It’s a question we often hear, but usually posed as some sort of footballing existential crisis, as nostalgic fans lament the death of the classic No.9. That's not where I'm going with this.
Think about it. Bar Inter, every club with European aspirations has shaken up their 2023/24 forward line in a big way.
Olivier Giroud, Ciro Immobile, Joshua Zirkzee, Romelu Lukaku and M'Bala Nzola all left the league, Victor Osimhen looks likely to soon follow (which could see Big Rom return), and an ACL injury left Atalanta without Gianluca Scamacca.
Between them, a lot of goals, assists, and all-round attacking influence has left their respective clubs.
Inter's attacking stability a reason to back them for Serie A title
Whereas at Inter, things look better than ever. Not only is the Lautaro Martinez-Marcus Thuram tandem still in place, but the former signed a new contract after winning top scorer at the Copa America and the latter bagged a brace on his first game of the season - albeit in a disappointing draw at Genoa.
To top it off, the addition of Mehdi Taremi on a free transfer has excited Nerazzurri fans who see the former Porto striker as a player capable of providing genuine competition and a proper rotation option.
The only club close to showing Inter-style stability in attack is Juventus, who will again look to Dusan Vlahovic to bring the goals.
But it's hard to see them in the same light as their great Derby d'Italia rivals. Although it's true that Vlahovic is a proven, reliable Serie A goalscorer, he's operating in an entirely new system and style under Thiago Motta and the Federico Chiesa sideshow has hardly kept things calm in the background as the new coach tries to build his attack.
AC Milan's change in attack, Conte chaos at Napoli
Milan recruited well by replacing Giroud with Alvaro Morata, a recently-crowned European champion with bags of experience at the top level, including in Serie A.
The Spaniard's debut goal from the bench was another reason for Milanisti optimism, but there are no guarantees the 31-year-old will have a prolific season and should he pick up an injury, the man wearing the Rossoneri No.9 shirt, Luka Jovic, (yes, really) hardly inspires huge confidence.
The situation at Napoli is more extreme than most, with the seemingly never-ending Victor Osimhen transfer saga dragging on, Lukaku still sitting in London twiddling his thumbs and Giovanni Simeone being left to lead the line in their catastrophic, humiliating collapse to Hellas Verona on the opening day.
In the capital, Artem Dovbyk's arrival has excited AS Roma fans after he finished as La Liga’s top scorer at Girona last season, but the Ukrainian is untested in Serie A and Paulo Dybala's will-he-won’t-he Saudi Arabia offer is yet another example of an unwanted sub-plot being written after the season has started.
Across town, Lazio completely reinvented their attack following the sales of Ciro Immobile, Felipe Anderson and Luis Alberto, and there are understandable doubts about whether Taty Castellanos, Tijjani Noslin and Boulaye Dia can adequately fill the gap. It feels like a big gamble.
Fiorentina are seemingly pinning their hopes on Moise Kean, Bologna are hoping Thijs Dallinga can fill a Zirkzee-sized hole, and Atalanta's late move for Mateo Retegui only came about because of Scamacca's ACL injury.
We could go on. What does it all mean? Well, probably that predicting Inter to win the Scudetto is an even less bold call than it first appeared.
Stumble in Genoa or not, Simone Inzaghi's side have the only reliable attack in the league and it could well be what leads them to back-to-back Scudetti.