2008-09 was another season dominated by Internazionale and their marmite-like head coach Jose Mourinho, who, after a charming start, soon began to fall out with the media and other managers. The Portuguese tactician will not have cared one iota, however, having achieved the scudetto and he did so with the usual suspects - Ibrahimovic, Julio Cesar, Cambiasso, Zanetti - all performing to their usual exacting standards. The perplexing signings of Ricardo Quaresma and Mancini did not come off, however, and the gap between Serie A and the premiership was shown in the Champions League defeat to Manchester United. With the Genoa pair of Diego Milito and Thiago Motta likely to join over the summer, expect the Nerazzuri's dominance to continue until the other teams can get their act together.
Juventus finished a distant second during an ultimately fruitless campaign that yielded the sacking of Claudio Rainieri, who seemed unable to get the best out of a talented team. After a good start, Amauri badly faded away and the likes of Sebastian Giovinco and Alessandro Del Piero only seemed to impress intermittently. Luciano Spalletti is the lead candidate to take over this summer, and he will inherit an ageing team that badly needs an injection of new blood, particularly at the back and on the wings of midfield.
AC Milan survived a mediocre start to finish strongly, and must be praised for the signing of David Beckham which paid off convincingly. Alexandre Pato continues to develop as a player of incredible ability but the rossoneri still seem unheathily reliant on the talents of Kaka, who could well leave this summer. This is another ageing team that needs a cash injection, with the likes of the great Paolo Maldini retiring there is room for manouvre. The signing of Ronaldinho proved a complete flop, and the likes of Phillipe Senderos and Mathieu Flamini failed to inspire.
Of the rest, Roma's terrible middle third of the season ended any hopes of them making the Champions League spot, although Luciano Spalletti managed to hang onto his job and steer his side to 6th which I suppose is a credit to the Giallorossi board for their patience. This is a team far too dependent on Francesco Totti for inspiration, and one that is brittle under pressure. Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perotta try hard, but there is no hiding their deficiencies. Fiorentina will be mighty pleased with their 4th place finish, indebted as they were to the goals of Alberto Gilardino and the midfield steel of Felipe Melo, the Brazilian midfielder who had an excellent debut season having arrived from Almeria. They beat Genoa to that final top 4 slot, but Gasperini's men can still be thrilled with their showing.
Cagliari and Palermo will also be satisfied with their season's work, but the likes of Udinese, Napoli and Lazio, after good starts, completely blew up and each will experience major changes this summer. Already Fabio Quagliarella has jumped ship to Naples and Gaetano D'Agostino, Udinese's player of the season by some distance, is likely to move to Juventus.
At the bottom, Bologna and Chievo can each thank their strikers, Marco Di Vaio and Sergio Pellissier, for scoring the goals to keep them up. Sampdoria had another disappointing campaign and, were it not for the efforts of Pazzini and Cassano, could well have found themselves in Serie B. As it is, that ignonimous pleasure fell on Lecce, Reggina and Torino.
Team of the season:
Julio Cesar (Inter)
Maicon (Inter)
Simon Kjaer (Palermo)
Domenico Criscito (Genoa)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
Gaetano D'Agostino (Udinese)
Esteban Cambiasso (Inter)
Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan)
Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter)
Diego Milito (Genoa)
Honourable mentions: Sebastian Frey (Fiorentina), Paolo Maldini (AC Milan), Nicola Leggrotaglie (Juventus), Thiago Motta (Genoa), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Marco Di Vaio (Bologna), Mauro Zarate (Lazio), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Sergio Pellissier (Chievo), Edison Cavani (Palermo), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Juan (Roma), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari)
Coach of the year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Genoa) - Gasperini, the veteran coach, pips Cagliari's Massimiliano Allegri to the title after a season of success for the Grifone where he guided them to a hard-earned fifth place, beaten to the final champions league spot by the more star-studded Fiorentina. Genoa consistently played some of the most attractive football in Serie A, and it is to Gasperini's credit that he was able to get the best out of Thiago Motta, a player whom many thought finished after his injuries, and Diego Milito, a talismanic figure if ever there was one. At the back, he created a balanced defense built on the experience of the likes of Giuseppe Biava and Matteo Ferrari. Thoroughly deserving of the award and European football next season.
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