Serie A wide open: seven teams in five points, quality a concern | OneFootball

After thirteen matchdays, Serie A presents itself as a more balanced league than ever. Seven teams are within five points of each other, two “outsiders” like Bologna and Como are among the top positions, there are few certainties, and the title race is completely open.

Serie A, a league without a master: seven teams within five points, but the level of play is concerning

A scenario that, in theory, should fuel excitement and storytelling. Yet, alongside the suspense, a less pleasant truth emerges: balance does not coincide with quality of play.

Suspense yes, spectacle no: why Serie A struggles to entertain

Switching from a Premier League match like “Chelsea-Arsenal” to a high-level Italian clash—such as “Roma-Napoli”—makes the gap in terms of intensity, speed of execution, and variety of attacking solutions clear. The situation doesn’t change if you analyze the highly anticipated Milan derby from the previous week.

Our football has long been experiencing a phase of technical decline, worsened by three structural factors:

Extremely high external pressure, which leads to extreme caution.

Continuous fragmentation of play, with many whistles and fouls that slow down the rhythm and intensity.

Simulations and blatant dives, which break the fluidity and impoverish the spectator’s experience.

“Here, points matter; for the show, there’s the circus,” someone says ironically, but the issue is more complex: the level of play has objectively dropped, and the causes are technical before they are cultural.

Two tactical models and little else: Italy always plays the same way

Serie A has crystallized around two macro-models:

“Man-to-man pressing all over the pitch,” as seen in Roma-Napoli.

“Medium or low block to protect the center,” typical of teams that only allow crosses from the edge of the final third, like Milan.

Most clubs now use three-man defenses that become five-man lines when out of possession. When two mirror formations face each other—3-4-3 against 3-4-3, or 3-5-2 against 3-5-2—marking becomes automatic and creative possibilities are reduced. The attacking phase often boils down to:

“Drawing in the press and then launching long balls behind the defense,” or “Passing the ball around in search of a gap that never comes.”

The exception that’s no longer there: Inzaghi’s Inter and its lost style of play

Last season was a positive anomaly thanks to Simone Inzaghi. His constant rotations, high-speed positional changes, lateral overloads, and rhythm variations forced opponents—whether man-marking or zonal—to leave their comfort zones.

Today, however, even Inter has aligned with the dominant trend: more aggression, more vertical play, less elaborate build-up.

Milan surprises: unusual attacking solutions for the Italian context

The paradox is that, in today’s Serie A, the most innovative attacking approach comes from Milan. The coaching staff has introduced dynamic ball progression that breaks man-marking:

“Modric drops back to the defensive line”

Pavlovic and Tomori spread out as wide defenders who can make forward runs

Gabbia pushes up, forcing a midfielder to shift

These rotations generate unpredictability and create superiority in unexpected areas. A prime example is the move where Tomori finishes with a cross for Leao after a high-level collective passing sequence: an episode that shows what Serie A could be with more technical courage.

Fabregas’ Como: an international laboratory at the heart of the league

The most fascinating team at the moment, however, is Cesc Fabregas’ Como. Just four points from the top, they play a style almost entirely foreign to Italian standards:

Technical skill in every department, including defenders

Pure wingers, able to take on opponents and stretch the field

Rotating midfield, with Nico Paz receiving already oriented toward goal

Tight combinations, changes of pace, wide attacks, and overlapping fullbacks on the inside

Fabregas has introduced a fluid and creative model, a sort of “international seed” planted in Serie A, which could represent an evolutionary path for the future of our football.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.