Marcello Lippi struggles to name a Scudetto winner – “they’ve all had problems.”
Just two points separate top-of-the-table Roma from fifth-place Inter, while four-time champions Juventus are in the bottom half of the table.
“This year there’s no team playing with their foot on the accelerator,” Lippi considered, speaking to Radio Due.
“They’ve all had problems. Some because of a changed team, some with a new Coach and some with injuries.
Marcello Lippi struggles to name a Scudetto winner – “they’ve all had problems.”
Just two points separate top-of-the-table Roma from fifth-place Inter, while four-time champions Juventus are in the bottom half of the table.
“This year there’s no team playing with their foot on the accelerator,” Lippi considered, speaking to Radio Due.
“They’ve all had problems. Some because of a changed team, some with a new Coach and some with injuries.
“Inter started well and then stalled. Napoli weren’t good, now [Coach Maurizio] Sarri is doing well, Fiorentina and Roma are going well.
“It’s created a balanced League, with Juventus having slowed down. Perhaps there was too much change at the Bianconeri, but they’ve had a lot of injuries, in addition to important sales.
“Now they’re eight points behind, but they’ll fight to the end. The teams who give the most guarantees of solidity are Napoli and Roma, they’re at the same level.
“You could include Milan, but then you could include anyone really, as there’s a long way to go until the end of the season.”
Lippi also lamented the decline of man-to-man marking among today’s up-and-coming defenders.
“I Coached the last generation in the transition from man-to-man marking to zonal. Going to a zonal defence is easy, but it’s wrong to think man marking isn’t needed.
“Now the lads in the youth teams have only learned zonal marking and are struggling with the transition to the big games.
“[Ciro] Ferrara and [Fabio] Cannavaro grew up with the habit of sticking to their opponent, now all it takes is one feint and a striker gains two metres.”