Former Inter defender Antonio Paganin feels that the Serie A title race this season will be contested between the likes of Inter, AC Milan, and Juventus.
Speaking to Italian news outlet FCInter1908, Paganin gave his Scudetto predictions and also stated that he is enjoying seeing the evolution of the team under Simone Inzaghi, and predicted that wingback Robin Gosens will find his best form before too long.
Only one matchweek has gone by so far and clearly it would be premature to definitively name any favourites for the Serie A title, but it would be hard not to notice that, in the first round of fixtures, the teams that had widely been tipped to be in the hunt for the title all got off to impressive starts.
“In principle, I always name the team who won the Scudetto the previous season to be the favourites,” Paganin stated. “If you’ve already won, you have shown something beyond the other teams.”
“So I see Milan ahead of everyone else,” he continued. “Compared to last season, I think Juventus have joined the race, they’ve signed top players and are ready to win.”
“I think, therefore, that it will be a three-horse race,” Paganin predicted. “Immediately behind those teams I’d put Roma, who are in the midst of an explosive and euphoric moment.”
“The other teams, in my opinion, are further back,” he then stated. “Napoli have lost important players, and Lazio in my opinion are not yet mature.”
Paganin spoke about the early struggles of Gosens to leave his mark in an Inter shirt in the absence of Ivan Perisic, stating that “Inheriting Perisic’s legacy isn’t easy. Going from a smaller team like Atalanta to Inter is never easy, I felt it deeply.”
“The ambitions are different,” he explained. “He has different characteristics from Perisic, who was more explosive in the last thirty meters and was better one-on-one.”
“Gosens is more of a player of endless running, but over the years he has always shown both his ability to score and to provide assists for the attackers,” he noted.
“Inter’s squad is full of forwards who can benefit from his deliveries,” Paganin noted of Gosens. “So all that remains is to have patience and wait for the best of Gosens. I think we’ll see it soon.”
Paganin also gave his thoughts on Inter coach Simone Inzaghi’s growth in his second season in charge, stating that “I like that the coach is showing an extra edge of ruthlessness.”
He suggested that “That’s what distinguishes great coaches, and what Inzaghi has needed to find a bit more of. I believe that his change can be good for the team.”
“By doing this, he sends very direct messages to the team, which needs to have in him a real leader,” he argued. “Otherwise, when you’re too diplomatic, you risk giving the team the wrong impression.”
“We’ve also seen this new cutting edge in the substitutions that he made against Lecce,” Paganin noted. “Inter finished the game with four forwards, Inzaghi left his mark. I honestly liked it.”
