Will the international break lead to changes on the bench? It’s not necessarily the case that they’re needed

It’s the first halfway point of the Serie A season, the first real opportunity to take stock and work out what needs to be done – or not done. Although it may still be too early to pass judgement, the international break will last twenty (twenty?!) days, making it the perfect time to make some changes.

Let’s start at the bottom of the table: Genoa and Venezia, and thus Daniele De Rossi and Giovanni Stroppa. Despite some good performances, the results have been dreadful: after five matchdays, neither team has managed a win, and the team from Venice hasn’t even managed a draw. Following yesterday’s defeat to Parma, De Rossi was clear in his press conference: “I feel sad, disappointed and sorry, and even a bit pissed off. The club will reflect on this, and rightly so.” A perfect description of this difficult period. Statistics don’t tell the whole story, it’s true, but against Carlos Cuesta’s side, the figures suggest an undeserved defeat. More shots – from inside and outside the box – more possession and 0.77 expected goals (xG), more than double that of the Gialloblù, who were stuck on 0.32. But it’s the score that counts, which reads 2–1 to the opponents. A situation similar to that of Venezia, who, despite losing 2–0 to Lazio, put in a great performance, particularly in the first half. Even the Biancocelesti’s manager, Rino Gattuso, said that if Venezia had been leading by two goals at half-time, they wouldn’t have been undeserving of it. The sense is that of a side unable to capitalise and given little in return. An average of 1.5 xG, yet they have scored four goals and conceded thirteen – without even a single point. The team plays well and creates plenty of chances, but seems to lack a cutting edge in front of goal and is too soft in defence. The club spent nearly 45 million euros in the summer transfer window – will it be able to wait for those performances to translate into points? In any case, De Rossi and Stroppa are two men dedicated to the cause who are giving everything they’ve got – are we sure that changing the manager now would actually add to the team rather than take anything away?

Meanwhile, doubts are beginning to emerge regarding the work of Maurizio Sarri at Atalanta and Massimiliano Allegri at Napoli. They are not at risk of being sacked, but the signs coming from the pitch suggest that something is not going well.

Atalanta lost to an excellent Juventus side and, apart from a few flashes of brilliance from Rowe, looked like a listless team resigned to defeat. This did not escape the attention of the former Lazio manager at the press conference: “Too little character in going one-on-one. We are improving technically, tactically and physically, but not in terms of courage and initiative, and that is worrying.” This attitude had also been evident in previous seasons with Lazio, albeit under completely different circumstances. They have now suffered three consecutive defeats, and it will be upon their return from this break that we’ll truly see what Atalanta are made of, as they face Venezia.

Finally, there’s Napoli. The goal conceded against Fiorentina seems to best illustrate the problems of a purely defensive style of play – one dictated by the manager – whilst the players reach their full potential in attack. No one is to blame, but when De Bruyne is forced to defend and clear the ball with his head on the edge of his own penalty area, his limitations become apparent: a poorly cleared ball is recovered by the Fiorentina full-back Alex Jimenez, who shoots and scores. Can a squad built with such a heavy attacking focus and such a thin defensive line cope with Allegri’s ideas? For now, we’ll refrain from a final verdict, but Napoli are coming off the back of a Scudetto and a second-place finish; the quality is there, and a step backwards would be a failure. Following a gruelling run of fixtures (as well as Genoa, Napoli have faced Como, Inter, Arsenal, Bologna and Fiorentina), at the end of the international break the Neapolitans face a demanding yet winnable run of matches: Frosinone and Venezia in the league, and Villarreal and Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League. So, once again, let’s hope these three weeks prove beneficial.