Players of the Season

By: Francesco | June 29th, 2009

It’s been nearly a month since the end of the 2008/2009 Serie A season. I would’ve put this post up earlier, but the Confederations Cup and the U-21 Championship distracted me from Serie A talk. So I thought we’d discuss who was the best foreign player and who was the best Italian player this season.

BEST FOREIGN PLAYER

I think hands down this award goes to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Not only did Zlatan score 25 goals to be Serie A top scorer, but he was also clearly the best player in Serie A this season, terrorizing Serie A defenses every weekend and providing moments of pure class. Nobody could rival Ibra’s mix of sublime technique and pure physical power.

However, there are honorable mentions, and you have to look no further then Ibra’s teammate Julio Cesar. If Ibra led Inter’s attack, it was Julio Cesar who kept the Nerazzurri in many games with his fantastic saves. This season Julio Cesar made the case to be the best goalkeeper in Serie A and even the world (but I think an injury free season from Buffon next year will make critics say Buffon is back on top). Speaking of best goalkeepers in Serie A, another standout foreign player was Sebastien Frey. Sure, Frey has been reliable for many seasons, but every year he performs miracles in the Fiorentina net with his cat-like reflexes. And then there was Diego Milito. Genoa’s prodigal son returned to Liguria and became “Il Principe” again, scoring 24 goals and almost winning the capocannoniere title. Milito also won himself a transfer to Inter next season alongside Ibra. Honorable mention also to Lazio’s Mauro Zarate. Most Italian fans didn’t even know who he was when he was signed by the Biancocelesti last summer but the Argentine striker quickly became a well-known name with great play and spectacular goals. Those are the standout names, but there are obviously so many more names that deserve mention that would take forever to list (J. Zanetti, Cambiasso, Thiago Motta, Felipe Melo, just to name a few)

BEST ITALIAN PLAYER

So I sat down and thought and thought and thought some more about who I would name as my Best Italian Player of the season. And the truth is, I still don’t know what my answer is. I think you can make a very good point that there wasn’t just ONE standout Italian player this season. It wasn’t one of those seasons where one Italian player shines every week.

When the words “Best” and “Italian Player” are used in the same phrase, usually lots of people will come out and say two names: Totti and Del Piero. But this season you can’t even say those two names. Francesco Totti struggled with injuries all season and we only saw flashes of the Totti of years past, while Alessandro Del Piero started off on the right foot but as the season wore on he moved more and more out of the spotlight. However, both ended the season with 13 goals.

If you want to give the award based on what Italian player scored the most goals, then you can say Marco Di Vaio was the best at scoring goals this season. The former Juventus striker was reborn and scored 24 goals, leading Bologna to salvation. Alberto Gilardino was the next best Italian marksman, netting 19 goals for Fiorentina. Even though their goal totals are impressive, they were hardly the Best Italian Players.

If you want to give the award based on quantity and quality, I think we can look no further than Antonio Cassano. The fantasista from Bari Vecchia scored 12 goals, had 11 assists (would’ve been so many more had Pazzini been there all year), and provided tons of great plays. Best of all, this was his first ever Cassanata-free season, and only received 1 yellow card all year. Cassano proved hands down he’s definitely the most talented Italian player when in form.

Italy has always been home to some of the best goalkeepers in all the world. So was the Best Italian Player a goalkeeper this season? No, I don’t think so. Gigi Buffon was struck with injury trouble all year and at times looked shaky in net. He wasn’t the Buffon we all know and love. At Cagliari, Federico Marchetti was signed from AlbinoLeffe and became a rock in net, providing beautiful saves and keeping Cagliari in many games. Buffon even named him a possible heir to his throne. But was he the best Italian player? Nope.

In midfield you can throw into the mix the usual names of Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi. However Pirlo was not the same Pirlo for Milan at all throughout the season, and even though De Rossi is Italy’s best midfielder and is always reliable and puts in great performances, this wasn’t his best season either. However two Italian names stood out in midfield – Matteo Brighi and Gaetano D’Agostino. Matteo Brighi was touted as a youngster to be the next great Italian midfielder, and this season at the ripe old age of 28 he finally showed why. Brighi showed awesome work rate, a great sense of positioning, and better finishing ability then Simone Perrotta. Gaetano D’Agostino, another one who was touted for greatness as a youngster, also showed Italian fans why this season. D’Agostino proved to be the best regista in Serie A, scored 11 goals, and made his national team debut. Not bad at all.

SO, WHO DO YOU THINK THE BEST PLAYERS WERE? SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION.