Hello everyone. I have been looking and analyzing DBS Calcio ratings for mostly Serie A, and I was always bothered by the lack of ratings pre 1954-55. Recently they added 1946-47 season ratings, by taking every game into account and giving a rating to every player based on the available newspapers' statements and comments. @msioux75 thread about Serie A old ratings made me want more. I decided to start what I know is a very ambitious project, doing the same for my favourite era, the 1930s. I don't know when it will be complete, since I am doing this in my free time which right now is not much. For now I have finished analyzing Serie A's first season ever, 1929-30. SERIE A 1929-1930 Newspapers taken into account: Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere della Sera, La Stampa. (Il Littoriale is not available online for this season, but seems to be the most complete newspaper available for this era. It's available for most of the following seasons). In the following posts I will provide: Top 50 players (only ratings), top goals, top assists, 3 best players (rating, goals, assist and team's performance), Top XI and best 5 players per position. Ratings from 0 to 5, based on the article's comments and assessments about the game and players. Ratings table and explanation in the image below. In case the player is not mentioned, or all available newspapers don't provide an analysis of players' and team's performances, but only a report of the scoresheet and some highlights, the rating will be automatically assigned based on the result of the game. Draw = player gets 2,0 (average) Home win = 2,2 Away win = 2,3 Home loss = 1,7 Away loss = 1,8. Of course, if the player is mentioned, a different rating is given based on the comment. Note In this era, in Italy, football was still coinceived for "blocks" or "lines" (linee in Italian). That means, that the 2 backs, the 3 halves and the 5 forwards were almost always analyzed separately, and as a block. Rarely was an opinion given on the entire team. First line = forwards, second line = halves, third line = backs and goalkeeper For this reason, sometimes players are not mentioned, but the "lines" are. In this case, the rating is given to the entire line. i.e. If the newspaper praises the "second line" of the team but doesn't single out individuals, every half in the team gets a 3,0 rating. If it states that "the second line was extraordinary", every half gets a 4,0 and so on. The player's rating for each match is an average of the single ratings based on the different newspapers. If a newspaper doesn't mention one player at all, but another one does, the first one won't be taken into account. If a newspaper doesn't mention the player at all, but mentions his "line" (defense, halves, forwards), and another one mentions him directly, than the rating will be the average between the two. Examples: 1. Meazza is not mentioned in Corriere, but his performance is praised in Gazzetta. He gets a 3,0 and Corriere is not considered. 2. Meazza is not mentioned in Corriere, but Corriere states that Ambrosiana's first line played poorly. He is praised in Gazzetta. He gets a 1,0 for Corriere and a 3,0 for Gazzetta. Final rating is 2,0. This of course makes the ratings not accurate, but I tried the best system that worked for me in order to level the ratings and be as close to an accurate one I could, considering that the sources are not as complete as the ones we have for the modern era. Let's start with the ratings in the following posts.
General opinion about the ratings. The newspapers' comments and, therefore, my ratings are very unbalanced. Italy was under Fascism's rule in 1930 and the rethoric of braveness, courage, strength and fighting spirit was dominant. Therefore, technically average players with stamina and aggression are mostly praised over more technical but frail ones. Since sometimes no analysis of player performances is provided, the ratings are automatically assigned as mentioned in my previous post, and this inevitably affects the overalls. Furthermore, players in the 1930s used to often play injured, because no substitutions were allowed, and this affects the rating negatively as well. For those reasons, the ratings required for world-Class and international-class are lower than usual, as I will explain later. Defenders and goalkeepers are hugely favored against forwards. I see in the articles that errors from them are more likely to be "forgiven" or "looked upon". If a defender made mistakes that led to goals but fought bravely on every duel, he is likely to get a positive review by the journalist. Errors by the goalkeeper do not affect his overall performance, if he saved lots of goals as well. Nowadays, a goalkeeper would be judged poorly in this case. On the contrary, forwards are a lot more under negative scrutiny, and they are judged more severely.
Top 50 players (ratings only) Only players with at least 18 league games. Notable players (less than 18 appearances) 1. Renato CESARINI 2,860 Juventus Forward 16 apps. 2. Rolando CAMURRI 2,453 Modena Back 17 apps. 3. Giuseppe SPIGNO 2,341 Genova Back 17 apps. Top 5 coaches For this season, coaches are barely mentioned at all, since they were not a key piece in a team. Teams are often referred as guided by their most influential players (i.e. Alessandria is reported as "Avalle's team"). The coaches' ratings are therefore based on the whole team's performances, and given accordingly. As often the team is not judged as a whole but only for "lines", automatic ratings assignments such as 2,2 for home win or 1,8 for away loss (and so on) are more frequent with coaches than with players.
SEASON REVIEW Final Table s Most goals and most assists I counted assists only when the available articles expressely mentions one. Sometimes it is reported that a player scores from a corner or from a set-piece, but I did not give the assist to the usual corner or set-piece taker in the team. The number of assists therefore is very likely different than the actual one and must be an approximation. Best defensive trio: Juventus (Combi, Rosetta, Caligaris) Best midfield trio: Alessandria (Lauro, Gandini, Bertolini) Best forward line: Ambrosiana (Visentin, Serantoni, Meazza, Blasevich, Conti) Surprise of the season: Ambrosiana (newly formed, finished 6th in group B the previous season) Disappointment of the season: Bologna and Milan. The former champions could not keep up the pace this season, whereas the rossoneri were too inconsistent. Season review Tactically, all teams played with a WW formation, except for Lazio, coached by Pietro Piselli, that adopted a WM formation. This is the first documented team in Italy to play with WM, before Genoa in the late 1930s. Football played throughout the season was mostly defensive and aggressive, with frequent counter-attacks. Ambrosiana, Genova and Napoli were the teams that played a more technical, passing-oriented type of football. Ambrosiana dominated the league. At the start, it seemed like Genova – more than Juventus – could be a serious challenger for the title, but the more games were played, the more it was clearer to the press that Ambrosiana had no rivals. With 85 goals scored, 38 goals against and a great season by all of its key players, Ambrosiana was the deserved, undisputed champion. It may be one of the clearest title wins in Serie A history, even with some drops of results in the last part of the season, due to players being really tired (Weisz almost always used the same XI and Ambrosiana’s reserves had almost no game time). Genova was a good runner-up. Some attacking football, a great season by Levratto, solid back line and good midfield, with Barbieri playing consistently well throughout the year. Juventus was seen as a team full of great players but with no cohesion up front. Amazing defensive trio, decent second line, but the attack was not well organized and lacked cohesion despite Orsi’s efforts. Cesarini was a great mid-season addition and the team improved. Torino was not able to cope with the injury of Julio Libonatti. The team was carried by Rossetti and Baloncieri, but the young players did not enough. Napoli had a good season despite the poor performance of its halves, Roma had too many highs and lows. Bologna suffered many injuries and was inconsistent. Milan, as said, was not good enough and was saved many times by their goalkeeper Compiani. Alessandria was clearly the best team out of the others, with a formidable midfield line and an interesting back line as well. Coach Carcano and Giovanni Ferrari are headed to Juventus for the 1930-31 season. Also Livorno, Pro Patria and Triestina had a good season, whereas Lazio mostly underperformed. Cremonese was, despite its effort, definetly the worst team in the league.
Very good work mate! Interesting to see the assist estimates too for example (based on reported assists so probably an under-estimate in most cases; maybe hard to say it could be deemed 'impressive assists' but I guess most of the most impressive ones would be noted at least). I don't want to interrupt your plans, but I wonder whether you might also be able to find some similar info (perhaps with player ratings) for the seasons after 1946/47 and before 1954/55 (that we both noticed are not detailed at the moment on DBS Calcio)? Approximated assists for seasons in that kind of era could be very interesting too I think, but I'm not trying to give you too much work!
I'm not sure which game Meazza missed, but @Trachta10 might be interested to know that his minimum contribution (goals+assists as proportion of team goals when he played) will be 47% (40/85*100) for league games that season in Serie A, with 31 goals and presumably minimum 9 assists (1.18 goals+assists per game). Probably it will be possible to do this for Meazza's entire Serie A career, and add the data to what @CristianoPuskas found for some International games, but yeah I understand the assists tally will be just an estimate and probably an under-estimate.
Top XI Combi - Vincenzi, Caligaris - Lauro, Colombari, Bertolini - Visentin, Serantoni, Meazza, Rossetti, Levratto Top 3 players (considering avg. rating, goals, assists, and team result. 1. Giuseppe MEAZZA (Ambrosiana, 2,691, 31 goals, 9 assists, 1st place) 2. Pietro SERANTONI (Ambrosiana, 2,674, 16 goals, 8 assists, 1st place) 3. Umberto CALIGARIS (Juventus, 2,863, 0 goals, 0 assists, 3rd place) Top 5 per position Goalkeeper 1. G. Combi 2,791 Juventus 2. G. Cavanna 2,790 Napoli 3. E. Sclavi 2,690 Lazio 4. G. De Prà 2,582 Genova 5. L. Desti 2,565 Cremonese Right-back 1. G. Vincenzi 2,781 Napoli 2. M. Zanello 2,716 Pro Vercelli 3. G. Gianfardoni 2,629 Ambrosiana 4. V. Rosetta 2,626 Juventus 5. E. Monzeglio 2,538 Bologna Left-back 1. U. Caligaris 2,863 Juventus 2. P. Innocenti 2,553 Napoli 3. L. Allemandi 2,436 Ambrosiana 4. A. Dellarole 2,400 Pro Vercelli 5. L. Gallino 2,397 Alessandria Right-half 1. A. Lauro 2,669 Alessandria 2. A. Ferraris IV 2,653 Roma 3. B. Dugoni 2,631 Modena 4. O. Barbieri 2,568 Genova 5. E. Rivolta 2,567 Ambrosiana Centre-half 1. E. Colombari 2,821 Torino 2. A. Pitto 2,717 Bologna 3. M. Ardissone 2,625 Pro Vercelli 4. G. Gandini 2,619 Alessandria 5. G. Viani 2,525 Ambrosiana Left-half 1. L. Bertolini 2,917 Alessandria 2. A. Castellazzi 2,588 Ambrosiana 3. C. Rigotti 2,350 Triestina 4. L. Caimmi 2,263 Lazio 5. E. Bergamini 2,213 Padova Outside right 1. U. Visentin 2,496 Ambrosiana 2. R. Cattaneo 2,342 Alessandria 3. C. Buscaglia 2,250 Napoli 4. P. Pasinati 2,225 Triestina 5. L. Giuliani 2,200 Brescia Inside right 1. P. Serantoni 2,674 Ambrosiana 2. A. Baloncieri 2,511 Torino 3. A. Vojak 2,337 Napoli 4. B. Castellani 2,067 Triestina 5. N. Corsetti 2,054 Livorno Centre forward 1. G. Meazza 2,691 Ambrosiana 2. E. Avalle 2,513 Alessandria 3. A. Sallustro 2,431 Napoli 4. B. Maini 2,314 Bologna 5. R. Volk 2,300 Roma Inside left 1. G. Rossetti 2,722 Torino 2. F. Bernardini 2,633 Roma 3. M. Magnozzi 2,413 Livorno 4. A. Mazzoni 2,306 Modena 5. A. Blasevich 2,294 Inter Outside left 1. V. Levratto 2,533 Genova 2. R. Orsi 2,447 Juventus 3. M. Tansini 2,443 Milan 4. L. Conti 2,288 Inter 5. A. Chini Ludueña 2,280 Roma
Meazza only missed the last game vs. Modena. Ambrosiana played with only Degani, Rivolta and Blasevich as regular starters, the other were reserved. Interesting to note that Meazza played with an injury against Juventus as well, and throughout the season he played many matches in not great physical conditions. He would otherwise have an even higher rating, and an even higher goal + assists tally. Meazza's reported assists are 9 for 1929-30. Keep in mind that of course, that is my work, and I am not a professional, so it could be flawed.
I have definetly plans to do this for 1946-7 to 1954-5 as well. But since it took me 3 months to just do 1929-30, it may take more than a while! I don't have much time at the moment due to work, and this is a huge project since you have to analyze every article about every game in 3 different sources for an entire season. Will try my best though!
Sure, yeah. Thanks for the answers and I'll keep checking the thread periodically but yeah I understand it would be a long-term job. However long the thread goes on for (in years) it will surely be an interesting and informative one and it was a great idea to start it as it contributes something I'm sure quite a few Big Soccer members will be interested to see.
Thanks mate. It surely will be long term, but I am also sure I want to finish this. I figured it could be interesting since an analysis of those seasons was missing for a long time. That's why I'm hyped for @PuckVanHeel 's thread about the English First Division as well!
Yeah, that was a good idea of Puck's to start that, and @Paul W and @Pavlin Arnaudov really helped a lot with what they could add recently (that I didn't realise was fully possible, probably because I didn't buy enough copies of Match, or early enough copies of Match, as opposed to Shoot which I was subscribed to at one point and which maybe didn't have the same ratings summaries at the end of the season). @Vegan10 has started a Serie A one from more recent times that you might like so I'm mentioning in case you didn't already see it (you should be able to find it via his Profile page but let me know if you want a link) - that's not in the same sub-section as this and the English/Spanish ratings threads, but just on the main Beautiful Game section. There is overlap with DBS Calcio seasons of course, but it's good to see the specific ratings pages, articles etc (you possibly have access to the same sources, but it's all presented on there due to Vegan having the newspaper copies originally).
Hello Friend! What you are doing is amazing and I will follow the topic with interest, using the ratings to improve my own statistics. Thanks for everything and all the best
Season Evaluation Here I will evaluate the top players’ season using the usual categories of “world class”, “international class” and “national class”. A few notes: - Goals and assists are taken into account and can contribuite to a player having a higher evaluation than his average rating would suggest (es. Meazza, Serantoni). This is because offensive contribution is not automatically reflected in the ratings, and often players who scored two goals or assisted can be easily judged poorly by the journalist. Nowadays, this would not happen. - Team’s position in the final table is taken into account as well. Lesser teams are often praised even after heavy losses, if their players fought bravely during the match. This doesn’t happen with the best teams such as Ambrosiana, Juventus exc., whose players are constantly after scrutiny. - Goalkeepers, defenders and halves will need a higher average rating than forwards to get the same evaluation, for the reasons explained in my second post. Supreme World-Class: FW: Meazza* (Ambrosiana) World-Class GK: Combi (Juventus) DF: Caligaris (Juventus) MF: Bertolini (Alessandria), Colombari (Torino), Serantoni* (Ambrosiana) Borderline Word-class GK: Cavanna (Napoli) DF: Vincenzi (Napoli), Zanello (Pro Vercelli) MF: Pitto (Bologna) FW: Cesarini (Juventus, half season), Visentin* (Ambrosiana) International-class GK: Compiani (Milan), De Prà (Genova), Degani (Ambrosiana), Sclavi (Lazio) DF: Allemandi (Ambrosiana), Gianfardoni (Ambrosiana), Innocenti (Napoli), Monzeglio (Bologna), Rosetta (Juventus) MF: Ardissone (Pro Vercelli), Barbieri (Genova), Bigatto (Juventus, half season), Castellazzi (Ambrosiana), Dugoni (Modena), Ferraris IV (Roma), Gandini (Alessandria), Lauro (Alessandria), Rivolta (Ambrosiana), Viani (Ambrosiana) FW: Baloncieri (Torino), Bernardini (Roma), Leopoldo Conti* (Ambrosiana), Magnozzi (Livorno), Maini* (Bologna), Orsi (Juventus), Vojak* (Napoli), Volk* (Roma) National-class GK: Balossino (Alessandria), Bosia (Torino), Lami (Livorno), Scansetti (Pro Vercelli) DF: Gallino (Alessandria), Gasperi (Bologna), Martin III (Torino), Schienoni (Milan) MF: Bocchi (Pro Patria), Buscaglia (Napoli), Degni (Roma), Furlani (Lazio), Pomi (Milan), Scaltriti (Brescia), Varglien II (Juventus) FW: Banchero II (Genova), Blasevich (Ambrosiana), Cattaneo (Alessandria), Chini Ludueña (Roma), G. Ferrari (Alessandria), Mihalich (Napoli), Palandri* (Livorno), Piccaluga* (Modena), Reguzzoni* (Bologna), Italo Rossi* (Pro Patria), Sallustro (Napoli), Tansini (Milan), Vecchina (Padova) * Rating not good enough to achieve this class, but goal / assist tally consistent with evaluation Revelation player of the season: Luigi Bertolini (Alessandria) Flop of the season: Angelo Schiavio (Bologna), due to injury
Not yet, it's still relative to 1929-30. I haven't had almost any free time in the last months. But I started to focus on 1930-31 and I intend to post a recap every 5 rounds I analyze.
1930-1931 Here we start with 1930-1931 season. I haven’t had almost any free time, so I could begin working on this season only recently. I’ll post a review every 5 rounds to keep you updated, so that, this time, I won’t disappear for months. The review will include: - A general overview of the league table, which teams are performing well, which poorly - A top 10 based on average score with a brief description - A top XI of the league from round 1 to current round Transfer window and starting grid The 1930-31 season begins with main forces in the league shifting. Ambrosiana, the former champions, maintained their winning squad intact but didn’t sign any relevant player. Runner-up Genova only signed Brescia’s half Berardo Frisoni. The summer transfer window had a queen: Juventus. The bianco-neri signed manager Carlo Carcano and star midfielder Giovanni Ferrari from the previous season’s revelation club, Alessandria, as well as Padova’s centre-forward Vecchina. The deficiencies in Juve’s attack appear to have been fixed, adding to a stellar defense and a decent midfield. Roma appears to be a strong candidate as well, with their new, young goalkeeper Guido Masetti, and a tactical change that sees Bernardini as centre-half, being able to dictate play from deep. Inside left Lombardo is also a good addition to the squad. Bologna added Reguzzoni to their striking force and now have a very balanced and complete squad. Napoli signed Colombari from Torino – one of the best halves of 1929-30 season, whereas Milan can now count on former Livorno’s star Mario Magnozzi. Torino still relies on their great but aging trio – Baloncieri, Libonatti, Rossetti. Out of the others, Alessandria and Pro Patria seem solid. Pro Vercelli is willing to count on their young centre-forward Silvio Piola. Former champions Casale return to the 1st division, whereas the purple-shirted Legnano make ther first appearance in the Serie A. These are the 20 teams taking part to the new Serie A season: Alessandria, Ambrosiana, Bologna, Brescia, Casale, Genova, Juventus, Lazio, Legnano, Livorno, Milan, Modena, Napoli, Pro Patria, Pro Vercelli, Roma, Torino, Triestina.
Round 1-5 The following are the league standings after 5 rounds. La Stampa, 27.10.1930 Ambrosiana, that dominated the league last season, has fallen from grace. Injuries to their goalkeeper and right back Bolzoni, as well as unfit reserves, are to blame but are not the only reasons. The team looks unorganized and tired. Meazza is always well-marked and doesn’t manage to contribute. The heavy 6-0 defeat against Torino is the symbol of their terrible start. City rivals Milan follow them closely as main disappointment. The team appears to be performing even worse than in 1929-30 and Magnozzi heavily underperformed. At the top of the league, Juventus honored their role as favourites and won all matches – not without struggles. Bologna comes close, Roma – and surprisingly Lazio, have proven themselves worthy opponents. Modena is the revelation of the first 5 rounds, with a great forward line and a fast and efficient style of play. Torino has been inconsistent, alternating stunning victories such as the 6-0 against Ambrosiana, to heavy losses. Napoli didn’t shine as well. Oddly enough, even though Magnozzi was terrible for AC Milan, his absence left Livorno’s forward line far too disorganized, and the Tuscan side lays at the bottom of the table. Top 10 players - round 1-5 Only players with at least 3 out of 5 matches played Top XI - Round 1-5 Carmignato – Agosteo, Pasolini – Rigotti, Ardissone, D’Aquino – Castellani, Cesarini, Subinaghi, Fedullo, Orsi Best coach: H. Felsner (Bologna) 3,060 Surprisingly, the best performing player is Modena’s centre forward Otello Subinaghi. He managed to score 3 goals and coordinate his line superbly. Orsi has shined throughout all 5 matches and dropped the inconsistency that marked his previous season. The best defender in these 5 rounds has been Pro Patria’s right back Agosteo. New goalkeeper Carmignato is keeping Milan to fall even lower in the standings, whereas Genova’s Banchero scored 6 goals in 5 matches! The best performance belongs to Torino's right winger Prato, who scored 3 goals against Ambrosiana in their 6-0 victory and obtained an average 5/5. The main disappointments have surely been Magnozzi (1,333), Meazza (1,600), and Ferrari (1,900), who is struggling to adapt in Juventus forward line.
Round 6-10 The following are the league standings after 10 rounds. La Stampa, 01.12.1930 After 10 matches, Juventus is still top of the table, after having experienced their first loss and their first draw in the last 2. This “stop” is not seen as a problem by any newspaper and the team is still solid. The main change in the last 5 matches has been Napoli. Mr. Garbutt’s side has won 4 out of 5 games, including a victory against Juve in Turin! Marietti and Vincenzi (yes, him again) are leading the team and the forward line seems to have found cohesion. Bologna, Roma and Lazio are still going strong. Modena is still very competitive and Torino has gotten better. Milan’s crisis, both for AC Milan and Ambrosiana, seems unresolved and the teams are heavily underperforming. Genova struggles too, suffering heavy losses at the hands of Juventus (3-0 at home) and Lazio (5-0 in Rome). At the bottom of the table, Livorno is without hope. Casale, once a glorious team with a “working class” squad, managed to produce a shock by beating Pro Patria 4-0; the latter had been superb in defense with Agosteo and Fizzotti before this match. Top 10 players - round 6-10 Only players with at least 3 out of 5 matches played Top XI - Round 6-10 Fiorini – Vincenzi, Gasperi – Colombari, Roggia, Borgo – Prato, Cesarini, Volk, Gardini, Orsi Best coach: A. Mattea (Casale) 2,800 Maggiolino Mongero, Torino’s centre-half, has been the best player of rounds 6 to 10. He’s described as a growing talent, excellent in both interception and build-up play. Rodolfo Volk has outperformed Banchero, scoring 7 goals in 5 matches and carrying Roma. La Stampa, 17.11.1930 --> Torino – Pro Patria 2-1 Vincenzi has been the best defender – he also shone in 1929-30 – and Napoli’s second line, with Colombari and Roggia, has been on fire. Fiorini, Marietti and Latella, together with Combi, have all standed out guarding their own team’s goal. Orsi and Cesarini have maintained a high standard and have been the best in their position in this fraction of the season as well. The best performance of the last rounds is another hattrick: Genoa’s superstar Guillermo Stábile against Bologna. The top scorer of the 1930 Fifa World Cup had just landed in Genoa after a very long sea trip, the night before. The match had already been presented as “Stábile versus Bologna”, but nobody could predict that the Argentine would not only be in great shape, but also be unstoppable as he was, scoring three and looking as fast as ever. This performance was a clear 5 out of 5. Unfortunately, Stábile could not repeat it in the following two matches and therefore does not feature in these last round’s best XI. Corriere della Sera, 17.11.1930 La Stampa, 17.11.1930 The worst players have been Ambrosiana’s Blasevich (0,800!) and Meazza (1,000!). Modena’s winger Piccaluga (1,260) has been also very poor, as well as Torino’s usually very sound defender Cesare Martin (1,425). Magnozzi has been decent, finally starting to fit in in Milan’s system. Meazza’s performances are difficult to explain. All sources point out how he doesn’t even slightly resemble the player he was last season, that is, arguably the best one of the newly formed Serie A. Surely he has been the biggest disappointment so far.
I'm very busy at work currently, so it won't be fast, I'm afraid. But thank you very much for your patience and your support!
Round 11-17 The following are the league standings after 17 rounds - half a season. La Stampa, 02.02.1931 The script of the 1930-31 season has not changed. Juve is clearly the best team, and Roma, Napoli and Bologna follow as possible antagonists. Lazio continues their trend of excellence against the top class teams (1-1 in the derby, wins against Juventus and Ambrosiana) and underperforming against “easier” rivals. Modena has been again in great form. Milan have slightly recovered, finding their forward line in shape again; whereas Ambrosiana have raised their performances without being able to find the results. At the bottom of the table, Legnano, Casale and Livorno are warrior sides with good goalkeepers, but no stars on their side who can help them turn the tide. One of the most interesting matches has been Juve’s huge display of superiority, conquering the former champions Ambrosiana’s stadium with a 3-2 win. The other one is a football show offered by Bologna, who nullified Brescia’s otherwise strong defence with a stunning 7-1 at the Littoriale Stadium. Top 10 players - round 11-17 Only players with at least 5 out of 7 matches played Top XI - Round 11-17 Rotondi – Gazzari, Allemandi – Dugoni, Furlani, Bertolini – Cattaneo, Fedullo, Stábile, Ferrari, Orsi Best coach: G. Forlivesi (Modena) 2,783 All of the previous stint’s best players but Orsi, Mongero, Monzeglio and Vincenzi have dropped their form. Mongero has beein slightly sub-par, but only because he was world-class in the first part of the season. Orsi has been unstoppable, achieving 4 assists and 2 goals, and being phenomenal in free-kicks and corners. Then, the working class team of Legnano has been carried by the incredible performances of their goalkeeper, Rotondi. Sclavi has also shown his class and, due to being also more exposed than his rival in Juve, has outperformed Combi. Gazzari has been everywhere for Triestina, being the best defender of this stint. Bertolini regained his previous season’ form fully; he’s described as the perfect half, possessing every important quality for this position. La Stampa, 02.02.1931 “Classic half back, practical in his positioning, assertive in his tackles, possessing good vision and distribution, Bertolini (…) was the best man of this match:” The top scorers of this stint, with 5 goals, are two players who had been struggling. Giovanni Ferrari has finally taken over his role as distributor and finisher in Juventus, fulfilling his unexpressed potential. Meazza is back, although somewhat inconsistently, being phenomenal once and then vanishing in the next game. The best performance of rounds 11 to 17 is his: a superb show of his class against Genova, with only 1 goal scored but perfect distribution and dribbling, that warranted him a 4,5 average note. Corriere states that, once the crowd saw Meazza was in full form, they understood that Genova wouldn’t have any chance to win the match. Corriere della Sera, 05.01.1931 With a terrible average of 1,100, Bologna’s centre-half Gastone Baldi has been the undisputed worst player of rounds 11 to 17. Other disappointments were Roma’s skillful winger Costantino (1,571), who has been in very poor form, and Ambrosiana’s Blasevich (1,440) who has been awful since the start of the season, either as inside left or as winger. A strange case is Gino Rossetti’s: Torino’s inside left, one of the best of 1929-30, seems to play completely on his own, dribbling and dazzling around the field without any purpose of utility for his team. His superb skills are therefore wasted and he ends up being counter-productive. With the first part of the season being archived, we look forward to what looks like a predictable end of the season, with Juventus as clear favorites. If Ambrosiana fully recovers, this could alter the league's balance. Genova has also potential to improve.
Rounds 18-22 The following are the league standings after 22 rounds. La Stampa, 16.03.1931 * Milan and Ambrosiana yet have to play the 22nd round, disputed on March 19th The league standings, at the top and at the bottom, are more or less the same. The main differences are Genova’s perfect score of 5 wins out of 5, that made them Juventus, Roma, Bologna and Napoli at the top; and Alessandria’s miserable score of 1 point in 5 games, making them involved the relegation battle instead. Milan and Ambrosiana continue their very slow rise. It’s clear now that their season will be mediocre. Livorno, although still losing almost every match, have been praised by the press for their fighting spirit and their improvements game by game. The case of Pro Vercelli is very curious: the team seams to be addicted to shocking results, either scoring or conceding more than 5 goals per match: 6-3 win against Napoli, 6-1 defeat vs. Ambrosiana, 8-0 win against Legnano, 1-5 defeat against Juve and 6-2 win vs. Alessandria. La Stampa points out that this can be caused by the player’s very young age, being prone to either enthusiasm or depression without any consistency. But even more shocking than these results by Pro Vercelli, and undisputedly the main match of this stint, was the big match Roma vs. Juventus in the 22nd round. The main title contenders managed to defeat the favourites for 5-0 at home. The match has been, in the second half, one of the most violent ones of the season, and both teams’ behavior has been harshly criticized by the press, among others by Italy's NT coach Vittorio Pozzo himself. La Stampa, 16.03.1931 “The two-three terrible scenes we have witnessed in the field bring no benefit neither to the sport nor to anybody, as even Bernardini and Combi would agree; that is, the only two men that could, amongst the confusion and the fights, maintain a calm attitude and dignity.” Top 10 players - rounds 18-22 Only players with at least 3 out of 5 matches played Top XI - Rounds 18-22 Lami – Gazzari, Allemandi – Ferraris IV, Rossi, Bertolini – Costantino, Banchero, Piola, Bolognesi, Levratto Best coach: J. Nagy (Pro Vercelli) 3,300 Gazzari, Allemandi and Bertolini have made the top XI again. Orsi is not mentioned but is just below top 10. His form has never dropped up to this point. The league is witnessing the rise of a star-to-be: young Silvio Piola – still only 17 – is proving to be an intelligent forward, good at reading the game and lethal in finishing. With 6 goals and 4 reported assists in 5 games, he’s the best player of rounds 18 to 22. Along with Livorno’s Lami, Sclavi continues to impress in goal, and Cavanna as well. Rotondi was poor, showing inconsistency. Gazzari and Allemandi dominate Triestina’s and Ambrosiana’s back lines. Zanello, apart from being solid, scored 5 out of 5 penalties, having now an astonishing score for a right back. Caligaris has, surprisingly, made several mistakes against Roma and therefore does not figure amongst the best defenders. Speaking of halves, Bertolini deserves full attention: one of the best players of season 29-30, he continues to shine in 30-31 despite Alessandria is performing sub-par. Ferraris is solid as right-back as well as right-half – even centre-half when Bernardini is moved upfront. Levratto only played 3 matches out of 5, but performed brilliantly, scoring 4 goals. His partner in crime at Genoa, Banchero, has also been great. The top scorer of this stint is Piola, followed by Zanello, Patri and Arcari. The two best individual performances belong to Ambrosiana: Meazza against Pro Vercelli and Allemandi against Milan, both obtaining 4,5 on average. The latter was defensively superb in the Milan derby: Il Littoriale, 20.03.1931 Amongst the 10 worst players of rounds 18 to 22, there are 3 out of 5 forwards playing for Triestina: their offensive play has been terrible on average. De Manzano is even under the average of 1,000 (0,940). Baloncieri is the biggest “star” to figure in this list (1,125). After Roma-Juventus 5-0, the battle for the title seems to have finally come alive. We look forward to the next fixtures.