😱 Serie A’s three biggest disappointments of 2026-27
Serie A 2026-27 after Round 7: Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta's disappointing starts
The Football Italia Show reviews Serie A after Round 7, with Lorenzo Bettoni naming Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta as the three biggest disappointments and analysing their tactical, injury, transfer and mental issues, while also highlighting positives such as Lazio. The conclusion is that Juventus' problems go beyond the coach, while Napoli and Atalanta have still not found stable identities.
- Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta have been the three most disappointing teams so far this season, and after seven rounds this is no longer just a blip. — All three were expected to do much more by fans, pundits and the show itself, but their results have fallen well short and the problems have become a trend.
- Lazio are the biggest surprise of the season so far, and their wins have been fully deserved. — Lazio have six wins and one draw for 19 points, level with Inter; their 4-3-3 is clear, several players are in excellent form, and their goalkeeper has been secure and reliable.
- Juventus' problems are not just about the coach, and hiring Antonio Conte would not necessarily fix them immediately; the root issue is the club's structure, organization and transfer decisions. — The same problems have recurred over the past two or three years regardless of the coach. Injuries are serious, with their best player out until at least mid-November and Locatelli and other starters long-term absentees, but Juventus still need a long-term plan rather than a short-term coaching change.
- Juventus' biggest summer-window mistake was spending around €55m of their budget on two centre-forwards who did not suit Spalletti's system. — They chased one striker for over a year, signed him for around €50m, then discovered after just one game that he was not the right fit; the loan forward from Newcastle is not the classic No. 9 Spalletti wanted.
- Napoli's problems are both on and off the pitch, and Allegri does not have the situation under control. — He has changed systems repeatedly, switching between back threes and fours; injuries have left the squad short of depth; players keep changing positions; and there is a role dispute with De Bruyne. Allegri has not yet found the right tactical key.
- Napoli look tired and almost lacking motivation after two Scudetti in recent years; the issues among their most experienced players are not only physical but potentially mental. — Their senior players are struggling, and Allegri has still not found the right key on or off the pitch to make this side work.
- Sarri has not yet made things click at Atalanta; many players do not seem to understand what he wants, and the ideal XI is still unclear. — They have lost four of their last five league games and went 3-0 down to Milan; Sarri has kept changing systems and positions, injuries have hit the defence, winger options are limited, and key summer signings have not contributed yet.
- Milan's first 60 minutes against Atalanta showed that the coach is heading in the right direction, even though they dropped off and let Atalanta back into it. — Milan pressed at a very high level and produced what the coach wants in that period; when intensity fell, Atalanta found space, but Mike Maignan's late save helped preserve the win and there were positive responses from the players.
✅ Subscribe To The Channel for More Videos: / / footballitalia ✅ Important Links: 👉 Website: https://football-italia.net/ 🔥 Seven rounds into the 2026-27 Serie A season, some of Italy’s biggest clubs are already raising serious questions. Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta were expected to deliver much more — so what has gone wrong? In this episode of the Football Italia Show, Lorenzo Bettoni breaks down the three teams that have disappointed the most so far, analysing their struggles, the problems holding them back and whether they can get their seasons back on track. Are Juventus falling short of expectations? Why have Napoli failed to convince? And what is happening at Atalanta? With the season still in its early stages, do these teams still have time to turn things around, or should fans already be worried? Watch the full episode for our analysis of Serie A’s biggest disappointments after Round 7 — and let us know in the comments: which team has let you down the most so far this season? ✅ Stay Connected With Us: 👉Instagram: / @gazzettafootballitalia 👉 (X)Twitter: https://x.com/footballitalia
Transcript
Welcome to a new episode of the Football Italia Show. Another Syria round is over and it's clear that there are three teams that are incredibly struggling so far in the Italian league. Let's find out more. We're talking about Juventus, Napoli, and Atlanta. arguably the three teams who have been uh the most disappointing if we think about the expectations that uh the fans and pandits and us as well had on on these teams. Now there are different explanations after round seven but again after seven games this is becoming a trend um which is impossible to be ignored. And obviously the most interesting case is Juventus because the Bonani have won just one of their last five Syria games losing twice and drawing twice as well. They lost 3-0 against Latio at home on Sunday. And obviously Latio had the biggest surprise of the season so far because nobody would expect them to be top of the table after seven games with 19 points, the same as defending champions Inter. Uh they play very good football, Latio. Um they do simple things. They do. They play with a 4-33 with clear ideas with uh players that currently are in fantastic form. I'm thinking about Nuno Tavaris. I'm thinking about Isax and Zakani. Even Nosling playing as a center forward is doing even better than Andrea Pinamonte up front. And the goalkeeper Mandas is in great shape too. He's very secure and is very reliable. And the the victory they they have they had in was 100% deserved like all other victories that Latio had so far. We're talking about six wins and one draw in seven games. And that draw they had it's a 2-2 home draw against Milan when they they were leading 2-0. So on the one hand Latio are 100% the most surprising team in these opening seven rounds. But Juventus, Napoli and Atlanta sit exactly on the opposite side. And for Juventus, the defeat against Latia was uh harmful. Not just because the fans booed them, not just because the supporters, most of the supporters left the stadium before even the game finished when Latia were already leading 3-0. But it's painful because uh um you feel that we've been hear about Juventus before. It feels like nothing has changed compared to the Thago Motor era. It feels nothing has changed compared to the eager tudtor era as well. And now it's been nearly a year of Luchos Pali and we can't really see improvements. But this means another thing as well which is something that I've said in previous video here on the football Italia channel. It's not really a problem. It's not really a matter of coaches, isn't it? It's more a problem of the whole structure, the whole organization where this project is going from a tactical standpoint. Now, I know Juventus have a lot of injured players. They are without ilitis. They are without Locatelli, Katherine Tam, other players such as Boga who recently returned. Eat is still out of action. They have other players who uh are out and so have not allowed um Spali to rotate his team much. Obviously, Ilitis is their best player. He's only made one appearance the first against frozen and then it was ruled out with an ankle problem. He underwent surgery and he won't return before mid November at least. Uh so obviously injuries play a big part in this Juventus crisis because on the there is the best player out of action but at the same time there are also other starters like Tam and Locatelli. They're not huge difference makers but at least they are starters and they allow Spaleti to rotate his team when possible. This has not been possible and Locatelli and Toam won't return before 2027. So this is something that is not going to change over the next few months. And this is why uh I know there are calls for Conte to come in and replace Lucanos Spaleti, but it's not a coincidence that we've been talking about Juuve the same way for the last two or three years. It's always the same problem coming back, coming back, coming back regardless of the coach. So again, it's more a problem of uh the general organization of the club. the decisions that they make in the transfer market and obviously there is a responsibility from the coach as well because ultimately he's the one who puts the players on the pitch and tells them what to do but at the same time it would be too easy to just say Spaleti doesn't work with Har or somebody else because uh these Juventus problems are things that are coming from many many years back and need to be solved with a long-term plan and not with short-term adjustments even if obviously Conte is a coach that um many would think would solve all problems instantly from one day to another. I'm not 100% sure because again Juventus have a lot of injuries and conte and at the same time there are long-term issues that needs to be solved. A year ago when Spaleti was hired, everyone thought right, Juventus are going to start a new long-term project with Spali. Now, one year later, we are again saying they should change this project and start again. I'm not saying Spaleti should keep his job regardless of the um of the results that he gets. But at the same time, it would be not wise to think that only the coach is currently the problem at Juventus. There are other issues of the field uh that um highlight the Juventus problems in terms of communications as well. Uh you might have seen on the football Italia website the report on Bremer's postmatch quotes and the reactions from Luchanos Palleti. Bremer essentially said that uh some Juventus players don't have enough personality to uh cope with criticism and to cope with the pressure of playing for such a big club and pallet hipek saying that players in this case Breman should first look at what they do on the field and then give suggestions to to their teammates. So the way that communication is being handled is very messy and reflects the problems that Juventus are having on the field. Obviously, more than one thing isn't going the right way at Juve, but again, it's not all down to the coach and ultimately for Juve, I think that um another huge problem was with the center forward because they chased Rand Columani for u more than a year, even a year and a half. They chased him under Damian Kumoli. is demand the new direction with Javanni Carneali Masara and Marco Ottoini they managed to sign him on PSG terms so around 50 million euros but still they found out after just one game that he wasn't the striker that was suited to Luchano's politic playing style so Juventus also signed Walter Mad on loan from Newcastle but again is not the classic number nine the classic sent forward that Spaleti would want to sign. So basically, Juventus seem to have wasted 55 million of their summer budget which they had to sign two strikers to buy center forwards that are not suited to Spalit's playing style. And this I think is the biggest mistake that has been made in the summer transfer window. Next game for you is against run in the Europa League have already won two games in the competition. So probably the priority will go to uh the next Syria game even though obviously Juventus can't afford another defeat especially at home especially in front of the other of their fans. Uh Napoli are the other team that are having huge issues again both on and off the pitch. Aim doesn't seem to have the situation under control. He's already changed the system multiple times. He has had arguments with Kevin de Brne about the role that the Belgian should play. Allegri would like to play him as a sort of deepline playmaker to add more quality to Napoli's buildup and as he said to um stretch the career of the Bruin as well but the Bruin would prefer to play in a more advanced position where um Allegri wants to play Scott Mcdin. So there is a tactical issue issue there related to Kevin de Bruyne which obviously isn't the only problem the Napoli have and at the same time there is confusion tactically because Napoli have been playing with three center backs with two center backs with four center backs it's it's been all pretty confusing uh due to injuries they don't have enough depth just like Juventus um Santos has been in and in and out mostly out and in David Nerz as well. Mateo Polyano has been playing on the right, on the left. He's been playing as a right midfielder, as a right winger. Lot of players have changed their positions, but Allegri doesn't seem to have yet found the best tactical key to um play his Napoli side. And tonight they play again in the Champions League against the Bodlim after two consecutive defeats in the competition. As for Syria, they have a similar record to Juventus with two victories, two defeats, and one draw in the last five league games. Uh there are already rumors about Napoli possibly sakimas Allegri. Um I think it's still a long way. Allegri has a long-term contract at Napoli. Napoli hired him also because they hope he would um use those players who were signed a year ago under Antonio Conte and weren't really uh used by Allegri's predecessor Lorenzo Luca No Lang returned from loan spells for this campaign but haven't yet actually contributed and the team looks tired. They look almost as if if they have no more motivation left after two Scueti in in recent years. The most experienced Napoli players are having issues um not just physically but per potentially uh mentally as well and Allegri still hasn't been able to find the right key on the field and off the field to make this Napoli side work. Um, talk about Atlanta as well. They went 3-0 down against Milan over the weekend in uh the latest Syria game. They have four defeats and one win from the last five league games. Yet again, we're talking about a coach Maritari who has done great things in his career. He won this at Juventus in 201920. He won the Europa League with Chelsea in the previous campaign, but something hasn't quite clicked at Atlanta yet. Uh he started using a 4-3-3 system which then became a 42-31 system mostly because Cheter used as a right winger initially didn't work quite well. So Si has been testing a new system to use the Belgian as an attacking midfielder. But yet again, things aren't quite working here. Again there are injuries especially in defense. Scalvin is injured. Kolazinak now is injured as well. Kosunu is injured. So he have he has lack of depth at the back and probably he doesn't have those attacking options that he needs. We all know Si likes to play with wingers but currently only Elmas partially Raspadori are wingers. Ro is a summer signing, one of the most important and one of the most expensive in Syria last summer yet he hasn't quite contributed but is the only let me say old style winger who Atlanta have and again has been trying the kettle on the right at the beginning then he found out that the Belgian had to play through the middle he hasn't yet contributed he hasn't yet delivered and show his best. Probably his uh the worst start to the season he's headed at Atlanta so far, but um Sari hasn't yet found the key. He signed Gayano uh to be a starter in the summer, but then he's been quickly replaced by Frankie, who is now injured as well. Gano was introduced from the bench against Milan and scored as a substitute. But it's still unclear what's Sar's ideal 11 and how he uh he's trying to convey his philosophy to the team. It feels like most of these players haven't really understood what the coach wants from them. Uh there are other very good news in Syria. We got Inter going really well like Lazio. They've won six game and drawn one so far. So they are top of the table. Roma beat Genua 2-0il at the weekend. They have 17 points, three wins and two draws in the last five games despite the absences of five regular starters in the Genua game. They won 2-0il with Lull's first goal in Syria and Castro's strike as well. Castro was replacing Don Malian and scored a fantastic goal in the second half to to give Roma the lead and it's not really a surprise because Castro has been one of the best strikers in in Syria over the last couple of seasons at Bologna and now Roma needed him to replace Don Malen and he scored on in his first match as a starter at the Stadia Olympico. Some good news coming from Milan as well. They beat Atlanta, as I said before, 3-2 over the weekend. It was a two-faced performance from the Rossoni. Very, very good in the first half. 60 minutes played at a very high level, very strong going up with the press. And you could really see in those opening 60 minutes uh what Amore wants to see from from his players. But then when intensity decreased in the second half, it was easier for Atlanta to find more spaces in between the lines and in between the Milan defenders and score a couple of goals. Um they hoped they would they would scored an equalizer as well. They didn't do it in the end. There was a great save by Mike Manan in the final minutes, but surely the last two million performances in Europa League against Salsburg and in Syria against Atlanta for the opening 60 minutes showed that Amore is going in the right direction as he's having uh some positive responses from from his players. com as well after um drawing to Roma and losing to Fenon before the break they got back to winning ways beating Florentina 3-1. Currently they are in the top five three one just one point below uh Milan who have 15 points so far. So this is all for a quick Syria recap after round seven. you know there have been connection issues across the UK uh which means the Football Italia website has hasn't been running smoothly on Tuesday as well. Still we were able to do this quick recap and the Football Italia YouTube channel will continue going as usual over the next few days and weeks and months. Tomorrow we back with the Italian team of the week and then Thursday and Friday new videos examining the European matches but also reviewing the next Syria round. Thanks for following. Let me know your thoughts on these struggling teams in Syria in the comments. We did everything that you write. Thank you so much for following Football Italia every day. We really appreciate it. Watch culture. We speak soon. Ciao.