Summary: Fresh off a weekend in which the goals and highlight reel strikes were finding their way into nets all across the peninsula, Italian football commentator Owen Neilson makes his first appearance on the show for the 2013-14 Serie A season and helps us not only dissect the explosion at the top of the table, but also interpret the mercato madness that has descended upon AC Milan in particular as club icon Kaka has returned to the Rossoneri from Real Madrid. We begin with an early winner this offseason in Fiorentina where new arrivals and old arrivals finally unleashed are scoring goals and look ready to pounce on top three and then over to the big mystery at Milan where clear rumours of big arrivals once Champions League football was secured never materialized, choosing instead to reach for nostalgia over any recognized plan after stating that a rebuilding effort based on youth was under way. We examine the deals that got finalized, some of the big deals that were missed and where a very uneven market leaves AC Milan with a manager on the last year of a contract, a young star in Stephan El Shaarawy who clearly has a murky future with the club at best and a teamsheet that reflects both the shortcomings of its odd manager and the deep narcissism of its owner, leaving fans with a broken squad serving two factions who can never see eye to eye on the football that is being played. We also examine our takes on top three, fortune for Juventus, questions about eroding defences in Serie A and a couple of early surprises worth exploring in Inter and Roma just two short and crazy weeks into a season in which Serie A has been projected as one of the most competitive leagues in Europe.
