SERIE A'S BEST

Michael Nardi

With the Serie A season complete and awards already handed out, I wanted to give my say on some of the league's prestigious personal accolades; who I think should have won, and some other unique awards as well.

Best Goalkeeper: Mike Maignan

Serie A’s Choice: Mike Maignan

Easily the best goalkeeper in the league and it’s not even close, no keepers were as influential and important to their team as Maignan. Both his distribution and dominion over his areas makes him one of the best in Europe, the definition of today’s modern goalkeeper. As well, he has the impressive feat of being part of both Lille and Milan's trophy drought contributing to both winning league titles.

Best Defender: Milan Skriniar

Serie A’s Choice: Bremer

Serie A chose Bremer which is also a great pick, however, I don’t think there is anyone like Skriniar this season. The perfect aggressive defender needed in a back three complements Bastoni and De Vrij incredibly well. He also is incredible on the ball for an Inter side that plays out from the back and needs their defenders comfortable in wide areas. Skriniar excels at this. Skriniar and Inter also posted the second-best defensive record this season.

Best Midfielder: Sergej Milinkovic Savic

Serie A’s Choice: Brozovic

It is hard not to give Lazio’s main man the best midfielder. The numbers and overall play suggest he is the best in all of Serie A. The league however went with Brozovic from Inter who is an incredible regista. I just feel it is hard to dispute how incredible Savic was this season. His defensive play improved and he was much more composed on the ball; being able to shrug off defenders to find the right pass. He will be on every big team's wishlist as a player of his quality is hard to find across Europe.

Best Attacker: Ciro Immobile

Serie A’s Choice: Ciro Immobile

Another stellar season from Ciro capped off with 27 league goals and another capocannoniere for the league’s top scorer. He has excelled in the 4-3-3 of Sarri and has looked more comfortable in a role which involves him much more in the buildup. He also showed once again the variety of ways in which he can score for Lazio and he is critical to the way Lazio plays, without him they are a completely different team.

Best U23 player: Sandro Tonali

Serie A’s Choice: Victor Oshimien

Tonali to me was robbed of this award because of his influence on Milan’s scudetto win this season. Not only scoring clutch goals, but being the best midfielder on the pitch in every game Milan played this season. His ability to win back the ball is like a young Gattuso. The kid has so much quality in him, with his development being incredible to witness from afar. Oshimien was incredible but injuries derailed him this season whereas Tonali was a regular on a Scudetto winning team.

MVP: Raphael Leao

Serie A’s Choice: Raphael Leao

Many times the word MVP gets thrown around and we struggle to put a true definition to it. To me, an MVP is someone who if you take them off, the team struggles to get results, and in this case, Leao fits that description. Milan’s attack was average in comparison to the top 7 teams and Leao kept them afloat. He saved the team in numerous games this season and even registered 3 assists in a 3-0 win over Sassuolo on a crucial final matchday. You just knew that Milan would find a way to score if Leao got enough touches of the ball. This season he had the magic touch to win Milan the Scudetto.

Now here are some made-up awards to recap this incredible Serie A season.

Best Match: Inter 1 Milan 2

This game is your classic Serie A fixture between two legendary teams, a game that would decide the fate of their title hopes in the end. This match played a large part in the team's points but also the tiebreaker as well, and it did not disappoint. Inter would take the lead early, but two Olivier Giroud goals won it for the Rossoneri, keeping their title hopes alive. This game was pivotal for both teams' season as Inter struggled after this game and Milan seemed to pick up needed form.

Best Signing: Tammy Abraham

It is hard to discredit what Tammy has done this season for Roma, becoming the main man in Jose Mourinho’s team; he has been everything Roma needed in a number 9 and more. His linkup play and movement are his standout traits, but his reading of the game and technical ability have become much better since joining the club in the summer. For 40 million Euros it looks like a steal for Roma and has given Tammy a great chance to be a key contributor for England in their World Cup dream in Qatar.

Most Disappointing Team: Atalanta

It is crazy what a year can do for a club, especially for a club like Atalanta which looked to continue to rise after another successful year in Europe and Serie A. A third-place finish last year as well as advancing through the UCL group stages saw La Dea primed for another impressive run this year.

With most of the core staying and great additions being made, they were most people’s darkhorse to win Serie A after many years of coming up just short. However, this season fell flat on their face. Injuries played a factor but the magic they had in attack ran out with the likes of Muriel, Zapata, and Pessina all underperforming massively leading to a season finishing outside the European places.