Fabio Capello: Serie A Title Race Insights

Fabio Capello has seen too many title races to be fooled by summer noise. With less than two weeks to go before Serie A kicks off, he looks at the landscape and sees one simple truth: Inter are still out in front, and the rest are scrambling.

In his column for La Gazzetta dello Sport, the former Milan and Juventus coach did not dress it up. The gap is real, and time is short.

“The distance between them (Milan and Juventus) and Inter, the champions of Italy, seems difficult to bridge in such a short space of time,” he wrote. It was not a warning. It was a verdict.

Juventus: Not a Spalletti team yet, and one glaring problem

Capello’s eye went first to Juventus, where Luciano Spalletti is still trying to stamp his identity on a squad that looks powerful in attack but fragile behind it.

“Juventus don't yet seem like a Luciano Spalletti side to me,” Capello noted, underlining that the structure, intensity and automatisms associated with the coach are not yet visible. The market has offered encouragement in flashes: Randal Kolo Muani and Kerim Alajbegovic earn his approval, fresh legs and ideas for a team that needed both.

But every time he circles back to the same issue.

“Juve still has a big problem and that is the goalkeeper,” he wrote. Michele Di Gregorio, on paper the new starter, does not convince him. “I say that with all due respect to Michele Di Gregorio, but his situation seems irreversible to me.”

The club’s strategy, as Capello reads it, risks being one of postponement. “Many names have been mentioned and from what I've seen, the Old Lady might prefer a ‘buffer’ option, postponing the spending until next summer.”

If that is the route, he is clear about the solution. “So, if a no.1 comes in on loan, I have no doubts about who to bet on: Vicario at Tottenham. The reason is simple. Compared to Suzuki, the Italian has already shown that he performs well at big clubs, like he has done in London.”

Zion Suzuki, linked with a possible move to Juventus via PSG, is seen as a talent for tomorrow. Vicario, in Capello’s eyes, is a guarantee for today. For a club that judges seasons by trophies, that distinction matters.

Milan: a construction site, delayed returns, and a restless star

If Juventus look incomplete, Milan look unfinished.

“Milan look like an open construction site: Only the work in progress sign is missing, yet the start of the Serie A season is just around the corner,” Capello wrote. It is a brutal image, and he did not stop there.

The news that Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot have extended their holidays and will return only a week before the season has clearly irritated him. “Milan are still waiting for two big names in Maignan and Rabiot – by the way, I didn't like the news of their return being delayed by four days at all.”

The new faces have not yet settled the picture. “The new signings Gila and Ramos haven't been seen much either, nor has the clear starting XI that Amorim will have in mind.” With the days ticking down, Ruben Amorim still looks like a coach searching for his first draft rather than polishing the final version.

And then there is Rafael Leao.

“But, I get the impression that there's still a bit of confusion around the Rossoneri, starting with Rafael Leao's situation,” Capello admitted. The winger’s public flirtation with the Premier League has not gone unnoticed. “Rafa overestimated himself by publicly calling for the Premier League and, if he stays, I would be wary of the San Siro reaction to the first time he fails to run.”

That is the kind of line only someone who knows San Siro can deliver. The stadium forgives genius, but not perceived arrogance or indifference. One half-hearted sprint, one lost duel, and the murmur can turn into a roar.

Amorim, still at the beginning of his Milan tenure, now has to manage a dressing room with returning stars, new signings still integrating, and a fanbase on edge. The image of him on the touchline in Jakarta during pre-season, watching a team that is not yet truly his, fits the mood: a coach waiting for clarity that has not yet arrived.

Inter out in front as the clock runs down

Capello’s view slots neatly into the broader picture painted in Italy this week. Corriere dello Sport highlighted that the top Serie A sides are still “missing” around 20 starters between them, and the market clock is starting to sound urgent. Capello agrees with the diagnosis: too many holes, not enough time.

Inter, by contrast, look stable. Champions of Italy, core intact, ideas clear. While others haggle, hesitate and improvise, Simone Inzaghi can fine-tune.

“I hope that the next meeting between Cardinale and Amorim will bring some order and provide the right boost to sort things out on the market heading into the final 20 days,” Capello wrote of Milan’s ownership and coach.

That line doubles as a wider question for the league. With less than a fortnight to go, can anyone really organise themselves in time to knock Inter off their perch, or has the title race already taken shape before a ball has even been kicked?