🇮🇹 Serie A Mid-Season Awards 2023/24 🥇 | OneFootball

We’re (almost) at the halfway point of the Serie A season as we reach Christmas.

So what better time than to hand out our awards for the campaign so far.

Player of the Season 👏

Inter have been the best team in the league this season and their newly-appointed captain has really stepped up to the plate.

They have outscored the second highest scorers in the division, Milan, by 10 goals and Martínez has been on fire.

At the time of writing, he has contributed 15 goals and two assists across 15 starts and is directly contributing to a goal every 70 minutes.

Young Player of the Season 👶

Juventus’ decision to loan Matías Soulé out to Frosinone has proven an inspired one.

The 20-year-old has shone down the right flank this season for the Canarini, with six goals and one assist.

Of players with at least five goals in Europe’s top five leagues this year, only Jude Bellingham is younger.

Surprise of the Season 🤯

After playing just 161 minutes last year on his return to Juventus, big things were hoped for from Paul Pogba during his second season.

But his positive drugs test in September for testosterone metabolites was both a huge shock and a great disappointment for the player, Juventini and footballing public who hoped to see the Frenchman return to form after a difficult time of it lately.

Coach of the Season 👔

Thiago Motta is finally fulfilling the expectations placed upon him as a coach after excelling at Coverciano when undergoing his qualifications.

His Bologna side are not only pleasing on the eye but a tough outfit too, in the mould of the man on the sideline, and look a serious contender for a return to European football for the first time in over two decades.

Signing of the Season 🤑

At the risk of making it all about Inter but they have been the best team in the country so far and pieces of business like the free transfer swoop for Marcus Thuram are a big reason why.

He has six goals and six assists so far in Serie A, including a memorable early derby goal to instantly earn the affections of Interisti.

Elsewhere, Christian Pulisic has been the pick of the bunch from Milan’s busy summer, Romelu Lukaku has repaired his reputation at Roma and Pontus Almqvist’s exploits on the wing at Lecce have been fun to watch.

Managerial Change of the Season 🔄

It was a surprising choice to start with when Napoli opted for Rudi Garcia to replace the departing Luciano Spalletti after leading them to a long-awaited Scudetto.

So it was no great shock when president Aurelio De Laurentiis was forced to bring a merciful end to the risky experiment in November after just 16 games, during which span their eight wins made it a paltry start to the defence of their title.

“I should have sacked him on day one,” he has since admitted. “He told me he hadn’t seen any Napoli games and I laughed. But he repeated it other times. I should have understood and got rid of him.”

Former club favourite Walter Mazzarri is back, charged with steering the ship out of choppy waters.

Biggest Improvement This Season 📈

If you predicted Juventus returning to form this emphatically and this soon then take a look at the lottery numbers.

They may not have Europe to contend with which is undoubtedly a big help but the Old Lady finished seventh, 28 points off first and conceded 33 goals last season.

This time around, they are four points off the top, have lost just once and boast the second best defence in the league, with Massimiliano Allegri going back to basics in daunting fashion.

Feelgood Story of the Season ❤️

Who doesn’t love watching the next great stars of the future breaking through?

In November, Milan starlet Francesco Camarda became the youngest player ever to feature in Serie A when he appeared off the bench against Fiorentina at the age of 15 years and 260 days.

Having scored almost 500 goals in less than 100 games at various youth levels for the Rossoneri, excitement is high around the striker.

Goal of the Season 😍

We’re all for something a little different. And a backheel when moving away from goal at a tough angle followed up by a nutmeg certainly fits that bill.

Game of the Season 🏟

Cagliari’s first win of the campaign will live long in the memory of the Sardinian public.

Claudio Ranieri’s side found themselves 3-0 down at home to Frosinone with just 18 minutes left on the clock – a deficit no team in league history had ever overturned so late in a game.

Incredibly, they scored four times in the closing stages, including an injury-time brace from Leonardo Pavoletti to pull off the greatest comeback ever seen in Serie A.