Alexandre Pato
At only nineteen years old, Pato seems too young to lead a team in offense, but this season look for the young Brazilian to imitate many of his nation’s previous footballers and score at a minimum 20 goals this season for Milan.
Pato started off the season just right scoring two goals in a 2-1 victory over Siena. The key Serie A Best Young Player of 08/09 handed new manager Leonardo his first career victory and did so on the road with a roster filled with a decent amount of new faces.
The forward has been hot as of late. Pato picked up the pace over the course of last season scoring 15 goals for the season and winning Serie A Player of the Month in January, but with game’s like the opener Pato could end up being the Golden Boot Winner by season’s end. As long as the young forward can stay healthy he should end up being in the top five scorers on the Serie A leaderboard.
Bari’s Defense
Once again I pick a team to be relegated at the end of the year and they prove my logic wrong in the first week of the season. Bari had the unfair challenge of playing on the road against champs Inter in the first week of the season and the club rose to the occasion and gave the sleeping giant a run for their money. Bari was able to keep Inter (with new boys Diego Milito and Eto’o) off balance all game and finished the competition only allowing three shots on goal. It was an excellent start to the season for the new squad and look for them to fight for a survival spot on the league table all season long.
