ITALIAN SERIA A TEAM OF THE SEASON SO FAR

As the Festive season still continues in full swing and the Italian Seria A still on its winter break, Soccer4life presents you with a team of 11players who have been so outstanding during the first phase of the 2012/2013 season.

There were a few surprised observers in the summer when Inter allowed Julio Cesar to leave San Siro, but the form of Samir Handanovic since his arrival from Udinese has helped the Nerazzurri to reassert some authority over the league after a difficult 2011-12. His excellent shot-stopping ability was a feature of Inter's 10-game winning run which included a 3-1 win away to Juventus.

Our back four is led by Mattia De Sciglio, who has developed into one of AC Milan's most consistent performers in a difficult season to this point. He partners up on the right with local rival Andrea Ranocchia, who has forced himself into the national team reckoning thanks to some impressive displays in Inter's back three this term.

Fiorentina's great form this season has been boosted by the form of their defence, and former Villarreal man Gonzalo Rodriguez has led by example from centre-back, earning a place in our best XI. In our last slot, we have Giorgio Chiellini, who has been a key member of a Juventus side currently sitting seven points clear with a winter championship under their belts.
There were up to a dozen possible inclusions in midfield, but our panel managed to reduce the selection to a worthy final trio. First comes Borja Valero, who has helped to transform Fiorentina's style with his excellent passing ability, and he comes in alongside probably the greatest of pass-masters in Andrea Pirlo, whose continued magnificence in the centre of the park has ensured that Juve remain ahead of the rest. Finally, Marek Hamsik has been so consistent that he has received seven call-ups to our Serie A Team of the Week series this term, making him a certainty for our mid-term selection.

Our forward line is made up of three players who have been clear stand-outs for their respective clubs in 2012-13 so far, and have bagged 36 league goals between them to this point.
Stephan El Shaarawy has been unwittingly thrust into the position of Milan's figurehead despite his young age, yet he has responded brilliantly to rack up a phenomenal 14 goals already. Lazio have also been led from the front by a talisman, as Germany striker Miroslav Klose has once more proven to be a handful for opposition defences.

Rounding out the strikeforce, and the team, is Napoli hitman Edinson Cavani, who is on course to improve on his back-to-back 33-goal seasons this time around. His 12 league strikes so far have helped to keep Napoli in the Champions League chase despite the loss of Ezequiel Lavezzi and their recent points deduction.
There were a few surprised observers in the summer when Inter allowed Julio Cesar to leave San Siro, but the form of Samir Handanovic since his arrival from Udinese has helped the Nerazzurri to reassert some authority over the league after a difficult 2011-12. His excellent shot-stopping ability was a feature of Inter's 10-game winning run which included a 3-1 win away to Juventus.

Soccer4life Italian Seria A Team of the Season so far
GOAL KEEPER : HANDANOVIC(INTER MILAN)

DEFENDERS: DE SCIGLIO(AC MILAN), ANDRE RANOCCHIA(INTER), GONZALO RODRIGUEZ(FIORENTINA), GIORGIO CHIELLINI(JUVENTUS)

MIDFEILDERS : BORJA VALERO(FIORENTINA). ANDREA PIRLO(JUVENTUS), MAREK HAMSIK(NAPOLI),

ATTACKERS
ELSHAARAWY(AC MILAN), CAVANI(NAPOLI) AND KLOSE(LAZIO)

COACH
STRAMACIONNI(INTER MILAN)

Article written by our Seria A correnspondent Unegbu Antony, you can follow Him on twitter @I_am_no_2