Can Sampdoria be the surprise of the season?

By: Francesco | September 21st, 2009

Since there is a mid-week round this Wednesday, I’ll get a super Weekend Round-up post up on Thursday. If you look at the Serie A table right now, you’ll see that leading the top of the table is Sampdoria (tied with Juventus, but ahead of goals scored). Sampdoria have never won their first 4 games ever in their history. Not even in their Scudetto-winning season of 1990-91 did they have a perfect record after 4 games. Can Sampdoria win the Scudetto this season? To be realistic, most probably no. But can they have a really good season and possibly push for a Champions League spot? I’ll say that’s a really good possibility. More on Samp after the jump.

Last season, Sampdoria were very disappointing. Despite reaching the Coppa Italia final (and losing to Lazio on penalties), in Serie A the blucerchiati never got off on the right foot and finished the season in a disappointing 13th place. Walter Mazzarri and the club decided to part ways mutually, and Gigi Del Neri (the master mind of the Chievo miracle back in 2000-2001 and a former player for Samp) was hired to lead the ship.

Del Neri and his rigid 4-4-2 that relies heavily on wing play brings more balance to the table than Mazzari’s 3-5-2, which often left the 3 center-backs too alone and good counter-attacking teams punished them for it. Del Neri got the wingers he wanted this summer (Daniele Mannini and Franco Semioli, as well as already having Swiss winger Marco Padalino already on the books) and some help in defense with Marco Rossi and Luciano Zauri.

However, let’s not look over the fact that Sampdoria are lucky to have the best Italian footballer at the moment on their books, Antonio Cassano. Cassano looks to be on his way to having his best season ever as a professional player. His head is set on straight, he feels important at the club, and he has so much natural talent and skill that he can do whatever he wants with the ball at his feet. Even though Del Neri and Cassano didn’t get along at Roma (Cassano said in his book “I could never understand what the fuck he was saying“), they quickly made peace at Sampdoria and Del Neri sees Cassano as the leader of the squad, an indispensable part of the blucerchiati starting 11. Cassano has started the season in fine form and has already scored a goal and has a number of assists. He really has looked unstoppable in certain instances and it is a big crime that he isn’t in Marcello Lippi’s national team plans.

But despite having the individual skill of Cassano, the best thing about this side is that they play as a team. If Giampaolo Pazzini isn’t scoring, he’s working his ass off up front tussling with defenders and making space for other players. The wingers are constantly flying up and down the wing, Angelo Palombo is a rock in the center of the pitch, and even Cassano (not usually known for his work ethic) is putting in considerable effort. Luca Castellazzi has been along with Buffon the best goalkeeper in Serie A so far and probably merits a national team look from Lippi. The only weak point of the squad could be the defense, but overall the team is well-built and should be able to compete with any side. One name to look out for is Andrea Poli, the U-21 center midfielder. I consider him to be of Italy’s best upcoming talents, and could be the true heir to Andrea Pirlo. He started vs. Siena and left a very good impression.

OK, so let’s say you’ve read up to this point and you say all this well and good, but Sampdoria’s first 4 opponents weren’t the cream of the crop of Serie A clubs. Catania, Udinese, Atalanta, and Siena may not be the top, but they are still all formidable squads and the two away wins vs Catania and Atalanta were not easy. However, these next two games will be the real test as to how strong this Sampdoria side is. On Wednesday they travel to Florence and take on Fiorentina, who just came back from a dismal performance vs Roma on the weekend. It’s a tough away game, but Sampdoria might be able to take advantage of the Viola’s bad moment and sneak a win. Saturday is the really big test, as the blucerchiati welcome Inter to the Stadio Ferraris. That should be a really interesting game to watch. So by Sunday we’ll probably know what this Sampdoria side is really made of and if they can challenge for high objectives this season.

Sampdoria really have a good side on their hands and with an organized manager like Gigi Del Neri, Samp can really push for a place in Europe next season, whether it be the Europa League or a shock Champions League qualification. Will Cassano and his teammates be listening to this music next season?