Serie A 2008-2009 Season Preview: S-U

By: Francesco | August 28th, 2008

In the final part of the preview, we finish off with Sampdoria, Siena, Torino, and Udinese, along with some predictions for the coming season.

SAMPDORIA

Sampdoria were a really fun team to watch last year. Manager Walter Mazzarri, who is one of the best up and coming tacticians in Italy, took charge of the Blucerchiati. He imposed his 3-5-2 formation which provides exciting attacking play but with good defensive coverage as well. Samp surprised everyone and finished 6th, 6 points away from a Champions League spot. They will play in the UEFA Cup this season. Last summer Sampdoria took a big gamble and signed Antonio Cassano on a loan deal from Real Madrid. Cassano’s career hit a low at Real Madrid and he hadn’t had a good season since 2004/2005. However with hard work and lots of faith, the Jewel of Old Bari became the Cassano of old, becoming almost unstoppable for opposing defenders and giving Samp a big lift in quality. Granted, there were some road blocks (the outbursts), but Cassano was signed in June and now is a Sampdoria player for the next few years. This is shaping up to be Cassano’s best season as a professional. He’s happy, Samp fans love him, Mazzarri knows how to manage him, his teammates realize he’s important, he’s underwent a full preseason of preparation and is in scintillating form. If he plays to his potential Samp could even be giving the big teams trouble. In goal it’s unclear who will be the starter, Luca Castellazzi or Antonio Mirante. Both are decent keepers but I think Castelllazzi has the advantage. There’s also talented 18 year old Vincenzo Fiorillo, who is the goalkeeper of the Primavera squad. The defense let in more goals than they would’ve liked, and I’m sure Mazzarri has been working on that in the preseason. The nice surprise Samp had last season was Hugo Campagnaro, who was signed from Piacenza in Serie B and he immediately became a rock at the back for Samp. He will be the leader in defense this season. Flanking him should be Pietro Accardi and Daniele Gastaldello, who also had good years. On the bench there is also Stefano Lucchini, and new signing Jonathan Bottinelli from San Lorenzo in Argentina. He has been impressive in preseason and once he gets adapted to Italian football he may become a starter. Experienced defender Luigi Sala left for Udinese. One of the things Samp had to do this summer was find a replacement for Christian Maggio, who left for Napoli. They signed Lithuanian international Marius Stankevicius from Brescia. Stankevicius has been in Italy for years with Brescia and is a solid player; whether he has the same impact as Maggio did remains to be seen. They also signed Swiss winger Marco Padalino for Piacenza, who has been a solid performer in Serie B for a couple of seasons. The strength of this Sampdoria team is midfield. Last season Angelo Palombo was one of the top midfielders in Serie A and marshaled the Samp midfield, playing so well that captain Sergio Volpi had to sit on the bench. Next to him Samp got a great year out of Paolo Sammarco. The Milan youth team product really reminds me of Simone Perrotta, he gets into excellent positions and even guarantees a couple of goals a season. To help them out in midfield Sampdoria signed U21 midfielder Daniele Dessena from Parma. Dessena is a promising player who I’ve always kept an eye on. He is a hardworking midfielder that can do anything and everything, and many compare him to Marco Tardelli. On the bench there are good utility players like Gennaro Delvecchio and Daniele Franceschini. Mirko Pieri will start on the left and had a good season as well. Swiss winger Reto Ziegler will be a sub and Mazzarri doesn’t seem to use him often. Up front there’s Antonio Cassano of course, who we talked about before. There’s also Claudio Bellucci, who has always been a really skillful player and last year he had an outstanding year, reaching double figures in goals scored and really providing an impact. There’s also Emiliano Bonazzoli, who is a big physical presence and is really good in the air. Vincenzo Montella returned to Roma, but Uruguayan talent Bruno Fornaroli was signed. The “Tuna” has grown comparisons to Pippo Inzaghi and may need some time to adapt to the Italian game. But when a player like Cassano is putting you through on goal, you only need a short time to adapt. And with Samp we never know what will happen, they could provide one more surprise signing ala Cassano before the transfer window ends (David Suazo? Hernan Crespo?), especially when they have Beppe Marotta running things, who is one of the best football directors in Italy. Samp has a good side and if they improve on last year’s performances they can definitely qualify for the UEFA Cup and maybe even trouble the big sides.

Manager: Walter Mazzarri

Best Buy: Daniele Dessena- The 21 year old midfielder is a real talent. He can do it all in midfield and is excellent at getting into good positions. Look for him to have a really impressive year.

Probable Formation (3-5-2): Castellazzi; Gastaldello, Accardi, Campagnaro; STANKEVICIUS, Palombo, Sammarco, DESSENA, Pieri; Bellucci, Cassano.

SIENA

Last season Siena looked as good as gone. The club started with Andrea Mandorlini as manager, and he didn’t do a good job at all. The club owned by the famous Montepaschi dei Siena bank looked destined for the drop. But then Mario Berretta, known to be a master of avoiding relegation, took charge and there was a complete turnaround. The club started pulling off some great results (although they drew too many games, they drew the most games last year), and quickly the Tuscans escaped the relegation zone and finished safely in 13th place. However for some reason the club decided not to keep Berretta and hired Marco Giampaolo, who is considered to be one the brightest young tacticians in Italy but still hasn’t fulfilled his managerial potential just yet. Siena haven’t really done much to reinforce the squad either. They did make a good deal with Roma, bringing in Gianluca Curci, who will finally gain some experience as a starting keeper, and Ahmed Barusso, who was supposed to be the new Michael Essien but that never quite panned out. They also brought in Napoli outcast Emmanuele Calaio’, who was a good striker in the lower divisions but didn’t get much faith from Edy Reja last season and therefore will look to impress this year as a starter. Colombian right back Juan Camilo Zuniga, who has drawn comparisons to Cafu, was signed from Atletico Nacional in Colombia and will start on the right. Other defenders signed were young prospects Nicola Belmonte, Portuguese youngster Brandao, and Lorenzo Del Prete. The starters will be Ficagna and Portanova with Andrea Rossi, who was a pleasant surprise last year, starting on the left. In the middle of the field captain Simone Vergassola, Romanian international Paul Codrea, and Roma youth product Daniele Galloppa form a central trio. Houssine Kharja, who was excellent last season, will pull the strings in midfield. Young Italo-Argentine talent Fernando Forestieri will provide a good spark from the bench. Up front Calaio’ will start and his partner will be Massimo Maccarone, who scored some important goals last season. Experienced striker Mario Frick is still around, but Enrico Chiesa left for a Serie C2 side. The squad is decent, but Giampaolo has been asking for more reinforcements all summer which haven’t arrived. If they aren’t careful they could find themselves in Serie B next season.

Manager: Marco Giampaolo

Best Buy: Gianluca Curci- The Roman goalkeeper has been wasting away on the Roma bench as Doni’s back-up and will finally gain valuable experience as a starting keeper. Maybe we will finally see why he was so highly regarded 2 seasons ago and he’s still young (23) so he has time to get his career back on track.

Probable Formation (4-3-1-2): CURCI; ZUNIGA, Ficagna, Portanova, A. Rossi; Vergassola, Codrea, Galloppa; Kharja; Maccarone, CALAIO’.

TORINO

Torino is a club filled with so much history yet since their return to Serie A they really have been pretty ordinary. They haven’t done great things and they haven’t done bad things. The squad has been just good enough to avoid relegation, but not good enough to reach higher objectives. Part of the blame has to go to president Urbano Cairo, who is a little egotistical and thinks he can control the transfer market himself. He would do a lot better if he hired a good football director who could control transfers and club operations while he just sits back and shells out the money. But I guess that won’t happen until he fails miserably. The Granata will start with Matteo Sereni in net. Sereni was one of the best keepers in Serie A last season and many were even clamoring for him to get a national team call-up. The experienced Aimo Diana starts at right back while the ordinary Marco Pisano starts on the left. Expect young Matteo Rubin to overtake his spot by season’s end. Rubin had an excellent start to the season last year, impressing so much that teams like Inter and Milan were linked with him, but a bad injury ended his season early. He’s back and hopefully we’ll see the same from him again. In the center big Cesare Natali (who makes at least 10 stupid mistakes per season) will start, while new signing Francesco Pratali will most likely partner him. Pratali arrives after a few solid seasons at Empoli. In midfield Eugenio Corini, even at his old age, pulls the strings while Paolo Zanetti does the hard work breaking up the plays and winning balls. Austrian international Jurgen Saumel was signed on a free transfer and will most likely start. There’s also everyone’s favorite World Cup winner Simone Barone, who has completely fallen off of the map after that magical night in July of 2006. Young talent Tommaso Vailatti may be loaned out but in all probability he’ll stay on and be a sub. Torino made a good signing in Ignazio Abate, who arrives on loan from Milan. 20 year old Abate has loads of pace and excellent crossing ability, and should be a valuable asset for Gianni De Biasi. Then there’s Alessandro Rosina. Let me go on my Alessandro Rosina rant- there is no doubt that Rosina is talented. The diminutive fantasista is fast and extremely skilled. At times he can do things with the ball that other players only dream of doing. His nickname is “Rosinaldo” because he has a flair that you usually only find in Brazilian players. So now you ask “Why is a player of this caliber not a superstar on a big club and a national team regular?” and the answer is quite simple: He’s extremely selfish. Unfortunately Mr. Rosina has not realized yet that soccer is a team sport. Instead of making a simple pass to an open teammate, he’ll try to dribble 2 defenders, and most of the time fails. He’s improving on being a team player as the years pass, but he’s still selfish. That’s the reason big clubs haven’t bought him yet, not because he’s “too expensive”. So for all the people that keep saying, “Why isn’t Rosina on the national team?!?!?!?!?! Why doesn’t [insert big team here] buy Rosina?!?!?!?!?!!? He’s awesome!!!” stop watching the youtube highlight videos and watch full Torino games. Rosina, as of now, is a wasted talent. Now to get back on topic, last season Torino only scored 36 goals, and that’s not a lot. Cairo realized they needed goalscorers and signed Nicola Amoruso. If he can score goals like he has been in Reggio Calabria they will have made a good signing. Cairo then decided to partner Amoruso with Rolando Bianchi (sound familiar? Bianchi and Amoruso paired up for Reggina in 2006/2007, scoring lots of goals). On the bench there’s David Di Michele, who is unhappy and may be on the way out, and Nicola Ventola, who should be good off the bench. However once again Torino don’t have a squad to reach higher objectives and once again will be just good enough to avoid relegation.

Manager: Gianni De Biasi

Best Buy: Nicola Amoruso- The Pugliese striker has been scoring consistently for Reggina and if he provides the same goalscoring records in Torino the Granata will have made a great buy.

Probable Formation (4-3-2-1): Sereni; Diana, Natali, PRATALI, Pisano; Zanetti, Corini, SAUMEL; Rosina, AMORUSO; BIANCHI.

UDINESE

Udinese comes off a very positive year. Pasquale Marino, another excellent up and coming manager (Italy certainly doesn’t lack good managers), and his famed 4-3-3 system made a positive impact for the Zebrette. Udinese are a club that is run excellently. Every year they buy interesting young players and unknowns that become famous and then are sold off at the end of the season. Very rarely are players kept long-term. Statistically they are the only club in Serie A that makes a profit. Their talent scouts are some of the best in Italy and find players all around the globe. Last year the big revelation was Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler, who showed he is a real talent and was wanted by many big clubs this summer. I think this may be his last season at Udinese because it will be pretty difficult to keep hold of him. In goal is Slovenian Samir Handanovic, who was impressive last season. Experienced veteran Emanuele Belardi will be his back-up. In defense Andrea Dossena, who was brilliant last year, has left for Liverpool. To replace him, Giovanni Pasquale was signed from Livorno. Pasquale has tons of Serie A experience and is good at getting up and down the wing. On the other side Marco Motta was brought back from his loan to Torino. The Italy U21 captain is a hardworking fullback who never stops running and should fit in really well with Udinese. In the center there is the strong pair of Christian Zapata and Felipe. Zapata is one of the best defenders in Serie A and has long been linked to a move to one of the big clubs but it still hasn’t materialized. Serbian Aleksander Lukovic is also very versatile, as he can play in the center and on the left. Swiss defender Alain Nef was signed from Piacenza to provide some depth, as well as experienced veteran Luigi Sala. In midfield Gaetano D’Agostino directs the play. D’Agostino was originally an attacking midfielder and a winger in his career but last season Marino took advantage of his excellent passing skills and placed him in front of the defense, where he flourished. Inler was a revelation last season and is a complete midfielder. Fernando Tissone, after a very good season with Atalanta, was brought in and strengthens the Udinese midfield even more. Nigerian Christian Obodo is also a good option as well as Chilean Mauricio Isla. Up front, there is Antonio Di Natale. The National team regular is the important part of Udinese’s attack. He guarantees lots of assists and goals. Fabio Quagliarella had a good season last year, and will begin his second season looking to impress and try and get back into the national team set-up. Simone Pepe was another surprise last season, as he played very well and will most probably start. I still think Antonio Floro Flores has all the qualities to be a very good striker in Serie A and maybe after a year of adaptation he’ll breakout. The gamble up top is 20 year old Chilean fantasista Alexis Sanchez. Sanchez was bought by Udinese in 2006 but was loaned to Colo-Colo and then River Plate, where he did very well. Now he gets his chance in Serie A and Sanchez is loaded with technique and skill. He has been impressing in preseason and he could be Udinese’s answer to Pato and Balotelli. The question remains however if Udinese can handle 2 competitions. The UEFA Cup may be a distraction for them and they could lose ground in Serie A. But we’ll have to see, the squad is there and Udinese should put in a good season.

Manager: Pasquale Marino

Best Buy: Alexis Sanchez- The Chilean wonderkid is full of tricks and skill. The Udinese fans will enjoy watching him at work.

Probable Formation (4-3-3): Handanovic; MOTTA, Zapata, Felipe, Lukovic; TISSONE, Inler, D’agostino; Pepe, Di Natale, Quagliarella.

Predictions:

First some notes about the coming Serie A season- this year, the top 3 teams will automatically qualify for the Champions League group stage, and the 4th place team will undergo Champions League qualifying. 5th and 6th place will qualify for the UEFA Cup, and the Coppa Italia winner will get the other UEFA spot. The Intertoto Cup has been eliminated.

Since it’s really hard to predict who will finish it what place, I’ll just say that these teams will be the top 8 at the end of the following season, in no particular order:

Inter, Roma, Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Palermo, Napoli

Three of these teams will be relegated:

Siena, Reggina, Lecce, Cagliari

First manager fired:

Massimiliano Allegri, Cagliari

Week that Francesco Guidolin is back in charge of Palermo:

Week 25

Week that everyone gets tired of Mourinho:

Week 3

Best Promoted Team:

Bologna

Surprise team of the season:

Napoli