With Rolando Bianchi suffering a nasty-looking injury against Sassuolo at the weekend, the chance of doing so before the end of that match dissipated. Lazaros had a late effort that looked almost like it might be nearly a goal, but the nil remained intact.
Where do you turn when your team can’t score, your lead striker is injured, and the formation you’ve started playing has misfired badly? You turn to a man who hasn’t scored for more than two years. You turn to a man who, in his first press conference this week had to note to the media that,
“I’m still alive.”
Cometh the hour, cometh….Robert Acquafresca?
Acquafresca is the man. He has been in this position before, even so far as having played under Davide Ballardini for a team nicknamed Rossoblu. He has promised to play with the knife between his teeth, which would provide a cutting edge that – even before the departure of Alessandro Diamanti – was somewhat lacking. He has even, back in the mists of time, scored a brace for Ballardini to help his team beat Livorno as they scrapped to stay up. Bologna’s next game will be against Livorno on Sunday afternoon. The stars are aligning.
Cometh the hour, cometh Robert Acquafresca.
Acquafresca’s presence at Bologna at this stage is something of a surprise. A bit-part player this season at most, his name was mentioned most frequently during January, when he was discussed as being a makeweight in any deals that would bring a striker to the Stadio Renato dall’Ara. Acquafresca himself acknowledges that he decided to stay with the Rossoblu rather than join Livorno or Udinese only after Ballardini, with whom he enjoyed his best spell, at Cagliari, was installed in the dugout.
It has been the nature of the Rossoblu’s season that it is far easier to look forward hopefully than look back in despair. Rarely have performances warranted upset, as indeed Sunday’s stalemate against Sassuolo. It was an abject encounter, between two teams who looked entirely unlikely to trouble one another. As memory serves, the Neroverde hit the bar, but it could have been an apparition – the mirage of a chance in a desert of impotence.
Those who use the examples of Napoli, Fiorentina and Roma to suggest that Serie A is more exciting than ever would be well advised to watch Bologna. Sunday’s was the Rossoblu’s fourth goalless draw of the season, and though I would rank it ahead of the home match against Chievo in December in terms of excitement, there has been some paltry affairs.
Bologna came out of their sleepwalking Sunday somewhat worse for wear. Bianchi took a buffeting during the game, eventually being withdrawn after damaging his knee, but Ibson has been recovering in training this week, as well as Panagiotis Kone. Those players would all be handy to be in the team next week, but it remains to be seen if they will recover in time.
Sport lends itself to stories of players becoming surprising heroes; I considered the English cricket team during their 1975 Ashes Series with a ferocious Australia. After an early set-back, they brought a spectacle-wearing player close to retirement into their team. David Steele dominated the series, enchanted the nation, and earned the nickname ‘the bank clerk who went to war’; though England still lost.
Rather closer to home, this week’s furious clashes between Fiorentina and Juventus have brought another striker who enjoyed a considerable renaissance with Bologna to mind. Roberto Baggio is far more of a player than Acquafresca is, but the same opportunity has being afforded both.
There was another surprise face entering the field for Bologna on Sunday afternoon. He busied himself, ended up booked and gave a fairly decent impression of what a striker might look like. Daniele Paponi, wearing number 88, played his first fourteen minutes of the season. His appearance was very much a last roll of the dice that, ultimately, didn’t pay off but bringing on another striker is a positive move, and to be lauded.
Bologna go into Sunday’s game with Livorno clear of the relegation zone, which is good. They go into the game knowing their defence has been sound, which is also good. As so often, the unknowns come at the front. Against the Labronici, it will be two of Cristaldo, Bianchi and Acquafresca, with the option of Paponi to come on if needed. The bodies are there, the plans are there. Hopefully, finally, the goals will be there. Acquafresca has been waiting a long time – those two years in readiness could seem like nought on Sunday night.
I must admit that I don’t think Bologna can survive but if they manage to, Ballardini needs Acquafresca to return to his Cagliari form. The Greeks also need to make more of an impact. Having a fit Kone is crucial.
Lazaros has looked really good in recent weeks, but Kone has been out of sorts all season. I’m hopeful something will click for Bologna; but I’ve been hoping since August. There’s some good players in the squad, just never seem to quite do it at the same time.