Chievo still seem content with playing with fire, sitting 17th in Serie A and don’t look like moving anywhere fast.
A 2-1 victory at home to Genoa and two defeats away to Fiorentina and a 2-0 defeat to second place side Roma at the Stadio Bentegodi on Saturday night, see the club sit level with Livorno in 18th place.
The Gialloblu have shown they are more than capable of playing amongst the elites of Italian football, however this season they seem reserved to fight.
Their philosophy appears to be once the opposition have scored is to sit deep and soak up more pressure. The defence against the Giallorossi on Saturday was just disorganised and ineffective.
Nicolas Frey – Too slow to intervening and stopping Roma attacking, he was often out of position and allowed space for Gervinho to exploit them.
Dario Dainelli – Now at 34 years of age, Dainelli is the Flying Donkeys best defender this season, however he has a tendency to pick up cards in clumsy tackles and was lucky to escape a pass back that went wrong, fortunately Mattia Destro hit the side netting.
Bostjan Cesar – The Slovenian will want to forget about this game very quickly, after a massive mistake that gifted Gervinho a goal when the 31-year-old miss timed a pass back to Michael Agazzi.
Chievo coach Eugenio Corini spoke to Sky Sport Italia about his team’s defeat at the home against Roma, insisting that his team will need to play for their Serie A future on Wednesday when they face relegation rivals Bologna.
“Right from the beginning of the match, we made too many mistakes and this has given confidence to a team already strong,” the tactician said.
“At the break I changed the tactics, but unfortunately it did not go well and we lost against a team so important in terms of quality.
“Wednesday, in the match against Bologna, we play very key in salvation. I have always talked about forty points to be sure to stay in A, but this figure could be lower this year.”
We all know how brilliant Chievo can play and how mischievous they can be, but time is running out for the Flying Donkeys.
Corini I believe is the right man for the job and I’ll stick by him till the end of the season, as since the 43-year-old took over last year the Gialloblu have climbed up the table, but now seem to have hit a stumbling block.
Bologna are just two points ahead of Chievo with 26 points, and now have no Alessandro Diamanti, who left for China’s Guangzhou Evergrande. Since then, they have struggled, only wining one of six games. That win came on Sunday against Cagliari, though Gialloblu coach Davide Ballardini is at risk of losing his job if he doesn’t steer the club upwards as well.
Alberto Paloschi is still proving his worth for the Flying Donkeys, and Corini must keep playing the 24-year-old and hopefully Përparim Hetemaj will be back to provide support as the trequartista.
Again, a win is vital as it will provide confidence when they face AC Milan three days later on Saturday evening at the San Siro. The Verona side will need to take advantage of the Rossoneri’s poor form and realistically could take six points this week with the two games they have, nevertheless they could just as easily come away with nothing.
Forza Chievo!!!
Follow Nic Petruzziello on Twitter: @NicPetruzziello
