Few players have divided fans of calcio more in the last decade than Antonio Cassano. He’s frustrated and astounded fans throughout his career, on his day there are few better creators in world football.
But if Cassano is out-of-form then he can end up being a twelfth man for the opposition. Luckily this season fans of Parma have seen the best of Fantantonio rather than the worst.
Cassano’s first few months with Parma have gone superbly well, he’s contributed to the Parma cause with nine goals and five assists. He has emerged as the teams primary goalscoring and goal-creating threat. Not even being partnered with the notoriously inconsistent Amauri has slowed Cassano down.
After unsuccessful stints with AC Milan and Inter, Cassano has returned to his best form and is enjoying himself again. Cassano is playing his best football since his time with Sampdoria. What connects both his success at Sampdoria and success at Parma is the fact that he is the star of the team, most attacking moves operate through Cassano. In that role and environment he plays his best football. Injuries and tactical changes prevented Cassano from cementing himself as the centre piece of the AC and Inter teams.
At Parma, Cassano is most definitely the main man. Almost all of Parma’s attacks run through Cassano and through this both he and the Crociati have flourished. Cassano is a perfect fit for Roberto Donadoni’s preferred 352 tactics. Throughout his management career Donadoni has usually either favoured a 4-3-3 or a 3-5-2 formation.
After initial experiments with a 4-3-3 in his early Parma days, Donadoni has firmly opted for a 3-5-2. Only in Cassano’s absence does Donadoni revert to the 4-3-3 formation and this just shows the importance of Cassano to the Parma cause. Without Cassano the whole Parma system changes.
Cassano’s intricate passing and movement compliment the brute force and physical presence of Amauri very well. However, this season could have gone even better for Parma if they had a more clinical striker alongside Cassano. The physicality of Amauri’s play allows Cassano to play to the best of his abilities.
As Amauri leads the line and forces defenders deeper and deeper, Cassano can drop in behind and occupy the spaces left open. But Amauri only has five goals this season, his lack of goals could give rise to Parma’s next great young hope; Alberto Cerri.
Cerri is a 6’ 4”, 17 year year old striker who has been making waves in recent months and in this season’s Viareggio Cup, Cerri was the star of the show. Not only did he finish as top scorer with six goals in four games but he also managed to win the Golden Boy award which is given to the best player over the course of the tournament.
He also has nine goals in 15 games this season with the Parma Primavera squad, if he can carry on some of this form with the full Parma side then a fruitful partnership with Cassano could flourish. Cerri could eventually move into Amauri’s role as Parma’s brawn and Cassano could continue to excel as the Gialloblu’s brains.
