Don’t be fooled by the fact that Eder is Sampdoria’s leading goalscorer in Serie A this season.
The Brazilian has scored nine goals so far for the Blucerchiati in 2013-14 but he hasn’t scored since January 13. Doria defeated Udinese in the Round 19 encounter and Eder scored a brace in the 3-0 win.
Twelve rounds later, Eder is no longer playing the lone striker role but it’s not just his goalscoring that has dried up. His passing and dribbling ability have lowered too.
It’s time for Sinisa Mihajlovic to bench Eder and give Gianluca Sansone a regular starting place on the left-wing for Sampdoria.
Let’s look at the last four matches and how Eder and Sansone have played.
Samp lost 3-0 to Atalanta and the result prompted Mihajlovic into producing his “men first, players second” rant. Eder played for 72 minutes and he was then replaced by Sansone.
The Brazilian attempted one unsuccessful dribble, took one shot which failed to hit the target and made three crosses that failed to hit a Samp teammate. Seven of his passes did not find a Sampdoria player, usually playing the culprit who broke down Samp’s attacks.
Sansone came on when La Dea had sealed the win but six of his eight passes were successful and had one shot. The loss prompted personnel and formation changes from Mihajlovic for the Hellas Verona game.
Mihajlovic went from the 4-2-3-1 formation to the 4-3-3 and Sansone started on the left side of attack, replacing Eder in the process.
The former Sassuolo and Torino forward made an immediate impact. He was fouled by Marco Donadel in the first minute and then he opened the scoring for Doria after four minutes. He also played a part in the third goal, flicking the ball to Vasco Regini, who then crossed for Roberto Soriano.
Sansone also forced saves from Verona goalkeeper Rafael on two other occasions and completed 20 of his 25 passes successfully. Sampdoria scored all five goals when Sansone was on the pitch and when Eder came on for Manolo Gabbiadini after 62 minutes, no goals were scored. Sansone attempted a dribble and failed while Eder tried three and wasn’t successful either.
Mihajlovic rotated his squad for the match against Sassuolo but Sansone was retained in the starting line-up. Once again Sansone opened the scoring for Doria and created a Sampdoria record scoring after only 18 seconds. After receiving a Birkir Bjarnason through-ball, Sansone dribbled past two defenders before slotting the ball past Gianluca Pegolo in the Neroverdi goal.
He had another opportunity to score and it just missed the target. Nineteen of his 24 passes were successful as well as two out of three dribbles and he even made a defensive clearance.
Eder came on after 58 minutes and actually did not do badly. He created the winning goal for Stefano Okaka by flicking the ball over some Sassuolo defenders and he made three out of four dribbles successful. He did waste one cross and squandered a great chance to make it 3-1, putting his shot wide at the near post.
Although Sampdoria beat Sassuolo 2-1, Mihajlovic still rotated his team for the Fiorentina match but he did two things that were perplexing. He returned to the 4-2-3-1 formation and re-instated Eder to the starting line-up, confining Sansone to the bench. The only possible conclusion is that left-back Regini was suspended and Eder has the stamina to track back.
Eder did track back in the 0-0 draw against the Gigliati on the weekend, helping out Gaetano Berardi in defence but his offensive game was horrible. The Brazilian forward attempted nine dribbles and failed on seven occasions. His opponent Juan Cuadrado is not known for his defensive capabilities but the Fiorentina wing-back was able to dispossess the Samp winger numerous times.
One of Eder’s shots hit the target and three others did not. One of them was in the third minute of the game, when Lorenzo De Silvestri crossed to him, he chested the ball and put his shot wide from six yards.
Based on recent form, Sansone would have buried that chance. Worst of all, Sansone did not come off the bench against the Viola. There was no news of an injury and he definitely wasn’t suspended.
Makes you wonder what Sansone has to do to keep his place in the starting line-up? He would have one good game under Delio Rossi and then after one average game, he would be benched. Mihajlovic must not do what he did against Fiorentina by leaving the ex-Sassuolo winger on the bench.
Sansone should be starting ahead of Eder. He has opened the scoring for Doria in two matches and he is less prone to errors than the Brazilian.
Mihajlovic can tell his players to be “men first and players second” but on the left-wing, Sansone is a better player than Eder.
FORZA SANSONE E FORZA DORIA!
Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria
