Sampdoria Club Focus: One step forward, two steps back

Date: 9th April 2014 at 6:36pm
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Sampdoria’s latest Serie A results have shown that the Blucerchiati have taken a couple of backward steps since defeating Sassuolo nearly a fortnight ago.

After the 2-1 win in Round 30, Samp drew 0-0 with Fiorentina over a week ago and lost 2-0 to Lazio on Sunday.

Two things that have changed since Doria’s victory over the Neroverdi are the formation and the starting line-ups.

Sinisa Mihajlovic had used the 4-3-3 formation against Hellas Verona and Sassuolo but he went back to the 4-2-3-1 formation for the Fiorentina and Lazio matches. The formation is perhaps the least of his worries.

Left-back Vasco Regini missed the Viola match due to suspension and centre-back Daniele Gastaldello missed the game against the Biancocelesti with a hamstring injury but the losses in defence aren’t the real area of concern.

In the last two matches, Eder has been re-instated to the starting line-up at the expense of Gianluca Sansone and it has affected the Blucerchiati in attack. This was brought up last week’s Sampdoria Club Focus and since then, Mihajlovic is still starting the Brazilian forward ahead of the winger from Potenza.

Sansone opened the scoring in his last two starts and Sampdoria won. On the other hand, the Blucerchiati lost two games and drew one when Eder has started recently.

In the last five Serie A matches, Sampdoria have scored only one goal with Eder on the pitch, and that was when he created the winner for Stefano Okaka against Sassuolo.

It is mind-boggling to think that a player who has opened the scoring in two victories has been dropped to the bench for a player who has failed to score in 13 matches. As mentioned last week, Eder has failed to score since Round 19 against Udinese.

Eder is underperforming in attack but even in midfield there is a selection that needs questioning. Nenad Krsticic has not been outstanding in midfield this season. His last performance of exceptional quality was when he came on at halt-time and played an influential role in Doria’s 4-2 win against Livorno.

Since then, his impact on matches has been minimal. Krsticic was unavailable for the Verona and Sassuolo victories and in the last two victories he has played in – the Livorno triumph and the 2-0 win against Torino – he had come off the bench.

Krsticic has not been influential in his last three starts and they were also Eder’s last three starts too. Worst of all, Krsticic has only scored one goal this season and he has no assists whatsoever. For someone who now wears the number 10 jersey for Sampdoria, that is a horrible return.

Perhaps he has not been the same since he broke his leg in the Derby della Lanterna in April last year. Despite not being a superstar, Krsticic was usually a solid contributor.

At the moment, the man who should take Krsticic’s place in the starting line-up is Renan Garcia. Renan is more of a box-to-box midfielder whereas Krsticic is playmaker but the Brazilian has played a part in Doria’s last two victories as well.

Aside from being able to do better defensively than Krsticic, Renan has been more effective going forward and can test opposition goalkeepers from long range. He did have some luck when he scored against Verona though.

Sampdoria host Inter at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday and Renan scored from an outstanding long-range shot in their previous encounter at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

If recent results are anything to go by, Mihajlovic should use the 4-3-3 formation and bring Sansone and Renan back into the starting line-up.

Inter are a better team on paper than Verona and Sassuolo but if the Blucerchiati want a chance of winning, they must look at who and what brought them victories against the Gialloblu and Neroverdi.

FORZA DORIA!

Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria

 

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