With Serie A in its midseason break, Sampdoria find themselves flying high close to the top of the standings. Forza Italian Football brings you a review of all that has happened over the first half of Sampdoria’s brilliant season.
Sampdoria have been exceeding most people’s expectations in the first half of the 2014-15 Serie A season. On paper Samp looked like mid-table team but the Doriani are in equal third place after 16 matches with 27 points and they are only behind Lazio and Napoli on goal difference.
Sinisa Mihajlovic has stamped his blueprint on this Sampdoria squad and his passion and ambition has been great for the dressing room. The only man who can exceed him in that aspect is new Doria president Massimo Ferrero, who bought the club in June from Edoardo Garrone and he has gained plenty of attention (or notoriety) for his goal celebrations.
Mihajlovic’s Sampdoria is better associated with grit and determination than flair and fantasy. Sergio Romero has been a rock in goal while Daniele Gastaldello has been dependable in defence, Pedro Obiang and Angelo Palombo have been superb in midfield and Stefano Okaka has been a great physical presence in attack.
For all their hard workers, Sampdoria’s shining light has been young striker Manolo Gabbiadini. The striker who is co-owned by Sampdoria and Juventus has scored seven goals in 13 Serie A matches for Il Doria and he looks set to leave for Napoli in January.
Sampdoria have brought in Argentine prodigy Joaquin Correa from Estudiantes but a potential Gabbiadini departure could leave a huge void in the Samp attack in the new year.
Transfer Hit & Flop
Alessio Romagnoli has been one of this season’s revelations since arriving on loan from Roma. Despite giving away a debatable penalty against Inter, the 19-year-old centre-back has been reliable defensively and he is also comfortable on the ball. He demonstrated his attacking qualities in Doria’s 2-1 win against Chievo in which he scored a goal and created another for Gastaldello.
Although Djamel Mesbah’s form has been mediocre for Samp, Gonzalo Bergessio has been less impressive in attack. Bergessio was bought from Serie B club Catania for €3 million plus bonuses in the summer but the 30-year-old centre-forward has failed to score in 11 league matches.
Coach
Mihajlovic has made this Sampdoria squad a hard-working one that is also hard to penetrate at the back. He has been praised for his man-management and motivational skills but he has also been able to rotate his squad very well and he seems to have two players for each position.
The former Serbian national team coach has usually set his team up in the 4-3-3 formation and occasionally in the 4-3-1-2 depending on the condition of his strikers. He was forced to switch to the 3-5-2 against Fiorentina when he was short on defenders but the Doriani played diligently in the 3-1 victory.
Best goal – Eder v Fiorentina
Eder scored after a brilliant solo run against Fiorentina in Round 10. David Pizarro turned the ball over in midfield and then Eder sprinted from his own half and shrugged off three defenders before sliding the ball past Viola goalkeeper Neto.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msEapKz8ojk[/youtube]
Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria
