A sixth place finish and a Europa League spot (potentially) claimed is probably the last thing any Genoa fan would have expected when the campaign kicked off last September.
A home loss to a highly-fancied Napoli side was not the best way to kick off the season, but even in defeat the tiny sparks of optimism displayed in the performances of Mattia Perin, Diego Perotti and Sebastian De Maio were enough to suggest that this might not be such a bad year to be draped in red and blue.
However, across the city, rivals Sampdoria put everything in perspective as Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side flirted early on with Champions League qualification and won the first of the derbies.
A few weeks into the season and there seemed to be only one team worth watching in Genoa, and it wasn’t the Rossoblu.
But the beauty of this game is that nothing is over till the final whistle blows and the consistency of performance of Gian Piero’s Gasperini’s men ultimately pushed the side to achieve the apparently un-achievable.
New players flourished and performed brilliantly with the season-long form of the aforementioned Perotti, Andrea Bertolacci and Iago Falque now turning into a double-edged sword as they have become highly sought-after commodities.
And huge credit must go to the side for allowing AC Milan loan signing M’Baye Niang to score his first ever Serie A goals.
One of the very few teams to beat Juventus this season, Gasperini went on to lose Alessandro Matri and Stefano Sturaro to the Bianconeri in January as well as left back Luca Antonelli to AC Milan.
But the loss of these stars did not hamper the displays at all, as Genoa continued to play some exciting football, smashing five past Verona, five more past Torino and scoring four against Atalanta after the winter break.
With positive results against Milan, Inter and Lazio in the second half of the season, the rise up the table cannot be classed purely as luck. Genoa developed from being decent team at the start of the season into one heck of a tough outfit to beat by the end of May.
Player of the Season
When one of the less fancied Serie A teams has a great season it’s usually down to more than just a single individual.
The efforts of Mattia Perin, who continues to perform goalkeeping miracles with frightening regularity, certainly makes him a contender for Player of the Season but then much the same can be said for super wing play of Perotti, the goals of Iago Falque and the defensive solidity of De Maio which has propelled the centre back into a potential Italy call-up.
But we are going to hand this award to midfield star Andrea Bertolacci who has finally fulfilled his incredible potential. Co-owned by Roma, his starring displays have been central to Genoa’s rise up the table, scoring, assisting as well as offering a work-rate of ‘Nigel De Jong’ proportions.
It is very likely that Bertolacci will be playing for one of Italy’s heavyweights next season which is perfect reward for what has been a scintillating campaign.
Goal of the Season
Bertolacci came close to sealing this too, his recent goal which beat AC Milan and one scored at home to Palermo are both corkers.
However, this absolute belter from Juraj Kucka has to be the winner as he smacks the ball at incredible speed past a hapless Udinese goalkeeper on the 10th weekend of the season.
They don’t come much better than this.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKVxqf5Iy1M[/youtube]
Best and Worst Signings
Most of this season’s Genoa signings have worked out just fine for Gasperini. Certainly the goals of Iago Falque were unexpected as has been the performances of Facundo Roncaglia, Maxine Lestienne and Brazilian Edenilson.
But perhaps the best of all has been Argentine Diego Perotti who has jinked his way past defenders in every game he has played, becoming one of the trickiest left wingers in Serie A. Whether the Grifoni can hang on to him, with rumours of Roma sniffing around the attacker, is testament to how well he has played this year.
In terms of failures, Inter owned wide man Diego Laxalt has yet to show the promise that brought him to Italy two years ago. Arriving during the January transfer window, the Uruguayan has featured only sporadically and the club is unlikely to exercise the purchase clause on the deal.
A pity as flashes of genius appear to exist but they are seen on far too few occasions.
The Coach
Huge credit must go to Gasperini for being able to mould a set of untried youngsters with battle-hardened campaigners. The early success exerted by rivals Sampdoria did not distract the coach in any way, quietly developing his team into a high scoring but defensively sound football team.
One of the few tacticians in Serie A who will continually use a three-man defence, Gasperini does not pack his midfield with five players. Deploying a 3-4-3 formation, his side is always set up for positive attacking play, ensuring the ball is either sent wide to the forwards or up to the central striker as soon as possible, with the midfielders such as Bertolacci and Kucka joining in to to make a five-man pronged assault on their opponent’s goal.
Disappointingly, the team may miss out on Europa League football due to an administrative ‘cock up’ which would be a huge blow to fans for next season. However, the outlook is bright as the squad may hang on to their stars which bodes well for the 2015/16 campaign.
