Earlier this year Palermo’s Josip Ilicic was one of the hottest prospects in Europe. Tracked by the likes of Manchester United and compared to Kata, the young Slovenian could do no wrong in a front trio with Javier Pastore and Fabrizio Miccoli, which took Serie A by storm.
However since then his reputation has slid downhill considerably, and has seemed to struggle when stuck out on the flank in Devis Mangia’s 4-4-2 formation. However, on Thursday night in Palermo’s 2-0 win over Lecce he changed to a 4-3-1-2 with Ilicic as trequartista, and he seemed to improve dramatically.
For the first time this season, Ilicic was central to many of the Palermo moves in a very impressive team performance. The midfield quartet linked up well and with the width provided by one of my signings of the season, Eros Pisano, it was a thoroughly impressive first half. There were some intricate short passing moves within the midfield diamond, with the midfield and attack looking much better linked up by the presence of Ilicic between the lines.
In the second half, the performance tailed off somewhat, but it was nevertheless a solid display from a side which seems to be punching above its weight in Serie A so far. Some tipped Palermo for relegation prior to the start of the season, with an inexperienced coach, ‘poor’ players and the sacking of Stefano Pioli before the season had even got underway, but what a nice surprise they are proving to be.
The Rosanero sit 7th after eight matches – a position that I think every Palermo fan would have taken prior to the start of the season. Unlike last year when Palermo had the shakiest defence in Serie A, this year the signing of Matias Silvestre and the surprising solidity of midfielder Giulio Migliaccio at centre back have bolstered the defensive ranks, with the aforementioned Pisano proving a great replacement for the departing Mattia Cassani.
The win over Lecce means that Palermo keep their 100% win record when playing at the Renzo Barbera this season, with their home form supreme. Their away form however isn’t as impressive, and going on the away table they are down in 19th position, having lost three times out of four on the road, without a single win.
Much like Udinese, Palermo seem to be a team without any star names, but who are playing cohesively as a team, leading to impressive results in the process. Coincidentally, on Sunday Palermo play the Zebrette in Udine, a game which will provide a stern test as Devis Mangia’s men try to rectify their away record.
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