This weekend’s 1-1 draw at home against Juventus confirmed just how formidable a side that Parma have become under Roberto Donadoni, especially at the Ennio Tardini.
We already knew this of course as they were the only team left unbeaten on their own patch in Serie A this season but their terrific display against the champions drove the point home again.
They already picked stopped the likes of Inter, AC Milan and Roma from winning on home soil this campaign but that run looked in serious jeopardy when the reigning champions took a lead into the final 15 minutes of the game.
That was until substitute Nicola Sansone came off the bench and left Martin Caceres for dead before keeping an ice cool head to drill the ball along the rain-soaked turf and past Gigi Buffon to maintain their incredible home record.
In fact, of the 30 points that the Ducali have picked up this season, 22 of them have been won at the Tardini and that is a testament to the great work that coach Roberto Donadoni has done in Emilia-Romagna.
Before his appointment, Pasquale Marino and Franco Colomba had did decent if in the end uninspiring jobs with the latter leaving the club in a precarious position upon his depature but since taking over the club almost a year to this day, the former Azzurri boss and the Gialloblu look like a match made in heaven.
They are a club looking to get back to the days when they were riding high as one of the peninsula’s ‘Seven Sisters’ while the former AC Milan midfielder was looking to rebuild his managerial reputation following an unsuccessful tenure in charge of the Azzurri and Napoli.
He has gone to be so successful that there are strong rumours that the aforementioned Rossoneri are said to be head-hunting him to take over at San Siro, such are the waves he is making at Parma.
It may be hard to tempt him away though because it is not just outsiders who have noticed how well he is doing but those within the club also have, with president Tomasso Ghirardi awarding him with a deal until 2014, the longest contract he has ever awarded a coach at the club.
Not only are they achieving results but they are also doing it in some style playing in their now patented 3-5-2 system which has so many of their star talents shining.
The formation is allowing them to play some of the league’s most expansive and exciting football especially going forward, evidenced in the fact that they score an average of 1.4 goals each game this campaign.
Antonio Mirante has been one of the league’s best goalkeepers this season in front of an experienced backline that more often than not consists of Cristian Zaccardo, Gabriel Paletta and Fabiano Santacroce who kept Juventus very quiet indeed on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking of the current champions, an incredible point to consider is that of a man who took to the field for the Bianconeri during the encounter, Sebastian Giovinco.
He was the main man for the Crociati last season and one of the main reasons why Donadoni enjoyed such a happy start to his life there as he helped Parma to an eighth place finish, thanks in no small part to the 15 goals and 11 assists that he contributed to the cause.
Ishak Belfodil has helped to fill some of the void but he is still more of an exciting prospect than a proven Serie A talent and the same goes for Nicola Sansone.
Amauri’s days being one of the best in the league may be long gone but he remains an experienced striker who should be able to do the side a good turn when called upon.
Massimo Gobbi is one of the most revitalised midfielders in Italy and is rightly keeping quality players such as Sotiris Ninis and Afriyie Acquah out of the team in the middle of the park.
He, along with Jaime Valdes, did not shirk the midfield battle that presented itself against the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba, one of the most physical and dangerous midfield trios in the world and at times excelled in doing so.
Even Marco Marchionni is rolling back the years with some of his displays although his age has shown at times but nonetheless is proving a useful player to have around.
If Donadoni can get the best out of players like Marchionni and Amauri who many believed to be past their best long ago, it certainly says a great deal about the motivational techniques of the man.
AC Milan may come knocking for him but he would be wise to stay at a club who look a perfect fit for him.
He has the ideal players to play the kind of football that he wants, is a popular figure among the club hierarchy and umbrella-clad curva alike, and perhaps most importantly is winning matches with free-flowing panache.
These are certainly exciting times at the unbroken and impenetrable Ennio Tardini.
