After a disappointing defeat against Roma that still had its positives, the Hellas Verona tour bus’s next gig is in Reggio Emilia against a Sassuolo side who will be playing under Alberto Malesani for the first time. The 59-year-old coach is a familiar face. He is from Verona and managed Hellas between 2001-3 although he presided over a relegation during the Gialloblu’s years in hell.
Malesani was also involved at Chievo in Serie B and contributed greatly to their emergence as the second team in Verona and is more strongly associated with the Flying Donkey’s. He also has a famously volatile temperament and Andrea Mandorlini has proved he can be quite wily so it will be interesting to see whether he can wind Malesani up in his first game.
The opposition will have a lot invested in the fixture but so will the Mastini after three consecutive defeats. The game appears to offer a little relief in a series of tough fixtures, but it won’t be easy to pick up points away from home and Sassuolo played well at the Bentegodi earlier in the season despite being dispatched 2-0 thanks to Verona’s ruthlessness on the counterattack.
Sassuolo have become something of a vaguely fashionable team thanks to their attacking mentality but it has left them 18th in the table. In contrast, Mandorlini’s more old-fashioned and pragmatic tactics have worked wonders leaving the Scaligeri in eighth despite the recent wobble. It is no criticism of Mandorlini’s methods to suggest that his great work at the club has come by getting the team to do the simple things well. In all but two games the Gialloblu have lined up in a 4-3-3 formation in a Serie A where tactical variation is all the vogue.
They never really attempt to dominate the opposition, instead preferring to allow them keep the ball in their own half but once Verona win the ball they move it quickly to Toni or the wingers Juanito Gomez or Juan Manuel Iturbe who stick to their positions and run at defenders.
Mandorlini dispenses with the favourites of football hipsters and Italian tactical pedants – the Regista and the Trequartista – and just sets up team with four defenders, three hardworking midfielders and three attackers with a target man for the wingers to find. Mandorlini has been at the club since 2010 and is rightly adored by the fans and his job is one of the most secure on the peninsula as he embodies the club and its revival. Stability has been a key.
Verona’s goalscorer against Roma was Emil Hallfredsson with a powerful long-range strike. The 29-year-old is not the most glamorous player in the world and his bald head presumably doesn’t contribute much to poster sales at the club shop. A career trajectory of Tottenham Hotspur to Lyn Oslo to Reggina to Barnsley would suggest his career was flailing but since moving to Verona he has impressed and proved his worth.
Although the Iceland is something of an unsung hero, he is very influential to the side despite having only one goal and one assist from 18 starts. He might not be the most fun to watch from a technical perspective but his positioning and work rate make him a key part of a midfield three that has to contribute to both phases of play. He breaks up attacks effectively, both legally and illegally and is effective in the air and is a perfect fit for Mandorlini’s 4-3-3 having joined the club in 2010 just a few months before the coach.
Central midfielders like Hallfredsson are vital to Mandorlini’s system and although the likes of teammate Romulo may be technically superior, Hallfredsson provides a robust and simple approach that mirrors the overall tactical plan. It seems a mistake for the club to allow his contract to run down but both parties have said they want him to stay. Mandorlini has said Ezequiel Cirigliano is the future of the club and the likely replacement for Jorginho and he should complement Hallfredsson as they are rather similar players with subtle differences.
With the transfer window coming to an end it doesn’t appear there will be any major action in the final days. Nobody has come in to the Bentegodi and it looks unlikely that there will be any arrivals. There was talk of Guillermo Varela coming in from Manchester United and that might have been an useful addition as the full-back department is the most obvious weakness in the squad and Verona have a great record of giving obscure south Americans the chance to prove themselves.
Speculation has suggested that Daniele Cacia may be heading to Leeds United as the club have said they are willing to let him go due to his limited playing time. Although Cacia has looked unconvincing on the few times he’s got on the pitch, it would be sad to see him leave given his efforts in getting the team promoted from Serie B. On an individual level, the 30-year-old striker has been the victim of Luca Toni’s incredible success.
