On January 21st Domenico Di Carlo remarkably became Livorno’s third head coach in the space of eight days.
The Serie A strugglers had only moved the previous week to first remove Davide Nicola from the bench and bring technical director Attilio Perotti in after a run of eight games without a win since beating Atalanta 1-0 on November 3rd had seen the Tuscan side slip into the relegation zone.
Perotti had been talked out of retirement to accept the short-term task of replacing Nicola to the end of the season, but following a poor reception from the club’s ultras and a 3-0 defeat at Roma, the 67-year-old reportedly advised president Aldo Spinelli to reinstate Nicola.
While Nicola widely reported to be in line to make a comeback, the fiery club president overlooked his former coach in favour of recruiting Di Carlo, who spent his final year as a player at Livorno in 2000-01.
And with angry ultras invading Perotti’s unveiling as Livorno coach the previous week, the former Parma, Chievo and Sampdoria boss may have been apprehensive about returning to the Stadio Armando Picchi.
However during his own initial press-conference, the 49-year-old tactician revealed his sympathy for the supporters’ frustrations with the club sitting in 19th place in the league following his arrival.
“The results are what determines the mood surrounding a team. Should the team re-find its confidence then we will win back the fans. I know that the people of Livorno want to see their team fight and I can assure you that the management and the team will do everything possible in this regard.”
This fight was certainly shown Di Carlo’s debut, as Livorno recorded an emphatic home 3-1 win against relegation rivals Sassuolo with all three goals being scored inside the opening 26 minutes.
Ironically, a large section of the Labronici supporters missed this impressive start after only arriving inside the stadium ten minutes into the game as a protest against Spinelli, but with Di Carlo’s former teams having often struggled to find the back of the net this was an encouraging start.
While the decision to sack Nicola was unpopular with many of the club’s supporters, Spinelli had already claimed a sense of vindication following the initial victory.
“I saw the right reaction [in the 3-1 win over Sassuolo],” Spinelli said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Di Carlo was once a player here and is aware of the gravitas that the Amaranto jersey carries. He is the right man for us.”
More goals followed in a 3-3 draw away to Catania before an unfortunate 1-0 defeat at home to Genoa, where Innocent Emeghara had a goal ruled out for offside and Paulinho’s stoppage time header was cleared off the line, seemed to have momentarily halted Livorno’s promising start under Di Carlo.
But his side bounced back the following week with a 2-1 away win at relegation rival Cagliari and in doing so climbed out of the relegation zone for now by one point.
This first away victory since the 4-1 triumph at Sassuolo on the second week of the season has significantly boosted the growing sense of belief that Livorno can stay up this season and may have justified the president’s decision to appoint Di Carlo.
“Today we wanted to send a signal to the rest of the championship,” Di Carlo told the media after the crucial win against Cagliari.
“Here at the Sant’Elia we redeemed ourselves and today’s result creates awareness about our potential and what we can do when we raise the pace.”
However, Livorno’s survival hopes have been dealt a blow following the news that club captain Andrea Luci has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a complete lesion of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the win in Sardinia.
The midfielder has been one of Le Triglie’s best performers this season and his creativity and leadership will be missed for the remainder of the campaign.
With Luci now unavailable there will be an added pressure on other players to lead Livorno to safety. Perhaps the biggest expectancy is on on-loan Inter striker Ishak Belfodil and whether he can ease the pressure on another of the Amaranto’s stand-out performers this season, Paulinho.
The Brazilian forward has impressed since making the step-up from Serie B, scoring nine out of the Tuscan side’s twenty four goals in Serie A so far this season. But with this summer’s World Cup in mind, Belfodil will be looking to break into the starting line-up after making three substitute appearances since his January deadline day move. If the Algerian international can rediscover the form he showed for Parma last season, he could be crucial for the Livornesi’s chances of avoiding the drop.
Livorno’s next two fixtures both at home to Hellas Verona and Napoli will provide an indication of how far Di Carlo has brought on his new side, but it is arguably the home games against relegation rivals Bologna and Chievo over the next two months that will ultimately decide their fate.
With a third of the season still left to play it remains to be seen whether Di Carlo can save Livorno from relegation. However, if they are able to continue their current form it is certainly possible that the Amaranto could be celebrating their centenary next year in the top flight.
It’s definitely too early to call. I believe that Livorno should have got a playmaker, which they didn’t do, and I still don’t rate Di Carlo as a coach.
Aside from his days at Chievo, his record isn’t impressive and he is usually conservative. He was not worthy of Sampdoria and the results showed. Taking aside the fact the Garrones were selling players for peanuts, the likes of Novellino, Mazzarri and Del Neri knew how to set-up a team. I also think they understood the Doria mentality and Di Carlo never did.
If Livorno maintain their form, Di Carlo might prove me wrong. This team looks more attacking than any other Di Carlo side. If Paulinho and Emeghara keep firing and the Amaranto can rely on Siligardi to come off the bench, survival is possible.