We hinted it would happen and it was no great surprise that Alberto Malesani was relieved of his duties after the weekend defeat against Parma.
The ex-Verona coach did have some top opponents in the five games he took charge of, but to lose every single one of them left the club with no real option but to bring back Eusebio Di Francesco.
A closer look at the statistics that defined Malesani’s time at Sassuolo does offer quite depressing reading. His initial press conference was awkward to say the least as he reminded a journalist, some might say rather arrogantly, of his CV and his ‘achievements’.
This may have been an act of bravado or confidence perhaps, in order to send a message out to fans and players alike, but words need backing up with actions (or results if your a football coach) and this is where Malesani failed.
He was handed 10 new players to integrate into the squad, and given just over a month to show progress. Experience was needed and the club had acquired at least one stalwart for each part of the field. Paolo Cannavaro was given the captain’s armband and was expected to bolster the leaky defence whilst Davide Biondini was charged with organising the midfield. The goals were to come from the well travelled striker Sergio Floccari.
In truth, all three have been poor given the expectations. And we can add Malesani to that group of newly acquired signings whose performance we can be describe with the following numbers…
Zero, the points from his five games, the only coach in this season’s Serie A to have performed worse than the tactician he replaced.
Before he arrived the club was one point away from safety and third from bottom. They now find themselves last and four points adrift of the cut off zone.
Malesani has not won a single game in Serie A since December 2011 (although only having coached 12 matches in that period with three different clubs Genoa, Palermo and Sassuolo). This particular statistic that can be interpreted in various different ways, but none very positively.
He has now been at the helm of 11 different topflight clubs in Italy, a record he shares with former Roma tactician Carlo Mazzone. Though we aren’t convinced this is an enviable achievement either.
So what now for the team? EDF is back in charge and he has a run of opponents (as discussed last week) that will shape the future of the club. Bologna is the next adversary in a direct relegation encounter.
The newly re-appointed coach will be without Simone Zaza and Domenico Berardi for disciplinary reasons. Berardi will be a huge loss and it must be said that his time under Malesani was light years away from that four goal salvo against AC Milan in one of di Francesco’s final matches before his sacking.
The young forward has been dropped for the Italy Under 21 squad due to the ‘Code of Ethics’ and is jeopardising his outside chances of making it to the World Cup in Brazil.
A reaction is now expected of the Juventus owned striker though the Neroverdi will have to wait three games before they can see it.
Di Francesco has 11 games to save his side from an immediate return to Serie B and his time away can be seen in contrasting ways. Some may think that he has been spared a month of facing some of Italy’s top teams and can come in and prepare for matches against sides that are under the same pressure as his Sassuolo.
Or, it could be seen more negatively as the coach missed a month’s worth of working with the new players, now having to re-introduce his methods and strategies at the most critical point of the year. And the club is no better off points-wise since he was sacked.
Here at Club Focus we would have happily left di Francesco to complete the whole of the season as reward, if nothing else, for some of the joyful moments his team has given us in Serie A so far. Let’s hope there are a few more smiles for us before the season is over.
Forza Sasol!
