Nothing but disappointment filled Sampdoria’s 2015-16 campaign as they were eliminated humiliatingly early from Europe and they then narrowly avoided relegation from Serie A.
Prior to the season commencing, the Blucerchiati had acquired experienced players such as Mattia Cassani, Niklas Moisander, and Edgar Barreto on free transfers but once the season started, the squad failed to develop a style of play with Walter Zenga as coach and then under his replacement Vincenzo Montella.
After experiencing such an anti-climactic season, Massimo Ferrero has changed his approach in his third year as Samp president. He has hired former Empoli tactician Marco Giampaolo to coach the side and there will be an emphasis on youth in 2016-17.
In order to construct a team that would fit into Giampaolo’s philosophy, Ferrero and sporting director Carlo Osti have had to offload some players. Moisander, Joaquin Correa, Roberto Soriano and Fernando were sold and they have been replaced by youngsters as well as a couple of veterans.
The 20-year-old duo of Patrik Schick and Lucas Torreira have arrived from Sparta Prague and Pescara respectively, 21-year-old Polish midfielder Karol Linetty has joined from Lech Poznan and 22-year-old Bruno Fernandes has joined on loan from Udinese.
Croatian striker Ante Budimir, who played a vital part in Crotone’s promotion from Serie B, joins the attack while Serbian attacking midfielder Filip Djuricic arrives on loan from Portuguese giants Benfica.
To assist with the development of these youngsters, the Doriani have acquired some players with decent Serie A experience. Centre-back Leandro Castan has arrived on loan from Roma and playmaker Luca Cigarini was bought from Atalanta.
There are already some emerging youngsters at Sampdoria such as midfielder David Ivan and defenders Pedro Pereira and Milan Skriniar so Giampaolo has plenty of young talent to develop while goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano and striker Fabio Quagliarella provide some added experience on the pitch.
So far in pre-season Giampaolo has already placed his hallmark on the team by inserting his players into the 4-3-1-2 formation and encouraging them to play a short-passing possession game.
Starlets Linetty and Torreira have quickly become starters in midfield while Schick is taking turns in the trequartista role with Ricky Alvarez.
A player who could really benefit from Giampaolo’s attacking philosophy is Luis Muriel. The Colombian striker had a promising start to the 2015-16 campaign scoring four goals in nine Serie A games but he could only score two more in the next 23.
Muriel scored in pre-season friendlies against Chievo, which Sampdoria won 2-0, and Barcelona, which the Blucerchiati lost 3-2 in Spain. He also netted a brace in the Doriani’s 3-0 victory against Bassano Virtus in the Coppa Italia.
Sampdoria open the 2016-17 Serie A campaign with an away trip to Empoli, with Giampaolo facing his old club on his league debut as Blucerchiati coach. If he can make Il Doria play well in the early stages of this season, the fans could once again witness Ferrero jubilantly dancing in the stands.
Calcio fans could witness the emergence of some young talent while other players could get their careers back on track this season with the Doriani. This 2016-17 season could be a season of redemption for Sampdoria.
