The Blucerchiati have struggled to score goals on a consistent basis this season but they have a young striker from the Czech Republic who is capable of changing a game in a short space of time
Throughout the 2016-17 season, numerous youngsters have emerged in Serie A and while most teams have nurtured Italian talent through the ranks, Sampdoria are one of the few who instead have found some impressive foreign starlets.
Lucas Torreira from Uruguay and Karol Linetty from Poland have been revelations in midfield while in attack Czech striker Patrik Schick is starting to emerge despite a quiet start with the Blucerchiati.
Standing at 187 centimetres tall, Schick is a slender striker who also possesses great mobility and agility for someone of his height. Samp acquired the 21-year-old from Czech giants Sparta Prague for €4 million after he impressed on loan with Bohemians 1905 and he also has an impressive record with the Czech Republic youth teams.
At Under-17 level, he scored seven goals in 11 international appearances, he found the back of the net another seven times in 15 caps for the Under-19 side, and he scored 10 times in just nine matches for the Under-21s. He has also collected three caps for the senior side and scored on debut.
After failing to score in his first six competitive appearances for the club, he has finally started to find his feet in Italian football with Sampdoria coach Marco Giampaolo using him as an impact player off the bench.
Schick’s first goal in Italian football was the Blucerchiati’s consolation goal in the 4-1 defeat to Juventus in round 10 of Serie A, which also happened to be the first of just four league starts. Surprisingly he didn’t play in the next two matches and then he had limited playing time in the following two league fixtures.
After a draw with Crotone in round 14, the Czech youngster scored a remarkable five goals in just four games across all competitions. He scored two goals in Il Doria’s 3-0 victory in the Coppa Italia against Cagliari while he found the back of the net in the following three Serie A games, including the sealer against Torino when he came on in stoppage time for Luis Muriel.
When the league action returned in January, the Czech starlet started three matches in a row but he failed to score, and as a result, he was relegated to the bench for the Roma game on Sunday.
Sampdoria had not won in Serie A for six rounds but against the Giallorossi they pulled off one of the surprises of the season by defeating them 3-2 and the 21-year-old was one of the protagonists responsible for the turnaround.
With his team trailing 2-1 in the second half, Giampaolo substituted attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes with Schick in the 69th minute. Two minutes later the Samp super-sub scored the equaliser after controlling a high ball on his chest and then striking the ball with his right foot towards the left side of the net.
Muriel then scored the winner in the 73rd minute with a free-kick but Schick was the one who drew the foul. After Roma took a corner, Schick collected the ball from near the left corner and made a direct run towards the opposition goal but he was halted after running more than three-quarters of the pitch.
He now has seven goals in 19 matches in all competitions, but he has played just 735 minutes of football so he has practically scored those goals in a period that almost equates to eight games.
On the weekend Schick once again showed his ability by turning the game against Roma around in the space of four minutes, and if Sampdoria struggle against AC Milan on Sunday, at least Giampaolo can depend on his Czech prodigy whenever he needs to play his trump card.
