Sammarco’s first game in charge. But nothing has changed
Paolo Sammarco’s first game in charge went very badly. A win was essential to avoid relegation. Three more points in the standings would have kept them in the league. One point, especially against a direct rival, is nothing. But if only that were all…
Nothing has changed with the change of coach. This proves that Zanetti wasn’t the problem. He was sacked, okay. More because that’s what you do. Because when you don’t know what to do, you try changing the coach. But it didn’t help. In 94 minutes, not a single shot on goal. Orban hit the post in the first half, when the team seemed to want to fight. But Pisa also hit the post in the second half. They also had three shots on goal that troubled Montipò, who managed to save them.
If the break was supposed to serve to energize the players and launch them into battle, instead they returned to the field as apathetic and resigned as ever. The usual series of errors, passes to teammates who weren’t expecting them and were somewhere else, useless corners, a lack of ideas, no one capable of dribbling past an opponent. The only thing Verona seems capable of doing is the goalkeeper’s many long throws.
Criticizing individuals at this point is pointless. Sammarco has given nothing more, even on a psychological or, if you will, human level. Perhaps because, like Zanetti, he too is unable to turn a group of players into a team. Maybe the guys don’t understand each other. Or they don’t get along. Or they don’t want to be in Verona. Or… go figure what’s going on in the heads of those in the locker room.
The fact is that this is not working. And you don’t need to be a great football strategist or a genius to predict that if you don’t have the stamina, the desire, or the strength to beat the bottom team at home, Serie B becomes more than just a possibility.
