Five Serie A Teams That Seem to Be Out for Sorts | OneFootball

A few Serie A sides have had underwhelming starts relative to expectations and have yet to find the right scheme and XI to make things click. There have been no quick hooks regarding coaches. The second international break could offer the right opportunity for some changes. Daniele De Rossi looms large over a few floundering bosses after rescinding his contract with Roma and giving up a ton of money, Corriere dello Sport informs.

Fiorentina

The Viola have arguably been the most disappointing club for now. They’ll be hoping their recent win in the Conference League, their lone one so far, will get them going. They haven’t lost any star for a change and hired a super-established coach. However, their play has been lackluster to say the least. Moise Kean has yet to score after doing so in spades last year. More worryingly, they haven’t created the right mix between their newcomers and their previous players in two positions.

Stefano Pioli has been undecided about deploying two pure center-forwards, one ‘trequartista’ and two strikers, or two no.10s, with the midfield being consequently impacted. A foray into a formation based upon a four-man line was short-lived because the closest thing they have to a winger, Tariq Lamptey, suffered an ACL tear in his first start. They had a strong summer, signing a few proven Serie A contributors. They should have been able to hit the ground running. Instead, their additions might be ill-fitting and duplicative with the pieces they already had.

Lazio

Perhaps they fell backwards into the tactical adjustment they sorely needed in the Genoa game. They were forced to switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 because of a slew of absences in the midfield, and they nabbed their most convincing win. It should have happened organically and more frequently in previous matches. Boulaye Dia has mastered playing in the hole last year, and he’s simply more talented than most of their midfielders. Their focus and intensity were on point, which hadn’t always been the case. The return of Maurizio Sarri hasn’t instilled the wave of enthusiasm the brass hoped it would generate. They have been as inconsistent and plagued by blunders as last season so far. It feels like they are still recovering from the gut punch of not being able to do anything in the transfer market.

Torino

The Granata have been the most confused and confounding Serie A outfit from a tactical standpoint. They grabbed some quality players, but apparently didn’t worry enough about how they would go together and the big picture. They started with 4-2-3-1, pivoted toward 4-3-3 because they weren’t sturdy enough, and then again toward 3-4-2-1 after a romp. Ardian Ismajli got hurt, so they might go backwards, as they don’t have other defenders close to his level behind him. The upset win over Roma should have been the spark that ignited a run; instead, they quickly crashed back to earth. Marco Baroni hasn’t been exactly brilliant and could pay the price for somebody else’s sins. They are reportedly the main destination for De Rossi. Plus, they still have Paolo Vanoli, who was probably ousted too hastily, under contract.

Genoa

They retained Patrick Vieira, lost just two linchpins, Koni De Winter and Andrea Pinamonti, and seemingly replaced them adequately, and onboarded a host of enticing offensive weapons during the summer. However, they have been disappointing to say the least on that end, producing only in desperate situations where they turn up the tempo. Perhaps they should have doubled down on their strengths and their coach’s philosophy rather than searching for pizzazz only. They are bafflingly still searching for their maiden win and are way too low on the Serie A standings considering the quality of their squad, its apparent improvements, and their excellent performances near the end of the previous campaign. A good result will probably be enough for a turnaround, but they haven’t found it yet.

Lecce

Handing the keys to Eusebio Di Francesco was a big gamble. He’s somehow Teflon as he survived two entire seasons that resulted in relegations and still got decent jobs afterward. They have avoided the usual arc of his teams, which generally start strong and progressively fade, limping to the finish line. He inherited a squad that has more experience and has had continuity compared to Frosinone and Venezia, but their start has been only so-so. They have had a tough schedule, but there are only slight hints of a possible crescendo.

Perhaps the manager has trusted a little too much the eye of Pantaleo Corvino for finding unheralded talents, fielding them over players who had already proven their worth, hoping they would emerge as technical leaders right away, which hasn’t occurred. They have also frozen out some veterans who would come in handy in the cutthroat race to avoid relegation in Serie A. For now, the transfer market has taken a big toll. They need to identify multiple reference points to build around rather than constantly tweaking their lineup.