They have won more Italian league titles than AS Roma, Lazio and Napoli combined. Historically, they were the first winners of the Italian championship back in 1898. Genoa Cricket and Football Club was also the first Italian football team to play an international match. Their last Serie A league title came in 1924. It’s been more than 2 decades since they won any silverware – they were Serie B champions in 1988/89. It’s no wonder then, their current form is making many sit up and watch.
Genoa are currently occupying a spot in the top 5 of the Serie A, somewhere they have not explored since the 2008/09 season. The man in charge, Gian Piero Gasperini is more Manuel Pellegrini than Jose Mourinho. He had a spell at the club previously for 4 seasons and was the man who guided them to promotion from Serie B in his first season as boss. He managed a 10th place finish in his first Serie A season, doing even better in his sophomore year by ensuring the Rossoblu qualified for European competition by finishing 5th. However the following year, Genoa ended up in 9th and a less than impressive start to the 2010/11 season saw Gasperini gone even before the winter break.
3 seasons and 6 managers later, Genoa have returned to the man who has managed them the best.
In the years that followed his departure, they have failed to finish in the top 10 – there were consecutive 17th spot finishes followed by last season’s 14th place. With only 13 matches into the season, Gasperini has guided the side to the dizzying heights of 4th place, ahead of AC Milan, Inter Milan, Lazio and last season’s surprise package Fiorentina.
It’s a testament to their run of form at the moment – 8 matches without a loss and only 2 defeats so far. They are also one of 2 teams who have not lost away from home to-date. The other team is their opponent this weekend, AC Milan. It isn’t strange to see them topping the table because they are the most attacking side away from home, among the top 5. Their home record however can be improved – they have scored the least number of goals out of all the top 10 teams.
Genoa are also, only 3 matches away from the winter break. Is it still considered early days for Il Vecchio Balordo to be celebrating their run of luck?
Experience, in the form of ex Roma and Inter Milan’s Nicolas Burdisso, AC Milan’s Luca Antonini as well as Fiorentina loanee Facundo Roncaglia has helped them at the back. So has the loan of former AC Milan and Juventus striker Alessandro Matri. The 30 year old is enjoying a mini revival of his career at the Luigi Ferraris with 6 goals and 4 assists, a reminder of what he was capable of, back at Cagliari.
Then there’s their man between the posts, Mattia Perin. He’s had to make 45 saves in total, rating second best in the league and much higher than Inter Milan’s Samir Handanovic, Roma’s Morgan De Sanctis and Juventus’ Gianluigi Buffon. He also ranks higher than all of them in terms of blocks and interceptions. And that perhaps is the underlying reason behind Genoa’s success this season. He has already earned 1 international cap for Italy and this product of the Genoa youth system is only 22 years old.
Still, Genoa have struggled and stumbled against mid-table teams. They dropped points against Hellas Verona, Empoli, Cagliari and Palermo. But they beat Lazio and Juventus. Napoli and cross-town rivals Sampdoria proved too much at the Luigi Ferraris and are still the only games they have failed to overcome. Their next 3 matches will prove crucial beginning with the match against Milan at home. Then, they host second place Roma before a trip to the Stadio Olimpico against Torino beckons. If they can collect points against these 3 teams, then perhaps the naysayers would think twice about dismissing them from just being lucky so far. And maybe a repeat of their feat some 6 years ago would seem realistic.
If not, they will just have to be content with a finish in the top 10. Even then, it is certainly an over-achievement on their part having failed to break into that half in the last few seasons. Plus, Genoa are not pre-occupied by travails in Europe like Juve, Roma, Napoli, Torino, Inter and Fiorentina. And if there’s one man who can help them do that, it has got to be Gasperini. After all, he’s done it before. Lightning just might strike twice in this case.
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