“That desire to sing until I cry, because a love war is as good as a match. If I had never lost, I wouldn’t know what the challenge is, if I didn’t have a complex, I would be a dead man walking”. In the verses of Failure of love many can be reflected. Not just Genoa to whom the verses written by Bresh they are dedicated. It may be because of the similarity of those colors that fall into the sea, it may be that they both have two warm fans, who have had two teeming stadiums throughout the season and the same goal after a similar fate between Serie B and Serie A. Cagliari And Genoa those that cannot be kept inside and which refer to a strong faith on both sides are similar, at least in the most obvious traits. A side of reality that instead changes when we talk about who sits behind them executive desks and also in bench.
Griffin
On the field it will be the challenge between two teams who have played in the past, even the most recent one important roles. But nowadays they look at the rankings differently. Cagliari wants to move further away from the hot zone, with the desire to give constancy to the positive performances away from home after the draw with Inter at San Siro. The stimuli However, Genoa are not lacking either, who want the mathematical certainty of salvation (here to read). In the background, however, in the rooms where companies are managed, distances do exist they sharpen. The only meeting point at the moment is that of stadium, with both companies determined – albeit in different ways – to want to give new life to their plant. The Griffin with a renovation of Ferraris, Cagliari with the construction of the future stadium named after Gigi Riva. With the aim of both being part of the squad for Euro2032. The similarities, for the most part, stop there. Genoa has always been a haven for innovation with its view of the sea. The arrival of the investment fund 777 Partners in September 2021 it confirmed it and represented the turning point, from an economic and aspirations point of view. It is true that the results were not automatic, with relegation to Serie B arriving shortly after, the failed marriage with the German coach Alexander Blessin, before arriving at the helm of Gilardino and returning to Serie A. The top flight led to a market made up of high-sounding names and figures between the summer and January, when the club was able to afford investments such as those for Retegui, Vitinha And Malinovsky to name just a few. A policy of the club owned by the fund, which already owns Vasco Da Gama, Standard Liège, Hertha Berlin, Red Star Paris and a share of Sevilla, quite clear and clearly different from that planned on the island. The shadows there is no shortage, as highlighted by an investigation by the Financial Times which confirmed a risk linked to liquid assets of the group, given the request of the US authorities for A-Cap, one of the fund’s partners, to return to its own exposure to risk considered too high following the attempt to acquire Everton in recent months. The sea, however, is still calm, the seabed has temporarily dispelled fears, and this allows us to put the differences between Genoa’s ownership made in the USA and that of Cagliari’s under a magnifying glass. Tommaso Giulinian expression of a way of understanding the typical ownership of football from times gone by.
Route change
If you look at the beginning, the similarities with the Ligurian Stars and Stripes presidency were initially almost mockingly present. A relegation to begin with, then substantial investments over several seasons culminating with the salvation. At least before the arrival of the dividing line created by pandemic and from one relegation to B arrived in the following year which changed direction in the way of understanding the presidency. Inaugurated with the long silence after the descent into the second half marked by the Penzo match against Venezia, then the complex start to the season and the arrival of Ranieriwith a very brief return to the public which anticipated a new period behind the scenes which ended only on the day of the return to Serie A. A path undertaken which was not interrupted in the top flight, except to talk about the issue stadium and after the defeat with the Lazio, when the door was also opened to new investors. Words that did not open up more important doubts or new developments, also due to a balance sheet with less heavy liabilities compared to previous years (here for more information) and for a situation at home Fluorid currently stable, despite the difficulties experienced due to the international situation which slows down the arrival of raw materials by sea.
On the field
However, the clash will also pit two coaches with different horizons. The one between Gilardino And Ranieri it will be the third match, a draw and a victory for Sir in the first leg of the current championship form a balance that will take a different shape on Monday 29 April. The former AC Milan and Parma striker is now in launch padin Genoa he found a way to grow first with the Primavera and then in Serie B, with a path almost in contrast with other former world champions of 2006. Ranieri, on the other hand, is closer to conclusion of a career that began in Cagliari and could end in Sardinia, whether this or next season in compliance with the contract signed upon his return to the island in the winter of ’23. A stay that would certainly meet with the company’s favor (here to read the words of the director Bonato) but which will need the mark of salvation to be certified. Regardless of what the times say, there will also be two clashes philosophies daughters of a history between the cadets and the top flight and of a market as previously mentioned that is profoundly different. On the one hand the 3-5-2 of Gilardino, which remained the preferred tactical system even with the exit of Dragusin, who before moving to Tottenham was the linchpin of the Genoa rearguard. On the other a Ranieri who had to do necessity virtuewho has shuffled the cards for a long time and who also thanks to a different mentality in recent months has been able to alternate multiple scores while maintaining a clear backbone from goal to attack.
The latest example of how the Ferraris challenge will be a competition of synonyms and antonyms, of common paths and different ways to achieve one’s objectives. Objectives that rhyme with Serie A, that championship which out of fear sometimes gives rise to complexes and which makes one savor defeat, but guardian of a power which makes one better understand the value of the challenges they face. Without ever letting go of a desire to sing for the red and blue colors, you choose which ones.
Matteo Cardia
