Game over: championship over. Too bad just now we were having fun. Against Bologna it was Genoa’s best of the season. A perfect machine for intensity, ideas, automatisms and ability to cover the field. Gilardino, making his debut in Serie A, went beyond all the rosiest expectations on the eve. His Genoa knows how to be a team and it is in an extremely cohesive group that the qualities of individuals can be enhanced, especially those of those like Gudmundsson and Vitinha who are an excellent technical level.
The 49 points, one more than Gasperini’s Genoa in their first year in the top flight, they are not just a symbolic and auspicious goal. They are the starting point for repeating that team’s exploits but with a different ending: continuity to the project and not just ephemeral glory. But we need to know how to wait, we need to have the patience to see this team and its ambitions grow over time. The club and Gilardino were extremely clear in setting the objective. The watchword is stability, we need to consolidate ourselves in the middle of the table and then move up the rankings step by step.
Now the fans’ attention is inevitably focused on the strategies that will be developed for the signing campaign. Genoa has the market blocked for one more session and therefore as much comes in as much can go out. For this reason, all the diplomatic skill of general director Ricciardella will be needed to ensure that Vitinha plays for Genoa again next year. But he was able to create an extremely collaborative relationship with the managers of Olympique Marseille and this gives hope for a positive solution. Moreover, the Portuguese striker, by kissing his shirt after the goal, made it clear that he wants to stay at Genoa. The embrace of his teammates and the entire bench was a demonstration of how much affection he was able to gain. He, paid 30 million just a year earlier, had not batted an eyelid at the transfer to a club that had just arrived from Serie B. He had understood that Genoa could be the right destination to relaunch after a complicated season also due to the mother’s illness. Retegui, who should also be his competitor for the center forward role, came from the bench and was among the first to embrace. Furthermore, having different and in some respects compatible technical characteristics, in the Genoa of the future they could pair up especially if Gudmundsson, as unfortunately seems probable, were to be sold. Martinez, who is liked by some important European clubs, and who has reached a valuation of almost 30 million, is also at risk of leaving. Two valuable pieces that American ownership will have to be good at replacing, giving rise to that famous virtuous circle that must be the basis of the policy of a club which, if it wants to generate new capital gains, must know how to invest.
If some clubs linked to the 777s, especially Standard Liège and Vasco da Gama, are going through a delicate momentiGenoa can instead count on careful management and the ability to enhance talents. And within two years it can truly achieve that self-sustainability which is the first point in the American property program. Speaking of 777, Melbourne Victory’s mocking defeat against CC Mariners in the final of the Australian championship should be recorded. Melbourne led 1-0 in the 97th minute only to collapse in extra time.
“Kilos and centimeters, this is what we need to grow,” Gasperini replied after the famous 48 points to those who asked him how he intended to improve his Genoa team. In modern football the physical structure is fundamental. And so in this sense we will have to look for the successor of Strootman who, after the one at the Olimpico, had another huge crowd but this time with red and blue colours, and that of Dragusin who, as demonstrated by the too many goals conceded recently with headers, done was not replaced. There is a lot of focus on Alessandro Marcandalli, 22 years old, 1.90 meters tall and 80 kilos, who will return from his loan at Reggiana. Nesta, his coach and who should know a bit about central defenders, had important words for him. “He is an extraordinary player, destined for a great career.”
The match against Bologna, if he recorded the rejection of Bohinen (Genoa has the obligation to buy) who didn’t play even a minute, he also said that there is no need to worry about finding an alternative to Badelj. In fact, Malinowski played the role of point guard very effectively, often playing vertically but also with an excellent sense of position to protect the defense.
And now off to the market: the usual, hot summer announces itself. But this team should be touched to the bare minimum.
