A season after a very successful return to Serie A, Palermo have virtually re-constructed a squad based around youth, promise and ultimately the future. The question is, has the right balance been lost?
Working for Maurizio Zamparini, the Palermo supremo, is no easy task. A man notoriously known for wielding the ax when it comes to coaches or anyone in the front office who opposes him. However, over the course of the last two seasons dating back to the early weeks of Serie B, the ‘Henchman’ has seemingly calmed himself down. Enter Giuseppe Iachini, the man who replaced Gennaro Gattuso in Serie B is now by far the longest tenured coach at Palermo during the Zamparini era, and has without a doubt brought the Stadio Renzo Barbera back to it’s feet.
Last season Palermo surged to a near top 10 finish, directly behind AC Milan in 11th place. With 53 goals scored and 55 conceded, for a newly promoted side, la Rosanero did very well for themselves during the course of the 38 week long campaign. A lot has changed however with Palermo during this recent off-season, but Iachini is still firmly in charge… for now.
Summer Transfers – Who’s in, who’s out
It’s a brand new Palermo, in short. An attack which no longer features Paulo Dybala and Andrea Belotti, who left the club, now holds young promising players like Brazilian Matheus Cassini, Serbian Uros Djurdjevic and Macedonian Aleksander Trajkovski. The three new signings have never played in a top European league, and Serie A is not an easy place for young strikers to get comfortable. In fact, the average age of the entire strike-force is only 21.
In the midfield, it’s a slew of newcomers such as Sweden’s U-21 captain Oscar Hiljemark, Libyan midfielder Ahmed Benali and Uruguyan Gaston Brugman. The loss of captain Edgar Barreto is severe, one of the more experienced players has departed and leave Iachini without the luxury of having a player as well suited for his style of play as the Paraguayan. On the flanks, Eros Pisano has made way for Strunz and Rispoli. Further losses include Morgan Morganella and Emerson.
In the back, Edoardo Goldaniga transferred in from Juventus for a fee of €2 million. Abdelhamid El Kaoutari joins from Ligue 1 side Montpellier, completing the defense. Claudio Terzi left the club and Milan Milanovic is expected to play no part in this season’s campaign with the Rosanero.
Lastly, the goalkeeping situation has been resolved with Stefano Sorrentino staying and being given the captain’s armband. Stefano Colombi joined on loan to be his deputy.
In the closing days of the transfer window, it is likely Alberto Gilardino and Joel Campbell will be signed, Laazar to be sold, and a wildcard situation as to whether Juventus pick up Franco Vazquez or not.
Looking ahead to 2015-16
The overarching theme to this new Palermo is promise and hope. This side is better organized than the flop that the Sicilians threw together the season they were relegated, but there is a distinct lake of balance in the side, especially in attack. With the rumors circling that Franco Vazquez could also leave, the club may lose both of it’s stars that helped it maintain Serie A status. With an average age of 24.66 as a whole, Palermo barely have collectively more experience than a national U-21 side, which make of it what you will, can go either way down the course of the season.
The problem with Palermo is there is no between, there are a slew of young players like Trajkovski, Cassini, Goldaniga who can have breakout seasons and excel in Serie A, pushing Palermo’s “new generation” to the fringes of European football. Or, there’s the chance of a horrible miscalculation of talent that leaves the Rosanero having to panic buy like in the winter of 2013, which ultimately sealed their fate for Serie B. The players like Robin Quaison or Oscar Hiljemark give tremendous potential to the midfield.
The unknown hovering over Palermo can be constructive, however, as now many teams particularly in the opening weeks of the season will not be able to accurately assess the Sicilian side. The sentiment of this Palermo side is that this is the team for the future, which for any historically midtable side means potential big profits in the future transfer windows.
Palermo are going into Serie A with a very successful pre-season campaign under their belts. Iachini frequently rotated between 3-5-2 and a 4-3-2-1, with both working reasonably well against lesser opposition.
Key Player to Watch: Robin Quaison
There’s a lot of talk around the Swedish U-21 Champion, as in that this season will be where he bursts onto the scene. Having already scored in Palermo’s first official game in the Coppa Italia against Avellino, the sky seems to be the limit for the Stockholm native.
He made 19 appearances in his first season with Palermo last year, with 6 of those coming in the last 6 games of the season. Without Dybala in front of him nor Barreto to take up space in the midfield, the sky is the limit for Quaison, nobody is standing in his way at the start of the new campaign.
It will be feast or famine, live or die, excel or fail for this new Palermo. The lessons learned from a few seasons ago may help them not repeat the same mistakes. Even without Dybala, this team can still turn heads, and if the end game for this project doesn’t involve this season, Zamparini may have just set himself up for the big payday a few years from now.
Predicted Finish in Serie A: 13th place
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