Serie A Preview: Sampdoria

Having found the perfect manager in Walter Mazzari and fully recovered the talent of Antonio Cassano, Sampdoria have built the ideal platform on which to build and hopefully return to something nearing their former glory.

Their need to keep check of their finances occasionally means that some difficult sacrifices have to be made such as the transfer of Christian Maggio but if this ensures that they can keep the rest of the squad together than it is well worth it. After all, that was also Sampdoria’s policy during the great days of Paolo Mantovani.

To compensate for Maggio’s departure Sampdoria have gone for the Lithuanian Marius Stankevicius who has matured after years at Brescia in the Serie B whilst Daniele Dessena is bound to flourish having finally been libered from playing for a club that is continuously struggling against relegation.

Apart from Maggio, the players who have left – Volpi and Montella in particular - did so because their age suggested that they were past their best. Neither one of the two is expected to be missed too much but a replacement for the erratic goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi, however, would have been beneficial.

Key Man: How is it possible to look beyond Antonio Cassano? He may be a head-case, his theatrics annoying and his antics frustrating but there’s no player in the Serie A who can match his ability to thrill.

Best bit of business. If there was an area where Sampdoria struggled last season, it was that of scoring goals. The Uruguayan striker Bruno Fornaroli has been brought in to solve that issue having done wonders for Nacional.

Keep an eye out for…Andrea Poli. The midfielder is just one of Sampdoria’s highly rated primavera team that won the league next season and on whom Mazzari is expected to start turning with increasing regularity this season.

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