La Gazzetta di Modena sports editor Stevano Aravecchia, who has been covering Sassuolo since their time in Serie C, tells us how the Neroverdi have changed since last season and gives his take on how Giuseppe Iachini should set his side up for Saturday’s clash at the Olimpico…
"It’s been a case of all change this season with Eusebio Di Francesco’s departure after five years. He was much more than just a coach to Sassuolo, who went with Cristian Bucchi to replace him. Unfortunately, the coach didn’t have a big impact on the team and there was never any spark. He tried to mix things up a bit, but his tactical tinkering didn’t lead to any great results.
"Things have gone better since Giuseppe Iachini came in at the end of November and Sassuolo come to the Olimpico off the back of three straight wins, the last of which was a prestigious away victory against Inter.
"Two of Sassuolo’s most important players from last season – Lorenzo Pellegrini and Gregoire Defrel – left to go to Roma, but they weren’t replaced with players of similar quality. Despite an underwhelming summer, the objectives at the start of the season were quite ambitious, but these have been scaled back following Sassuolo’s poor start. Now they’re just aiming to avoid relegation without too much fuss."
"When Iachini took over Sassuolo switched back to a 4-3-3 formation, which had been par for the course over Di Francesco’s five years at Mapei Stadium. In terms of the starting line-up to face Roma, Andrea Consigli will be in goal, with Pol Lirola and Federico Peluso at full-back and Edoardo Goldaniga and Francesco Acerbi in the centre of defence.
"From right to left across the midfield you’d expect to see Alfred Duncan, Francesco Magnanelli and Simone Missiroli, while Domenico Berardi and Matteo Politano will be up front either side of Diego Falcinelli, who should be preferred to Alessandro Matri following his goal in the last game against Inter."
"The one to watch among the Neroverdi ranks will be Domenico Berardi, who Di Francesco brought through and helped break out as a player. That said, Berardi is having a tricky season – he’s coming back from an injury lay-off which is preventing him from reaching peak fitness, plus he’s struggling in front of goal.
"He’s only scored one league goal this season, against Lazio at the Olimpico in October. But who knows? Perhaps we’ll see Berardi rediscover his scoring form and produce the kind of performance the Neroverdi fans were used to against his old mentor Di Francesco."
"Lots of players spring to mind, but on the basis of the last few games I’ll go with Radja Nainggolan. He puts a lot of work in but he’s got bags of quality too and he can make all the difference in a key part of the pitch. On top of that, his position is where Sassuolo have really struggled this season, at least until Iachini came in."
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