Maurizio Sarri certainly threw his name into the hat for Manager of the Season as he lead his unfancied Empoli side to comfortable safety in their first season back in the top flight. Not just that, he managed to do it playing an attractive brand of football with some burgeoning young talents at the heart of it. Having come up as Serie B runners-up, the Tuscans were prime candidates to go straight back down but they never truly looked in serious trouble all season. They managed to put in some bold performances against top sides and accrue more than enough points to ensure another stint in Serie A. The statistics will perhaps unfairly portray them as "draw specialists" with almost half of their games ending level but they were often entertaining affairs. The team really started to shine with the return of Riccardo Saponara on loan from Milan and the midfielder showed his endless potential as the star of the show in Sarri's 4-3-1-2 system, playing in the trequartista role just off the strikers. Massimo Maccarone remained one of those front men and he showed he still has what it takes at this level with an impressive tally of goals. Mirko Valdifiori was the heartbeat in central midfield. However, the other young superstar in the making was teenage defender Daniele Rugani, who had an outstanding debut season at this level which eventually saw him be recalled by parent club, Juventus. It may be a difficult second season in the top flight for Empoli as Sarri has now also departed to take over at a huge club in Napoli. The much travelled but rather unheralded Marco Giampaolo will be his replacement and he will certainly have a job on his hands to repeat the successes of this campaign.
