The prodigal son returned to save the day for Genoa in the 2013/14 season as Gian Piero Gasperini was back at the helm. The man who enjoyed the most successful recent spell in the club's history was brought in to replace Fabio Liverani after just six games of the new campaign. The extremely inexperienced Liverani managed to lose four of those making it Genoa's worst league start in thirty years. Gasperini came in and immediately put his imprint back on the club with his traditional 3-4-3 system. The results were instant and he only lost once in his first eight league games back at the helm and that defeat was against the champions, Juventus. That run of form gave Genoa the platform to comfortably achieve safety with several weeks of the season to go. Having achieved that objective, their form dipped dramatically after there had been some whispers of European qualification. That will surely be the next dream for Gasperini and the ambitious hierarchy at the club. The stand-out performers came at either end of the pitch. It's hard to imagine where Il Grifone would be without the goals of Alberto Gilardino. The evergreen striker continues to rack up impressive tallies wherever he goes. Whilst Mattia Perin established himself as another potential successor to Gianluigi Buffon at international level with some impressive displays between the sticks for his club. Those are just two players who illustrate an exciting mix of youth and experience at the Marassi. Having just about staved off relegation in the past couple of seasons, mid-table mediocrity was welcome in this campaign. The club will need to invest further if they want to continue their upward trajectory.
