Ever since acquiring Genoa in 2003, President Preziosi has been renowned for his extravagant transfer campaigns and for sacking coaches at the speed of light. This season was no exception.
A lot was expected from coach Maran, who had done wonders at the helm of Chievo Verona, but his experience at Genoa did not last long. In fact, the omens seemed to be quite good as they debuted in the campaign with a 4-1 home win over neo-promoted Crotone. That one would be the sole success obtained by former Cagliari and Chievo coach, though.
Between weeks 2 and 13, Genoa lost 8 times and drew 4, in particular collecting a harsh 0-6 beating at the hands of Napoli. Truthfully, Maran had to deal with a squad depleted by a heavy Covid outbreak but performances were far from impressive and so the coach was eventually let go.
With his usual unpredictability, Preziosi hired Ballardini for the 4th time in the last 10 years and the latter did the job of saving Genoa with some ease. In fact, he immediately opted for a 3-5-2 formation instead of the 4-4-2 adopted by his predecessor, thus strengthening an otherwise leaky defence.
Genoa won the derby against Spezia in Ballardini’s debut, losing only once between weeks 14 and 23, with thanks to Strootman’s precious contribution in the midfield since his arrival in January. Then, they ran out of steam and Destro, whose goals had been fundamental that far, stopped scoring. Therefore, while they never seemed to be risking a fall again, they became rather inconsistent, winning only 4 more times and alternating positive and negative results. However, they always picked up the 3 points when it was needed.
While Strootman and Destro were the ones who stood out in the season, Scamacca and Shomudorov, both capable of 8 goals each despite some inconsistency, and 37-year-old Pandev also proved fundamental for Genoa's survival.
The confirmation of Ballardini at the helm would definitely represent a wise move by Preziosi for Genoa's future.
