Having triumphed in last season’s Serie B play-offs, Spezia were thus promoted in Serie A for the first time in their more than 100-year-old history. Vincenzo Italiano, the architect of such a success, was confirmed at the helm of the team although he had a very limited experience as a coach (1 year in Serie B, 1 in Serie C and 2 in Serie D).
Living on a tight budget, Spezia had to strengthen their squad with an array of loanees from bigger clubs while, until mid-December, they had to play their home games in Cesena, 300 km away, as their own Stadium was undergoing some renovations. Quite understandably, their debut in the top flight was a traumatic one, as they lost 1-4 at home to Sassuolo.
They managed to react immediately, though, winning away at Udinese, and then proved to be a solid team until week 9. In fact, between weeks 10 and 15 they faced the worst crisis of their campaign as they picked up just 1 draw and lost 5, falling in the bottom 3.
After that, they won 4 out of 6 games and reached the peak of their season, climbing the table all the way up to the 12th place. Then, all of a sudden, they became quite inconsistent and their performances changed radically. While in the first part of the campaign they did better on the road, from week 23 onwards they became very fragile when travelling and more solid at home.
Thus, they won only 3 out of the last 16 games but collected 6 draws and never lost consecutive games again. That proved enough for reaching an unexpected survival, while they also made the Coppa Italia quarter-finals. The main reason for such a run is due to Nzola’s scoring drought. The striker, whose goals were decisive earlier on, had some problems from mid-January on and would only score again in week 37.
Beside Nzola, left-back Bastoni, who provided 7 assists, and winger Gyasi, who scored 6 and served 4 assists, also had a good season while Ricci was the mastermind in the middle of the park.
With most of the squad leaving and coach Italiano considering a move, Spezia might find it hard to remain in Serie A next season.
