Football Season Guide

Only 2 seasons after waving it goodbye, Venezia are unexpectedly back to the top flight of the Italian football. Their past campaign started well as they even set their foot at the top of the table, come December. After that, though, they faced a little crisis, which ended around February, and they eventually finished 3rd. Then, they were just perfect in the playoffs as they defeated Palermo and Cremonese, conceding only 1 goal in 4 games. That is a bit surprising as Venezia had their weakness in the defence, which finished only 8th best, with 46 goals conceded, while their key strength was the attack, the best of the league with 69 goals scored. Paolo Vanoli, who led them to promotion, was eventually lured away by Torino and they chose Eusebio Di Francesco as the new coach, coming off a last-second relegation from the Serie A. So far, Venezia maintained the back-bone of the squad untouched with only a few bit-time players leaving. None of them should be missed. On the other hand, the American owners tried to inject both talent and experience to the squad. When it comes to experience, they hired 31-year-old holding midfielder Duncan, who had a good season at Fiorentina after some forgettable campaigns. When it comes to talent, attacking midfielder Oristanio arrived from Inter, after leaving a good mark at Cagliari. They are both expected to make Di Francesco’s starting eleven in the new season. Full-back/midfielder Sagrado, who joined from OH Leuven, should also become a protagonist on the right-flank. 20-year-old Raimondo may be given some relevant playing time up-front after enjoying a positive first season in Serie B with Ternana where he scored 9 goals and served 1 assist. Venezia are still a work in progress as they are currently looking for a goalkeeper, a left-back and a central midfielder. With Serie B top scorer Pohjanpalo requested by other clubs and Gytkjaer close to his sell-by date, they may very well need also another striker.