I am overwhelmed by the feedback the first post got and I have decided to continue this heroic and legendary journey. I am bloody glowing. A few people have asked for a bit more background as to why I chose Genoa, so here we go. (If you are only genuinely interested in the Football side of this blog please skip ahead).

Weird and simple reasons, first being I wanted a team by the coast as I enjoy the sea, and as some of you may know Genoa is a quaint city that lies on the coast in Northern Italy. Chekhov once described Genoa as ‘The Most Beautiful City in the World’, and I’d like to think there was some truth behind that wise mans words.

The second reason being Genoa is the oldest (active) Italian football team – and has an interesting back story as to how it became the team it is today. At first, the club was set up as a Cricket & Atheltics club for Brits only. I think the true surprise here is the ability for us Brits to be dicks to every other nationality has truly stood the test of time. After a few years, the club branched into football and began to push cricket away back to middle England where it belongs, tucked away somewhere between High Wycombe and Marlow. I personally enjoy the idea of Genoa having such a long and proud history, and who knows – maybe more history can be created in the coming years.

I’m sure a lot of you Serie A fans are aware, Genoa did in fact play last weekend in the Coppa Italia where they brushed Cesena aside 2-1 (aet) thanks to a Diego Laxalt winner. But, as this is strictly a Serie A blog – I wanted to save some of my brain power for the upcoming opening against Sassuolo.

The Football

So here we go, the first game of the season… all of the emotions racing around my brain. I’m anxious, I’m excited, and I’m sweating – have I made one of the poorest decisions of my life by committing a whole season to a potential relegation candidate? Well I guess we will find out soon. My one hope for this blog is that it doesn’t just turn into a diary of shame and emotion where I empty out my heart onto the pages – but if it does I do fully expect each and every one of you to keep checking up on me – my phone number can be found in any respectable phone book.

To push on and be a top club, Genoa are going to need players to step up and be counted. One such guy that wont be counted on is Giovanni Simeone as he has moved to pastures new in the shape of Fiorentina for £15 million. This is a true shame as I had pictured him going on to do great things and leading the line for the team this year, but good luck to the young Argentine regardless. In the darkness, there can sometimes be light, and perhaps in this case the light could come in the form of two young attackers. Pietro Pellegri, who became the first player born in the year 2001 to score in Italy’s top division, and Eddy Salcedo Mora. To put this into perspective, both Pietro and Eddy were born in the same year Shrek came out… lets hope they can make the ‘Dreamwork’.

I joked and I teased about the idea of Juric playing Adel Taarabt in his classic Italian pressing game, but it looks as if Juric is giving the guy another chance. On the back of a great pre season, and dropping 10kg of tummy fat, Adel has been told that he is back in with a chance of mixing it in the first team… Could you imagine if Adel goes onto fulfill even half of his late 2000’s promise? What a player we could have here, and the fact he’s now dropped to a mere 260kg is a bonus.

The Opposition

The famous black and green kit is iconic and its origins are much closer to home then you may realise. During Lancaster Rovers’ infamous tour of 1921, the British boys couldn’t make a game so donated their kit as an apology – maybe not all British people are dicks? Just some of us.

The club has had a fairly promising rise in recent years, even gaining European qualification the season before last. Although despite this Sassuolo can struggle to fill the Mapei stadium with home games being a 30 minute drive outside the town with a population of 40,000.

As mentioned before, before this experiment I didn’t have a wide berth of knowledge about Serie A and a lot of the teams outside the top 5/6. But I do know a bit about Sassuolo, and notably their star man, Domenico Berardi. A player that seems to be forever linked away with moves to top clubs all over Europe, and at the time of writing Real Madrid, but seems to have slowed his progression in recent years. After storming onto the scene as a teenager Domenico quickly became a figurehead at Sassuolo, leading the club to their first ever Europa League qualification. Although last year, Berardi suffered knee damage, not only a personal hit, but one felt by Sassuolo for sure as they slipped to a 12th placed finish – perhaps the strain of European football took its toll.

The Game

After a long day of recovering from the night before, I was nervous. Not even for the game itself, I was nervous that I wouldn’t even be able to watch the season opener… but alas I found a way. The first half may have been the most painful experience of my life, both mentally and physically. The stream I had found in the depths of the deep web was dying every other minute and I was losing patience. A hero then came to my aide in the form of Bet 365 – legends! They seem to be streaming most top Serie A games and thankfully this saved my night, and ‘The Genoan Journey’.

The result… a 0-0 draw. The game certainly wont grab any headlines for being an entertaining affair, but for me, a point away from home is a great way to start the season and especially when before the game Sassuolo were the clear favourites by the bookies (including Bet 365). Below is how the teams lined up, and as you can see Big Adel did start and so did new signings Andrey Galabinov up top, and Luca Rossettini in central defence. Galabinov started today in the absence of new man Lapadula, but made a great first impression – testing the goalkeeper with a thunderous strike in the first half, as well as going toe to toe with Sassuolo’s defenders – this guy wasn’t messing around.

Genoa started nervously and this allowed Sassuolo to start on the front foot with most of the possession and a few early balls over the top. It was clear that Sassuolo were looking to get in behind the defenders and break with pace. At first, it looked as if it could’ve been a long evening, but as the game progressed Genoa became stronger and began to string a few passes together, as well as get stuck into their counterparts. Confidence was on the rise. I was impressed with how much drive the team had at winning the ball back and making sure Sassuolo couldn’t play their balls in behind – a key characteristic of Juric’s style of play as discussed in the first post.

Bertolacci and Veloso made a fine midfield partnership, and epitomised this aggressive style of play in the way they often broke up the oppositions game with key interceptions and tackles. In the first half, many of the attacks began from a cunning interception that took Sassuolo by surprise – it was beautiful to watch. Both midfielders had shots saved from outside the box and looked very comfortable in possession.

A common theme throughout the game was the end product simply wasn’t there. Chances came at a premium, and the best chance of the game came at around the hour mark as the ball fell to young centre half Davide Biraschi who rattled the bar from a squared pass.

Genoa grew with the game and as the final minutes were drawing to a close, Juric opted to bring on 15 year old Eddy Salcedo Mora… and what a debut this boy had. He looked quick, and he wasn’t at all shy – instantly taking over from where Galabinov left it with his bullish runs. The boy could have grabbed himself a goal if it wasn’t for another good save by Consilgi, the Sassuolo goalkeeper. On the evidence of this game alone, Mora is going to be a key man in the future.

For me, the strongest part of the team was the defence and the decision making that they showed. On the face of it, Genoa were mostly untroubled with Sassuolo’s attacks and did all the basics correctly, fouling when needed, as well as knowing when to simply pass around the back and gather momentum. Genoa dominated Sassuolo physically and between Gentinelli and Rossettini kept Berradi very quiet – it was fantastic to watch.

Short and simply, my man of the match is going to go to Adel Taarabt because he managed to make it to second half without his heart failing. Secondly, my dick of the day goes to Berardi for being fairly underwhelming despite the pre-game hype (I didn’t help this in fairness), as well as going down way too easily after being palmed slightly in the face by Biraschi – nobody likes a cuck.

Overall Genoa can be happy with how they started the season and I am excited to see how the team do against much bigger opposition… luckily (or unluckily) we wont have to wait long as Juventus are in town this weekend. Gulp. I have put down a 2-0 win to Juve as my prediction, the boys will fight hard but I’m not sure it will be enough to conquer The Old Lady.

Forza Genoa!