Catania and the Argentine Sicilians

Argentina! Argentina! Argentina! In this week’s Serie A column David Swan reports on an Italian club with a very different current identity…

Of all the games to pick out from last weekend in Serie A, Catania-Cagliari might seem a strange choice. It was not a particularly fascinating game in itself, but it was interesting for the wonderful clash of philosophies that were there for all to see on the pitch. Cagliari started with 10 Italians, Catania with 10 Argentines. The former have acquired a reputation for building with Italians, the latter have not won too many fans with their insistence on going to South America to do business.

It seems fitting then that Diego Simeone became the first South American coach in the club’s history in January. The journey he has taken with his team has not always been easy – their position close to the bottom three prior to this weekend was testament to that – but he seems to now have a grasp of the direction in which he wants to take the Sicilian outfit.

He seems settled on a 4-2-3-1, having alternated between that and a 4-3-1-2. He has also solved a few selection issues – namely that of Adrián Ricchiuti. The diminutive Argentine has always had the talent, but has not really had a run in the side, primarily due to his frustratingly inconsistent displays. Even the arrival of a fellow countryman as coach did not initially improve his chances, and he spent most of his time coming off the bench as an impact substitute. But he seems to have won Simeone over, and it is only to Catania’s benefit that Ricchiuti is able to influence games on a more regular basis from the beginning.

The coach has also found a way of including Gonzalo Bergessio, a shrewd January signing, in the team alongside Maxi López. They did not seem to hit it off as a strike pairing in a 4-3-1-2, but with Bergessio in an advanced left-sided role the two are able to operate in tandem with reasonable effect. He did not start their remarkable 2-2 draw against Juventus, but his introduction at half-time played an important role in allowing the Sicilians to come back from 2-0 down.

Add in the talented Alejandro Gómez, who has had a very good first season in Italy, and Simeone has a relatively potent attacking force, though that might all change if top scorer Maxi López leaves. The club have already said they will listen to offers for him (and Matías Silvestre) in the summer, and his goals will be a big loss. The fact that central defender Silvestre is their next highest goalscorer this season (albeit with a total that is the most of any defender in Serie A so far) says it all about Catania’s goal threat.

Even Simeone himself is supposedly close to getting sacked, or leaving to take over at Atlético Madrid, depending on which press report you read. But a strong finish to the current campaign will make that unlikely.

As it is, the 2-0 victory of Cagliari has probably secured Catania a place in Serie A for another season, so now they must plan for life without arguably their two best players. They will undoubtedly return to South America to hunt for replacements – it may not please other fans who do not want to see teams sent out composed almost entirely of another nation’s players, but then again Catania’s aim is to look after the club, not produce future Italian internationals.

It has been a while since the Rossazzurri had a coach stay on for more than two seasons. But if they get the summer market right, Simeone might just be the man to build a viable long-term project. He has shown he can find solutions to short-term issues, now he has to show he can sustain it over a prolonged period of time.

Catania, Italian Serie A