Chasing the Big Leagues – Sassuolo (Serie B)

Tales from Tier Two is a series on Just Football in partnership with @tiertwofooty, in which we assess the promotion chances of the clubs in tier two of Europe’s major leagues at the midway point of 2011/12. First we assessed France’s Ligue 2 and Germany’s Bundesliga II. Then Italy’s Serie B league leaders Torino. Now for 2nd place in Serie B and the contenders:

Sassuolo

U.S. Sassuolo Calcio moved into 2nd place after last weekend’s 1-0 win at lowly Nocerina coupled with Hellas Verona going down 3-2 at Pescara. Just 1 defeat since the 24th September has seen the Emilia-Romagna based club slowly climb the table and firmly announce themselves as a serious contender for promotion.

Founded in 1922, Sassuolo had up until 2008 played all their football in the Italian lower leagues when then manager Massimiliano Allegri masterminded promotion to Serie B for the first time before leaving to coach Cagliari. The Green & Blacks (colours that originated from English club Lancaster Rovers who donated Sassuolo’s first ever kit) achieved highly respectable finishes of 7th and 4th in their opening 2 seasons before ending last season in a disappointing 15th place.

Ground grading means Sassuolo cannot play their home matches in the town’s Stadio Enzo Ricci and have to travel the 12 miles North East to Modena’s Stadio Alberto Braglia, making manager Fulvio Pea’s achievements even more remarkable. Pea, a 44 year old former assistant coach at CSKA Sofia, Napoli & Ancona, joined Sassuolo in the summer following 2 years as coach of the Inter Milan Primavera, and quickly set to work on improving the small squad at his disposal.

Pea has used the loan market to full effect, bringing in Karim Laribi from Palermo along with Genoa duo Issac Cofie and Richmond Boakye, the latter forming an exciting partnership with Gianluca Sansone resulting in 18 goals so far. Sansone was recruited from Siena in the summer. Also joining in the summer and contributing at the back are Emanuele Terranova and Lorenzo Laverone who arrived from Palermo and Reggina respectively. In early January Sassuolo splashed out a record fee to bring in Simone Missiroli from promotion rivals Reggina. The attacking midfielder hit 7 goals from 20 games in the 1st half of the season for Reginna & Pea would be more than happy with a similar return for Sassuolo.

Sassuolo look to have a well balanced team & the addition of Missiroli could prove to be a real shot in the arm, however their inability to beat the teams at the top could have a damaging effect at the end of May. At the halfway point of Serie B Sassuolo have yet to beat anyone else in the top 6. That will need addressing in time for the visit of Hellas Verona at the end of January.

Position: 2nd

Points clear of chasing pack: 1

Last the pace or tire in the race? A place in the playoffs beckons.

Predicted Final Position: 5th

Key Man: Gianluca Sansone, 12 goals from 18 games including 6 in the last 4 games. Sassuolo need Sansone to keep firing the goals.

The Contenders

Teams placed 3-6 will meet in the playoffs to determine who gets the coveted place in next season’s Serie A. Currently in those positions are Pescara, Hellas Verona, Padova & Reggina with a host of clubs battling to stake a claim, none more high profile than Sampdoria who despite drawing half of their 22 games so far are only 3 points from Reggina.

Padova and Reggina finished in the play off positions last season (as did Varese who are nestled in the chasing pack). Padova reached the final before losing to Novara and hope to go one step further this season, the loan signing of proven Serie B goal scorer Daniele Cacia from Leece a clear indication of their ambitions to return to the top level of Italian football. Reggina have most to fear from the chasing pack, the Amaranto are in the midst of a dour run of form and have also lost key performer Simone Missiroli to rivals Sassuolo.

Pescara’s free flowing attacking brand of football under Zdenek Zeman seems to be paying dividends, a potent 27 goal strikeforce of Juventus loanee Ciro Immobile and former Grosseto man Marco Sansovini for the league’s leading scorers makes them many people’s favourites for promotion.

A fine run of form from Hellas Verona of 8 wins & 2 draws saw the Gialloblu climb into 2nd spot but a 1-3 reverse at Pescara last time out means Hellas sit in a very respectable 4th place following promotion from the Lega Pro last season after a fiery playoff win over Salernitana. It has been 10 years since Hellas last graced Serie A but Andrea Mandorlini has his 2nd promotion in 2 seasons firmly in his sights.

Like Sampdoria, Bari have been hugely inconsistent since their relegation from Serie A. If they can find the formula to rectify a record of only 2 wins in 10 matches at their San Nicola home then the Galletti won’t be far away come May.

Another team promoted from Lega Pro last season were Juve Stabia who also started the season with point’s handicap for financial reasons. Spurred on by the deductions they have enjoyed a fine season so far after losing 4 of their 5 opening games, finally securing their first maximum points in a thrilling 3-2 win over Pescara. In striker Marco Sau , borrowed from Cagliari, they have an in form goal scorer. Sau has hit 12 goals in 16 games this season and clearly caught the eye of manager Piero Braglia last season when he hit 20 in 30 games on loan at Lega Pro rivals Foggia.

Up next: Spain’s Segunda Division. Follow the excellent @tiertwofooty on Twitter. You can also keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us @JustFootball

Hellas Verona, Italian Serie A, Italian Serie B, Italy, Padova, Pescara, Reggina, Sampdoria, Sassuolo, Tier Two Football