Hellas Verona’s perfect suicide

And definitely not. It doesn’t take three steps forward now, poor Hellas takes three steps back. After the coup in Lecce the Gialloblù people believed in it: For the first time since the start of this difficult season, the side found themselves outside the quicksand of the relegation zone after emerging from the rubble Inter had transformed them into. Nice reaction, a touch of serenity on the horizon after so much gray, also because the calendar seemed to be on his side in this round of waltzes: Lecce and Spezia against Lazio and Milan, Verona at home against a Turin team that had little or little In there is nothing to say of the championship but to honor him to the utmost.

The opportunity for another jump was enticing, but the very opposite of what everyone had hoped for under the arena’s arches happened: Lecce drew at the Olimpico against a Lazio Roma who can no longer win and Spezia conceded the blow against Milan. So he was the only loser a weak Verona, subdued badly from a Bull who seemed to do anything in the second half not to close the record. Now, with three games to go, everything has to be redone, which is a huge blow to morale and the confidence of those around us.

They have also lost their patience Butei From the curve that vented their disappointment in a volley of boos and in the invitation to the stands, it always happens that way in Italian stadiums in these cases to bring out the Zebedei. And here lies the Hamlet question: does this team, so fragile it’s almost lovable, have the quality, alongside the attributes, to pull it off? Here we need to rewind the tape and go back to June a year ago. Verona has returned from three years, each more beautiful than the last, but in those days a riot began:

He goes away Tony D’AmicoMan of the field, young and dynamic sports director who, with his intuitions, has left in the company’s books a collection of capital gains, the real ones, to put it bluntly.

To replace him, President Setti put on Francesco MoroccocuMassimo Cellino’s confidant in Cagliari and Brescia, a company profile consistent with the club’s administrative wing, which we don’t think is exactly idyllic with D’Amico. And Marroccu explains punctually upon his arrival why, if hea financial situation that is caused by strong devaluations»: As if to say, “Okay, D’Amico may have done well, but he overspent.” Guys, I’m here spend ratings». Hm…LOSEdo nothing to hold it back a sports director like D’Amico The fact that he has done so much good is at least a big risk for which Setti takes responsibility.

And then the field; Igor Tudor, who has done so much good by continuing the path taken by Ivan Juric, wastes no time, thanks, greets and flies to Marseille. For the bench, Setti and Marroccu are counting on Gabriele Cioffi, who has returned from a good season at Udinese, replacing Luca Gotti. A young and aspiring coach with great will to do so. It’s a shame that In Cioffi they disassembled a car that was perfect, leaving him lightning fast without the three tenors of the attacking department, Barak, Simeone and Caprari, resulting from 40 goals in three last seasons. And the fact that it is difficult to close this gap is quickly confirmed by the field:

Verona stutters, collects the misery of Five points in nine days and in October, after recouping a fourth straight defeat at Salerno, Cioffi was sacked.

You choose the internal solution, the cheapest: Team to Salvatore Bocchetti, Primavera coach, former Juric player and Tudor staff on the bench. However, the good “Sasà” does not have a license, he will only be able to lead the team thanks to the one-month special permit that the association will grant him until the world comes to a standstill, then we have to find someone to support him with the certificates. Bocchetti concedes another six defeats, together with Cioffi’s there are ten. A burden under which Verona sinks.

Setti thinks about what to do during the break recalls prodigal son Sean Sogliano to Verona, his DS in the first three years of the presidency: the two had certainly not parted well, on the contrary, but the quarrels were left behind for the good of Verona. Sogliano is a confident and decidedly interventionist who hasn’t had exciting experiences elsewhere recently, has a thirst for revenge, loves the city and for Setti is the man we need to recharge our batteries and start anew.

First, Sogliano resolves the formality of the coach by using him Marco Zaffaroni (Someone who has never coached in Serie A and who, if he wasn’t doing the job, would be seen as him.) casciavite of the 1970s, immersed in the Milanese fog, at first light of dawn, wearing a coat and scarf, boarding the tram to go to the factory in Sesto San Giovanni). Face and license they put on him. Then Sogliano moves pawns in the market: the jewel comes out Ilic goes to Turin (and makes capital gains!) while arriving with no budget Ngonge, Braaf, Duda, Abildgaard and Gaich: five that don’t exactly make Verona a battleship.

Simone Verdi was supposed to leave but instead only stays because a very lucky computer hole blasts his transfer to Salernitana at the last moment of the January market. The situation is paradoxical: Verona has four coaches on the payroll (Zaffaroni, Bocchetti, Cioffi and Di Francesco, the latter relieved in the previous league but still under contract), two sporting directors but not even a center forward to chase them inside. Not a small detail.

But slowly the team finds itself and gathers courage: it rises again, falls badly against the declining Sampdoria in Genoa, but wins important direct duels, comes back and, thanks to a generous gift from Consigli, beats Sassuolo to the end and even grabs one San Paolo point against Napoli, who sew their third Scudetto on their chests. The rest is new. For better or for worse, from the bus stop to today, the unedited The pair of Zaf & Bok accumulated 25 points to get the barracks back on its feet, one has to say.

That’s the story so far defeat on Sunday against Torino in the Bentegodi, which makes things very complicated.

All that praise, just to answer the initial question: does this bizarre Verona, so fragile it’s almost lovable, really have the quality, in addition to the attributes, to pull it off? It’s true that anything can happen in football, but honestly, even considering that the honest Lecce and Spezia players threw a lot more enthusiasm onto the pitch, that doesn’t seem to be the case. And the descent would then only be the epilogue of what seems to be in the state of the art a perfect suicide planned a year ago with bad decisions. I’ll be happy if the opposite is proven.