Football Season Guide

Following their return to the Serie A, after a long permanence in the second and third tier of the Italian football, Hellas Verona had no real problems reaching safety for two seasons in a row. While their first campaign had been a surprising one as they even managed ending up in the top 10 of the table, though, the second one turned out to be a rather dull one, characterized uniquely by Toni’s second youth. In fact, the former Italian international scored an impressive amount of goals and, for such reason, he was confirmed at the centre of the attack despite his remarkable age, 38 years. Coach Mandorlini, the architect of their results in the past 5 years, was also confirmed at the helm of the team. At the end of the past season, a whole bunch of players had to return to their parent clubs or were let go in order to trim an otherwise wide squad. Among them, only Lopez, from Udinese, and Tachtsidis, from Genoa, had been playing with some consistence. Saviola, Sorensen or Obbadi had seldom been given a chance to prove their skills and, so, they will not be missed. In terms of investments, Viviani, who played last season for Latina, undoubtedly represents their main effort. He is expected to become the anchor in the middle of the park, be it in a 4-3-3 or a 4-3-1-2 formation. The likes of Winck and Helander should be joining confirmed Moras and Marquez, whose first season with Hellas Verona was grayish to say the least, in the heart of the defence. Romulo, Pisano, Albertazzi and Sala could be rotating at full-backs, when not advancing in the midfield. Ionita and Halfredsson should also make the midfield. Juanito could be lined up both as a forward or an attacking midfielder, depending on the system of play. Siligardi and Jankovic should be favourite in a forward 3 while Pazzini, longing for a season as a protagonist after sitting for too long on Milan’s bench, seems to be Toni’s more likely partner in a forward 2.