Serie A: Sassuolo vs Genoa! A sudden coaching change—has Genoa decided to make a bold move?

Our first topic today isSerie A: Sassuolo vs Genoa!

Fans of Genoa might be a bit shocked,because on the afternoon of October 31st, Genoa’s management had firmly decided that Vieira would complete the final game.

But why, early the next morning, did they suddenly reverse their decision and decide to dismiss Vieira right away?

Many fans feel puzzled and ask, what is really happening here?

However, Sassuolo’s coach Grosso probably understands the situation and might even be worried, because Genoa might have made the right choice.

Genoa’s management might believe Vieira doesn’t know how to play against Sassuolo.

Why do we say that?

Because during training, Vieira still insists on using his failed 4-2-3-1 single striker system.

This raises two issues:

First, Genoa’s style is not suited to a single striker but rather to two strikers.

Most of Genoa’s successful recent coaches have used two-striker formations, such as Vieira’s predecessor Gilardino with a 3-5-2, and even the legendary Gasperini who also used 3-5-2.

Some clubs have a DNA like this; for example, it’s very hard for Manchester United to switch to a three-center-back system.

The last Genoa coach to use a 4-2-3-1 single striker was Brescian in 2022, and he failed miserably in Serie B—scoring goals was extremely difficult! He was dismissed in less than half a year.

Vieira’s current use of 4-2-3-1 with a single striker also results in severe scoring difficulties,with Genoa averaging only 0.44 goals per game, the lowest in the top five European leagues!Continuing this way is clearly unacceptable!

Second, history shows that Sassuolo struggles against the 3-5-2 formation.

This season, Sassuolo has lost four Serie A matches, and their last three defeats came against teams using 3-5-2. The most recent loss was to Roma, whose coach is the former Genoa legend Gasperini.

Meanwhile, Genoa has remained unbeaten in their last four matches against Sassuolo, all while employing the 3-5-2 formation.

Vieira does not use 3-5-2 and lacks experience against Sassuolo.

But Genoa has coaches who do know 3-5-2 well, such as the current co-coaches Murgita and Criscito.

Both of them are homegrown Genoa talents.

Moreover, Murgita has been an assistant coach at Genoa for over a decade and knows the club’s successes and failures deeply, while Criscito served many years as Genoa’s first-team captain and has played in a 3-5-2 system himself.

You see, in their first training session after taking charge, they immediately used a two-striker formation.

The players, returning to a familiar system and leaving behind the painful Vieira era, felt renewed joy in training and showed high enthusiasm.

Genoa should never have feared their opponents,because some obvious weaknesses of Genoa are hard for Sassuolo to exploit.

For example, the direct cause of Genoa’s recent losses has been conceding many aerial balls.

In the last match against Cremonese, they conceded two goals from corners.

In the previous game against Torino, they conceded one goal from a corner and another from an own goal caused by an aerial cross—defending in the air has been shockingly poor.

However, Sassuolo’s aerial attacking ability is also very weak.

How weak?

Genoa’s aerial duels rank second worst in Serie A, and Sassuolo is third worst—truly a clash of underdogs.

Therefore, Sassuolo rarely relies on aerial attacks; this season, they have only had 13 headed attempts, the second fewest in Serie A, scoring just one goal by header—both low in number and efficiency. It will be difficult for them to exploit Genoa’s aerial defensive weakness.

Actually, Sassuolo’s strength lies more in defense, especially since their coach is the renowned “great left-back” Grosso.

They perform well on counterattacks, but their proactive offense remains somewhat weak.

Facing a Genoa side that has suddenly changed coach and formation, do they really have the firepower to attack strongly?

So, although Sassuolo is surprisingly 11th and mid-table, is it really that easy to face a Genoa team with a new coach and formation?

Can Genoa satisfy their fans? What do you think? We hope they can at least avoid defeat!

Alright, for today’s other matches, I will still send my written insights tonight. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. Let’s watch and understand the game together—don’t miss it!

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