Palermo match review

By: j | September 20th, 2008

Il Grifone travel to Palermo with both clubs riding a wave of emotion after brilliant victories last week. The Rosanero rebounded from a disappointing loss to Udinese with an astounding victory over Roma in front of their home fans that marked Davide Ballardini first match in-charge. While Mr. Ballardini is still a young coach in experience, he has exhibited a brilliant tactical mind and certainly earned his due with the genius that led my Sardinian friends from relegation last campaign. With this in-mind and in lieu of Palermo’s very solid roster I expect them to go very far this year and to be threat to win any match.

With that said and done Gian Piero Gasperini knows that to climb the table, points against Palermo is crucial and they must find a way to duplicate last March’s 3-2 victory. That will be a difficult test to repeat given the tactical approach of Mr. Ballardini is unlikely to provide easy scoring opportunities. Defensively Genoa will need to pay particular attention to veteran Fabrizio Miccoli who brought glory to the Sicilian squad with a brace against Roma who looks re-energized on the pitch. Along with the likes of Antonio Nocerino and Uruguayan international Edinson Cavani, Palermo has a wealth of firepower. If Genoa is to succeed, the work of Matteo Ferrari and Francesco Modesto is crucial, although I should note I take a classic vision of tactical play where defensive approaches dictate the oppositions attack and this will be a message I repeat throughout the year. In the advance Diego Milito won rave reviews last week to say the least as he and Andrea Gasbarroni decimated AC Milan. They will go on the attack once again and look to silence Palermo’s highly supportive fans early. Genoa is likely to use the same line-up, although there might be modest alterations to include Raffaele Palladino.

possible Genoa lineup
Rubinho,
Domenico Criscito, Matteo Ferrari, Giuseppe Biava
Giandomenico Mesto, Omar Milanetto, Ivan Jurić, Francesco Modesto
Andrea Gasbarroni/Raffaele Palladino, Diego Milito, Giuseppe Sculli/Raffaele Palladino