The pole position in the Serie A points table stands at Milan side. The Rossoneri have impressed with Stefano Pioli directing from the dugout and Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading on the pitch, but it is the progress made by Sassuolo that has taken the league by surprise. They follow Milan in second place and have shown their prowess on the field.
Roberto De Zerbi’s men are making splashes in Italian top-flight football, and their trajectory is being followed. The men from Emilia have been dubbed an Atalanta 2.0 thanks to their goal-scoring prowess, but differently that Gian Piero Gasperini’s man, they seem to have less troubles in defense.
Atalanta 2.0
Sassuolo do not have the same defensive concerns as Atalanta. Alongside the Bergamaschi, the Neroverdi have hit the back of the net an impressive 18 times but have allowed 5 less goals. After seven match-days, they are one of the three teams that remain unbeaten – the other being league leaders Milan and Juventus. While the Rossoneri have been stifling at the back, Sassuolo have shown a penchant for conceding.
There might be this writer’s bias, but it is the Neroverdi who have entertained their way to a podium place. Milan looked unconvincing in their win over crosstown rivals Inter and had dismal showings in victories against Crotone and Bologna. Their win over Udinese was also an eyesore.
Contrastingly, Sassuolo’s triumphs have come from open games. They have claimed points after going down in games, taking their chances, and making their rivals pay. For this reason, they are dubbed Atalanta 2.0. Their playing style is vastly different from the Bergamaschi, but it is their gung-ho style of outscoring their rivals that has to lead to such comparisons.
Sassuolo Time Begins on 57 Minutes
The Emilians seem to get alive after the 57th minute – the Sassuolo minute – and have ensured that the final moments of their fixtures cannot be missed. Cagliari paid for it, Spezia were caught off-guard, Crotone were napping, while Bologna and Torino had no answer for their late onslaught. Napoli were dominant against them, but once the Sassuolo minute came, they were resigned to losing the points. Only Udinese have managed to negate their attacking threat, and it was a dour result at the Mapei Stadium.
Vlad Chirches and Gian Marco Ferrari are the first choice central defensive pairing. They do their job shielding the excellent Andrea Consigli but also add to the offensive setups. Chiriches has a goal and three assists to his name, while Ferrari has two assists. Georgios Kyriakopoulos occupies the left-flank with Jeremy Toljan occupying the opposite channel.
Teams have found a way to pierce their defenses but not to keep them at bay. Sassuolo have found the terrifying belief of coming back into fixtures that are deemed lost causes. For this, they have Francesco Caputo, Domenico Berardi, and Filip Djuricic to thank for. With Jeremie Boga only returning to the first-team fold in the last couple of weeks, their attacking output will only increase.
116 – #Sassuolo have had 116 sequences with 10+ passes, the most in #SerieA this season. Construction. pic.twitter.com/CThVregxKy
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) November 6, 2020
Roberto De Zerbi and the Self-Belief
Coach Roberto De Zerbi should also be complemented for giving the team some self-belief. Not only has he sorted out their attacking woes but transformed them into an offensive powerhouse. Their penchant for stealing results and coming back into fixtures from losing circumstances has been remarkable. Cagliari took the lead against them, and so did Bologna and Torino but to no avail. Plus, once Sassuolo have the lead, they cling on to it.
But this is not it. For De Zerbi, it all begins from the back. As shared before, 5 of their 18 goals scored have been provided by their center-backs. That vision has set free their attackers, who have been reliable to get on the scoreboard. Even when Berardi and Caputo were unavailable against Napoli, the Neroverdi still showed they could hold their own. Boga was only playing his second game but gave glimpses of his breathtaking ability.
With Berardi on direct free-kick duties, they have taken their chances with gusto and been rewarded as well. Couple this with their ability to bring long-range efforts home, and that gives the opposition defenses quite a few reasons for concern. Rivals tend to close down Sassuolo players, which opens channels when the plan is not performed to perfection. That leaves them susceptible to openings that otherwise would not be there and that is something that De Zerbi’s men can then exploit. The game against Torino epitomized this as the Granata were caught time and time again.
Sassuolo’s counter-pressing also has to be applauded. They have a remarkable faculty to steal the ball from the opposition and string their own attacks. Plus, the individual talent of their first team core, and their forward’s tenacity to put the finishing touches to opportunities makes them difficult to attack.
Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli are built in a similar fashion and they managed to create chances of their own but once the match passed the 57th minute and entered Sassuolo time, it was curtains for them.
Defensive Solutions and Top-Four Claims
De Zerbi has yet to find solutions for Sassuolo’s inability to stop opponents. They look weak on the wings, which could have caused their few downfalls. However, they have bucked that trend and kept clean sheets in their recent outings against Napoli and Udinese. But that was due to fortune and their rivals’ inability to hit the back of the net more than their capabilities. Sassuolo take on Inter and Roma in their coming fixtures, and we will be able to decipher their shortcomings properly then.
There is a case to be made against them as Sassuolo have yet to play against the top-four contenders. Napoli are the only side they have come up against who have a rightful chance in finishing in the Champions League qualifying slots. However, if there is anything to gauge from their performance at the San Paolo, it is that they need to be taken seriously.
So far, Sassuolo have given a good account of themselves. They have been opportunists in the attack, outscoring their rivals with their suspect defense. Until the end of the calendar year, they have seven more competitive outings left. In addition to the duo mentioned above, Milan and Fiorentina have the ability to cause them problems. But if they manage to tackle these, they will need to be recognized as strong contenders for the final push of the campaign.