Cagliari 2008-09 Season Preview/Predictions

By: Jeremy | August 27th, 2008

Is is that time of year already? The season starts this weekend at home against Lazio(preview forthcoming) and there are so many reasons to be excited yet also disappointed as reality may set in real quick for Cagliari and its fans.

When we last left off, Cagliari was one of the best performing teams in Serie A. They had huge results the last half of the season that saw them go from almost certain relegation to a solid finish where results werent even needed on the last day of the season. With such a poor start, and the coaching carousel that lead from Giampaolo to Sonetti to Ballardini, its a wonder this club is now entering its 5th consecutive season in Serie A. I can still imagine the club that was Storari, Acquafresca, Jeda, Foggia etc. The foundation for UEFA Cup football.

However, much of the optimism and performance that lead to last years success is now gone. We have lost our coach, Storari the goalie, and Foggia the midfielder. We do return Acquafresca and Jeda, vital players for last years success. However, we have added no one of note and return many of the same veterans and overhyped youngsters that will cause us to fight for our relegation lives once again. Oh what might have been.

Lets look at each area of the team and see where we stand now when compared to last year.

Management
We cannot mention this team without first mentioning Chairman Massimo Cellino. He is outspoken, annoying, and unwilling to spend on players to get this club back to where it belongs which is solid mid table club with an occasional push for a UEFA Cup spot. He was supposed to sell the team and leave this summer, but as far as I can tell he is still around. He has made some early bonehead moves by not trying to keep Storari and contradicting himself over Foggias status only to let him go when he could have been purchased outright for a reasonable price.

After last years winter transfer window success, he deserves some slack, but this offseason on paper seems like one of the worst in recent memory for the club. While he is always lurking and despite not playing, his mindset has to have an effect on the squad. Overall not a positive owner for the club but most team owners have their issues so lets accept it and focus on the actual team.

Grade C-

Coach/Gaffer

If you recall Ballardini took over a coaching carousel and brought a steady foundation to the team. Whether it was the new arrivals play, his demeanor, or just dumb luck, he guided this team to safety last year when anyone with a betting slip had them relegated in February. You would think him coming back would be a no brainer, but not when Cellino is calling the shots. Whether Ballardini wanted too much money or Cellino wanted to show he was in charge, Ballardini was gone soon after the season ended. I dont know where if anywhere he is now coaching, but it is not in Serie A. While coaches shouldnt be slaves, especially those that did what he did, someone miscalculated and we will see how much of a difference he truly made. Cellinos arrogance would not let him do what was necessary to keep the coach this club had real success under which makes no sense since there has been very little stability in this position.

Now we have a new coach in former Cagliari player Massimilano Allegri. He has no Serie A experience but is considered a great young tactician similar to former coach Giampaolo. I like the fact he is a former Cagliari player and he will be passionate and he clearly is making a name for himself, but when player reinforcements are so minimal, is this really the time to bring in a new coach in place of a successful one? I think he will be the first casualty of the season and we might see Ballardini back on bench before the temperatures freeze. A disaster waiting to happen

Grade D

Goalie

Marco Storari is god. What he did to keep this club up and provide stability and leadership from his position while on loan to us from Milan last spring cannot be overstated. With goalie always being a weak spot for this team, the importance of his work should have been even more evident. Instead very little news about why he did not return was mentioned. Milan did not want him back to be their number one so I cant believe they were the problem. He didnt seem to have any offers for Serie A first team places, so he signs to backup Frey in Fiorentina? I guess he will enjoy the splinters. The whole scenario is a mystery. He should have been locked up in a deal soon after the season and if not, a big press release telling fans why he was not coming back would be in order. Instead Nothing. The clubs biggest mistake of the summer was not signing him or providing an explanation about his exit.

The response was to bring in a replacement from Serie B named Federico Marchetti. Yes hes young 25 and talented, but he is stepping into very big shoes. Lets see what he can do. He could be the surprise of the team this year, but my Storari bias keeps me from being too positive. We downgraded this summer but this grade could be higher as there is real potential with this guy.

Grade C

Defense
The weakenss in our defense is why we need a good goalie if for no other reason then for the mental part of the game. It looks like our back four will be Pisano, Agostini, Lopez, and Canini. The same group as last year. While Canini is an up and coming young player, and Pisano has some potential, Lopez is too old and Agostini the epitome of mediocrity. In Serie A you need a strong defense and this is the weakest part of our club. This was an other area we needed to bring in help and we failed. Unless Marchetti is Storari Jr, expect the back four to get extra criticism this year and we might see some new names that we were not expecting. Pray for a good transfer in the winter.

Grade D

Midfield

I like the passion of our midfielders and maybe its because they do more running and have more involvement then anyone, I have more respect and appreciation for what they do. This is still a mediocre group however that needs help or a change in tactics to get new players we already have in there. Currently it looks like our main guys will start with old veteran Conti. He is fine. Cossu has some real talent, and Fini and Parola likely will see the most of the rest of the action. This is not a Serie A midfield. I firmly belive Biondini should be in there and Jeda should be an attacking midfielder. Matri should also be looked at in midfield as well. I would prefer to see a combination of Conti, Cossu, Biondini, Matri, and Jeda in the midfield supporting Acquafresca and another striker in attack. Hopefully the coach can get the tactics right, but we still need another midfielder. We will see this year how vital Foggia was to our club. Not purchasing him for the 3.5 million option we had was the worst mistake we made after Storari and is just a reminder of what troubles this club will face this year trying to be creative and score. The football will be a lot less exciting this year without Foggia but there is some potential if the players are used correctly.

Grade C+

Strikers
The best move in the offseason was to keep Acquafresca. He is one of the up and coming stars of Italian football and needs one more year of seasoning before he rejoins Inter and shows himself on the big stage. His emergence in the second half last year was huge in Cagliaris march to survival. Considering we owned half his rights with Inter, and that many other clubs wanted him. We were lucky to make a deal with Inter to allow them to own him out right while he gets loaned back to us for this year. Atleast we will be able to say he was a Cagliari player at some point in his career.

He is going to get very frustrated this year and the articles of I dream of Inter or Torino should be appearing by November. With him still maturing, he needs a strike partner. At this point our options are Jeda, Matri, or Larrivey. Jeda is clearly the best choice as Matri simply cant finish and Larrivey must have naked pictures of Cellino with sheep to still be on this club. It might be too early to expect young striker Ragatzu to emerge, but Acquafresca needs help. Hopefully the new manager will see the importance of Acquafrescas confidence to this club. We need an attacking style which requires Jeda to play with him and Matri in there as well just so he thinks he has help. Hopefully something clicks, but Acquafresca is simply too young to expect him to carry us. He should net about 15 goals this year, but without support, he will be out of Cagliari next summer on bad terms. Still with him in the lineup, it is our strongest position on the field and having Jeda for the whole year can only help.

Grade B

Overall this club has gone from very positive to facing another clear relegation battle. We dont need studs like Acquafresca in each position to be effective and with the right moves, we wouldnt even be talking relegation, but while other clubs improved, we were stagnate. The fine line between 12th and relegation will cause this club to sweat again. We have to be happy to even be in Serie A this year and we cannot get off to worse start then we did last year, so there has to be some optimisim in Sardinia as we head into the season. Lets hope that someone emerges as we will need them to or we could be looking at a lot of 3-1 defeats this year. The emergence could come from anywhere on the field.

Here is how I see Serie A finishing this year.

1. Milan
2. Inter
3. Juve
4. Roma
5. Fiorentina
6. Lazio
7. Napoli
8. Udinese
9. Sampdoria
10. Palermo
11. Genoa
12. Atalanta
13. Torino
14. Catania
15. Bologna
16. Chievo
17. CAGLIARI
18. Reggina
19. Siena
20. Lecce.

Lets hope for another exciting season and safety is again the goal. No matter where we finish, it will be fun and if it gets anywhere near last years roller coaster ride, watch out. The passion for the club continues…..

FORZA CAGLIARI!!