Palermo currently sit rock bottom of Serie A with a single win from 16 games this season and on Sunday lost their 9th consecutive game, this time to Chievo who from the relative safety of mid table had their own cause for celebration.Ĭhievo's veteran striker and captain, Sergio Pellissier, scored his side's second and his personal 100th Serie A goal in a 2-0 win a fantastic achievement for a man who has dedicated the vast percentage of his career to a single club. During that time Zamparini has hired and fired eight managers Davide Ballardini, Fabio Viviani, Giovanni Tedesco, Giovanni Bosi, Giuseppe Iachini, Walter Novellino, Davide Ballardini (again), Roberto De Zerbi and now current incumbent Eugenio Corini. Since January 2016 until now, Palermo have registered just 6 wins in Serie A beating Hellas Verona twice, Udinese, Frosinone, Sampdoria and Atalanta. To say that club owner Maurizio Zamparini likes to change his manager is something of an understatement but when your team have officially had more managers than wins in the space of a calendar year, there is genuine cause for concern. You have to feel sorry for Palermo supporters who, having watched their side miraculously survive relegation by a single point last season, surely couldn't have thought things would get much worse. Palermo look doomed as Chievo legend nets his 100th Serie A goal. One has to wonder though, with 32 goals scored already, just where Napoli would be had Milik not sustained his injury or even if Gabbiadini had taken his gilt edged opportunity rather than wilt under a combination of pressure and low confidence.
They have merely suffered what all clubs do at some point or other in a league campaign, they have had a blip. In the end, Napoli have not suffered from the lack of a striker. Lorenzo Insigne has slowly returned to something near his best with four goals as he went into the weekend fixtures looking to score in a fourth consecutive Serie A match.Įven the centre backs have contributed with Kalidou Koulibaly, Nikola Maksimovic and Vlad Chiriches all netting one apiece, showing just how much Napoli's players have managed to spread the weight of responsibility of not having a focal point to their attack. Marek Hamsik has weighed in with five goals while summer signing Piotr Zielinski has hit the goal trail with two strikes in as many weeks against Inter and Cagliari. The ever present Jose Callejon leads the way with seven of those goals, followed closely by cult hero Dries Mertens on six, but it is the spread of goals across the entire Napoli squad which is most impressive, especially when taking into account Sarri's extensive rotation thus far. A look at the League table however shows that, despite too many draws hindering their campaign thus far, Napoli are four goals better off than the same stage last season and have scored just 3 goals less than league leaders Juventus 35 to 32, and let's not forget that Napoli actually drew level on goals scored prior to the bianconeri's 3-1 win over Torino.
The loss of Gonzalo Higuain and Arkaduisz Milik, to Juventus and severe injury respectively, were constantly cast up when Napoli suffered from poor form or had a bad result. In what was the biggest scoreline in Serie A so far this season, Napoli trounced struggling Cagliari 5-0 in Sardinia as their recent upturn in form continued Dries Mertens once again showing his worth with a sensational hat trick.Īfter a dismal November, which seen the partenopei draw four of their five fixtures in all competition and register just a single victory, Napoli have now smashed eight goals past their domestic opponents and conceded none as well as secure Champions League progression as group B winners all without a recognised striker. Napoli's striker woes have been blown way out of proportion.