Sampdoria are something of a model club in terms of their ability to survive in the top half of Serie A despite the selling of many of their more marketable playing assets. That they are able to continually renew their key playing staff year on year suggests that they have a strong culture running through their club that allows for consistency.
This only comes, especially in Serie A, when the head coach and sporting director have an understanding of the game model and player profiles to be successful on the pitch. This is something that Sampdoria have excelled in since 2016 when they appointed the Empoli coach Marco Giampaolo to take charge at the club.
To fully understand what makes the Sampdoria model work we have to break it down into two key areas. Firstly, the coach and his game model on the field; and secondly, the recruitment strategy that provides the players that match the profiles that the game model requires. Teams can be strong in one area or the other but when there is a sense of synergy between the two we see something truly interesting start to take place.
We should, however, be clear we are not talking about the makings of a superclub. Sampdoria are relatively modest in terms of budget and in terms of expectations. We have rarely seen them launch credible challenges for Champions League football in recent seasons.
What we have seen though is them occupy spaces in the middle to upper reaches of Serie A consistently. They are stubborn and dangerous opponents for even the top sides domestically, and there is a definite sense that they are one small step away from becoming regulars in European qualification.
So far this season they sit in seventh place, just three points from fourth. This is despite having sold over €50m in talent last summer. This is all part of the Sampdoria model though. They identify and recruit talent from a variety of sources before allowing that talent to develop through regular first-team minutes before selling them on to make a significant profit.
That profit is then split into sections for continued playing investment as well as improved infrastructure throughout the club. The aim is eventually for this investment in facilities to yield the homegrown players to supplement the player identification side of their squad building.
The appointment of Giampaolo appears to have been an inspired one. The 51-year-old Swiss coach is not an overnight sensation having started as a head coach at Ascoli in 2004. His name is still not widely known outside of Italy. It was when he joined Empoli in 2015 that he began to make an impression.
He continued the tradition that the Tuscan side had with the diamond in midfield and fully developed the 4-3-1-2 system that we now see at Sampdoria. Now, such has been his impact at Sampdoria, we are seeing Giampaolo linked with a series of high profile coaching roles throughout Italy.
I believe that given the impact that Giampaolo has had at Sampdoria we have to start with them before moving on to look in more depth at the recruitment at the club.
The tactical system
The game model implemented by a coach at a club is perhaps the most essential factor in on-field success. A club can survive poor recruitment over a period of time if the recruitment is strong. On the other hand, strong recruitment is all but useless when combined with a poor game model: just look at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho.
At Sampdoria, and at Empoli before that, we have seen Giampaolo stick to his favoured 4-3-1-2 shape with the midfield creating a diamond when in possession. Within this model, there is a large amount of flexibility in the attacking phase. The wide midfielders in the three move out effectively to form triangles with the fullback and the forward on that side of the field. Indeed a relatively high proportion of goals for Sampdoria comes from these combinations that lead to penetration into the penalty area and simple finishes.
Sampdoria are not just an attacking team though. They are gaining more recognition this season for their defensive performances, as the excellent David Sellini pointed out in this piece for us in October. As ever when breaking down the tactical model of a team, it is important to separate the key phases of play and look at them one at a time.
Attacking phase
The 4-3-1-2 system that Giampaolo prefers allows for a high degree of flexibility in the attacking phase. The two forwards and the most advanced midfielder can interchange positions on a regular basis in order to confuse the opposition and disrupt their marking schemes.
So far this season we have seen the evergreen Fabio Quagliarella and Gregoire Defrel pick up the most first-team minutes with 1,552 minutes and 1,161 minutes respectively. Both of these forwards are similar in terms of their playing style and preferences with neither being particularly strong when receiving the ball and holding it up. Instead, both like to drop off or drift wide in order to create opportunities for quick combinations with their teammates.
The rotations of the forwards and most advanced midfielder often create pockets of space that can be exploited by Sampdoria as they move into the final third of the field. The three deeper midfielders and the fullbacks combine to offer options to the man in possession across the width of the pitch.
In the example above, the rotations create space in behind the pressing players that were occupied by one of the forwards. As the ball is shifted back from the full-back to the left-sided midfielder he has the option to switch across to the other side. Instead, as he has been coached by Giampaolo, he has the confidence to try the line-breaking pass instead. This one pass essentially negated five opposition players and the receiving player was able to turn and attack the penalty area before squaring the ball for an easy finish.
