Why Sampdoria have the worst attack in Europe’s top-five leagues and how to fix it – scout report

Just over 30 years ago, Sampdoria were one of the most menacing teams in Italian football having won the 1990/91 Serie A title before reaching the final of the old UEFA European Cup in 1992, losing out to Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona.

Players such as the late Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini graced the Stadio Luigi Ferraris during this period, coached by the legendary Vujadin Boškov. The club’s stock had never been higher.

Unfortunately, this season, the club are facing their second relegation in 11 years, and are currently one of the lowest-performing sides in Italy’s top-flight division.

In fact, right now, Sampdoria are boasting the worst attacking record in Europe’s top-five leagues and have looked desolate up front.

The days of Vialli and Mancini cooking up a storm with I Blucerchiati are long gone, and not even the shadows of these titans have been enough to guide the ball over the line on more than eight occasions.

Two different managers have been in charge this season, Marco Giampaolo and Internazionale legend Dejan Stanković. Neither have been able to rectify the side’s goalscoring woes.

In this tactical analysis piece, in the form of a team scout report, we will look at Sampdoria’s attacking tactics this season, under Stanković in particular, and perform an analysis of why the team are struggling so much in front of goal which will play a huge helping hand if the Genoa-based club are to drop down to Serie B.

Formations and a brief statistical overview

Given that Sampdoria have scored merely eight goals in Serie A throughout the 2022/23 campaign across two different managers, it’s certainly no surprise to see that the Blucerchiati are lagging behind the rest of the division in almost every metric.

The only statistic that Sampdoria are above the league’s average is with Passes allowed Per Defensive Action (PPDA), showing that Stanković’s side do press high up the pitch but their attacking metrics such as xG per 90, goals per 90 and shots per 90 are a sight to observe with winced eyes.

We will deep-dive into Sampdoria’s goalscoring woes later in this piece. But first, it is important to provide some context by taking a look at the formations that both Giampaolo and his successor have used in this campaign.