Empoli’s Impressive Start to the Serie A Campaign

When Serie A’s 20 teams took the field for the final match of the 2023/24 season, three teams were vying to stave off relegation. Empoli took an early lead vs. Roma before conceding before the break to Houssem Aouar, but they would nevertheless ensure their Serie A status in extra time as Mbaye Niang restored their advantage in the 93rd minute. This, combined with Udinese’s 1-0 win against Frosinone, meant that Frosinone was relegated at the first time of asking, whilst Udinese and Empoli escaped the drop by a razor-thin margin.

Davide Nicola continued to demonstrate why he is one of the most trustworthy ‘firefighter’ managers in Serie A after avoiding relegation with Empoli, but he decided to head for Sardinia and replace Claudio Ranieri as Cagliari manager following the Tinkerman’s retirement. Empoli brought in Roberto D’Aversa, a coach who found himself in need of a brand new start. He was sacked in March after a 1-0 home defeat to Hellas Verona which saw him come to blows with Hellas striker Thomas Henry and headbutt the French striker — Luca Gotti would step in and guide them to a 14th-place finish.

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All in all, it very much feels like last chance saloon for the 49-year-old, Stuttgart-born Italian coach. D’Aversa got his first big break at Parma, leading them to two promotions in four years before getting the sack in August 2020 — he would return five months later, mustering just one win and 17 defeats in 23 matches and failing to keep them afloat in Serie A. He received his marching orders at the end of the season but quickly bounced back after being hired as Sampdoria’s new manager and replacing Ranieri at the helm, but he was dismissed in January 2022 after accumulating just 22 points from 23 games.

D’Aversa picked up 6 wins, 10 draws and 14 defeats as Lecce manager before departing in disgraced circumstances, but so far, he’s managed to get off to an auspicious start as Empoli manager. Alongside sporting director Roberto Gemmi, President Fabrizio Corsi and his daughter Rebecca Corsi, the club went to work rebuilding an aging squad that had only just managed to eke out safety by the slimmest of margins. Niang departed for Wydad Casablanca, Empoli’s centre back pairing of Sebastian Walukiewicz and Sebastiano Luperto left for Torino and Cagliari respectively for a combined €8.5m, and their goalkeeper Elia Caprile returned to parent club Napoli.

The Azzurri Empolesi made shrewd usage of the loan market, with Mattia De Sciglio, Junior Sambia, Ola Solbakken, Saba Sazonov, Pietro Pellegri, Sebastiano Esposito, and Lorenzo Colombo arriving on short-term deals, whilst Devis Vasquez has taken the reins from Caprile in goal. Two years after moving to Nice for €13 million, Viti has returned to Empoli on loan with an obligation to buy for €6 million. Lecce goalkeeper Federico Brancolini has reunited with D’Aversa, whilst Tino Anjorin has joined from Chelsea — both of whom joining on free transfers.

They’ve signed 11 players whilst hardly spending a dime, and the decaying squad of last season has been replaced by young and hungry players who are out to prove a point and develop while out on loan. D’Aversa was suspended for Empoli’s first four matches of the campaign, with his assistant Salvatore Sullo taking charge and steering them to a promising introduction which saw them thrash lower-tier Catanzaro 4-1 in the cup and draw 0-0 to Monza.

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Empoli traveled to the capital for matchday two and faced off against Roma. Lorenzo Colombo set up Emmanuel Gyasi with the opening goal before halftime, with Empoli delivering a resilient defensive performance and getting their just rewards. Leandro Paredes would cough up possession and foul Sebastiano Esposito, handing Empoli a golden opportunity. Colombo stepped up from 12 yards and made no mistake by blazing his penalty into the roof of the net. Roma’s attacking onslaught would finally produce a goal in the 80th minute as Eldor Shomurodov headed home, but it wasn’t enough to deny Empoli a priceless away win.

Bologna would open the scoring in the second minute, but Gyasi would equalize within seconds as Empoli prevailed with a point on the road, before grinding out a goalless stalemate at home against Juventus. D’Aversa’s first league match in charge would see Anjorin tee up Colombo for the opening goal in the 33rd minute, whilst Esposito doubled the advantage after the interval in a 2-0 win at Cagliari. Empoli followed that up by ending Torino’s unbeaten start to the campaign and winning 2-1 in Piedmont courtesy of Nicolas Haas’ 90th-minute winner.

They shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw against Fiorentina and looked set for yet another improbable victory as Esposito put them in front in the ninth minute. Mattia Zaccagni would level proceedings before halftime for Lazio, who had the chance to double their advantage after the break, only for Vasquez to deny Valentin Castellanos from the spot. Castellanos would redeem himself in the 84th minute after setting up Pedro Rodriguez’s winning goal and handing Empoli their first defeat of the campaign.

Empoli have typically lined up in a 3-4-2-1/3-4-1-2, with Saba Goglichidze, Mattia Vitti and Ardian Ismajli forming a rock-solid back three, whilst captain Alberto Grassi has pulled the strings from a deep-lying midfield position alongside Faustino Anjorin. Emmanuele Gyasi and Giuseppe Pezzella have provided plenty of pace and creativity from the wingback positions, whilst Sebastiano Esposito, Lorenzo Colombo, Ola Solbakken, Liam Henderson and Jacopo Fazzini have proved a handful in the final third.

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No team has averaged less possession than Empoli this season (35.4%), and yet, they’ve proven incredibly comfortable sitting back and soaking up the pressure — only Juventus (1) have conceded fewer goals than Empoli (4) in Serie A, only Juventus (6) have more clean sheets than Empoli (4), whilst no team is completing more tackles per game than Empoli (18.7), clearances per game (30.9), or fouls per game (15.6).

Empoli haven’t finished higher than 14th in Serie A since 2015/16, when they placed 11th under Marco Giampaolo, and they have typically been viewed as a yo-yo side. However, both of those things could be set to change — Empoli are sitting pretty in the middle of the table, and they are on track to secure a fifth consecutive season in Italy’s top-flight.

Can Roberto D’Aversa finally find a long-term home and keep Empoli on an upward trajectory? Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure: after picking up three straight clean sheets in their first three home matches, Empoli’s backline will be put to the test in their next two fixtures at the Stadio Carlo Castellani as they take on Italy’s top two sides in Napoli and Inter.

By: Scot Munroe / @scot_munroe

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / NurPhoto