Sampdoria Genoa is in deep crisis and is slipping further and further into Serie B. Now it will be decided whether the traditional club can stop the crash.
Sampdoria Genoa has only collected seven points after twelve matchdays and has slipped to the bottom of Serie B.
The situation is serious. The former top club seems disoriented, both sportingly and structurally. The deep fall has been announced for years – now it seems to be becoming a reality.
The past season was already marked by chaos. Sampdoria slipped into the bottom of the table early on, changed coaches, invested a lot and still made little progress. In the end, the club remained in the league only because of a penalty against Brescia.
Brescia had been demoted by the association due to financial irregularities and therefore lost the place before Sampdoria. Only then was Sampdoria even allowed to enter the relegation – and managed to stay up with difficulty.
High effort without effect
In the summer, the club management invested again. 8.68 million euros – a high amount for the second division. But the rebuilt squad never found stability. Tuttosport already judged at the end of the transfer phase that the team was “weaker than the one that would have been relegated in May”.
When investor Joseph Tey announced that Sampdoria would “play in Serie A again by 2028 at the latest,” this was met with sharp criticism. For Tuttosport it sounded like a promise without foundation, many supporters felt similarly. But the curve holds to its club. Over 20,000 season tickets prove a loyalty that is extraordinary in this situation.
Last hope: Gregucci
The renewed false start at the beginning of the season led to the next dismissal. Massimo Donati was released in October after the defeat against Virtus Entella.
For Sampdoria, it was already the sixth coaching change in the past two seasons. There was hardly any continuity. Now Angelo Gregucci is supposed to turn things around. The 61-year-old is considered a pragmatist. One who can restore order when a team is insecure.
Gregucci relies on defensive stability and simple processes. He is supported by Salvatore Foti, a long-time assistant to José Mourinho, as well as ex-striker Nicola Pozzi, who acts as a link. At his presentation, Gregucci explained that every day must be treated like a final. The task is enormous for the bottom of Serie B.
The team shows weaknesses in the game structure, loses important duels and seems mentally battered. The January transfer market could help, but here too Tuttosport warns: The problems are “bigger than what a winter window could solve.”
The golden years of Sampdoria
A look into the past makes the crash even clearer. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Sampdoria was a top European club. The era of Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini shaped the club.
Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini form Sampdoria
In 1991 Sampdoria became Italian champion. In addition, there were four cup victories and the triumph in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990. In 1992, the club was in the final of the European Champions Cup and lost to Barcelona only in extra time. Ruud Gullit, Clarence Seedorf or Jürgen Klinsmann played in Genoa at the time and made Sampdoria known throughout Europe.
Today the club is fighting for survival. A club that once shone in Europe is on the brink of the abyss. The coming weeks will decide whether Gregucci will initiate the urgently needed turnaround – or whether a once great traditional club will fall even deeper into insignificance.
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