Season Review

Serie A 2016-17: 15th place, 41 points.

Coppa Italia: Round of 16 against Inter.

The second season in the top flight after promotion has just finished and Bologna was never really in danger of going down. Last year, Bologna exceeded expectations and performed really well. It is a well known fact that the second season is always a difficult one, and it is therefor my opinion that this season can be seen as a good one, despite finishing with fewer points than last season. However, 15th place is not good enough for a club of our ambitions, but we will hopefully learn from our mistakes and improve going forward into next season.

The positives:

The 2016-17 season was not the most interesting or fun season for Bologna fans. The attacking play did never really engage the fans, and as the club never was in danger of going down the supporters did not get too emotionally affected. However, there were a few positives to take from this season.

Dzemaili: The Swiss midfielder was maybe Bologna’s best signing of the season. He finished with the second most goals in the club despite leaving when safety was secured at the beginning of May. Unfortunately, he has now left for Montreal Impact, but he is expected to be replaced with a similiar player. Anyway, Dzemaili was one on our best players.

Nagy: The young Hungarian joined up with the squad last summer and has transitioned well. It is not easy for a young player to move abroad and play in a totally different culture, but Nagy has coped well.  Slick on the ball with a good passing range, as well as an ability to drive forward with the ball at feet, and I think we can expect him to take further steps going into next season.

The negatives:

The attack:

Many were concerned about our attackt going into the season, but few would have anticipated how bad it would truly be. Main man Destro went long periods without goals, and our wide men did not really contribute with a lot of goals. This has to change going into next season, and it is known that Bigon is looking for reinforcements in attack.

The last 15 minutes of a lot of games:

The attack was dissapointing, and so was our defence. This was specifically the case in many games going into the last 15 minutes. Time and time again did we find ourselves concede a goal late on in games. This cost us a lot of points over the course of the season, and this is something which has to be worked on during the summer.

Notable numbers:

Matti Destro, 11 goals & 9 assists.

Simone Verdi, 6 goals & 17 assists.

Ladislav Krejci, 1 goal & 12 assists.

Federico Di Francesco, 4 goals & 3 assists.

#rossoblù