By After months of excitement, the Serie A finally started again for Bologna last night.
Prior to the Spal-Game, this season felt different. Regardless of how it pans out, I am way more excited for this season. With Roberto Donadoni in charge, no evident progress was made, whilst the lack of an identity was clear. With Inzaghi and his team in charge, as well as several new players, this could be the season where progress is made.
However, the game las night did not provide optimism. In fact, it was in the same range as the worst games under Donadoni. No conviction going forward, no evident plan on how to play their way through Spal, and most of the players disappointing individually as well.
Do not get me wrong, getting rid of Donadoni was the right choice, and appointing Inzaghi should see Bologna move forward. This was just the first game of the season. Inzaghi has only got one pre-season under his belt at the club. With a new way of playing, a lot of new players into the team, as well as coping with the loss of Verdi, we as fans cannot expect everything to be perfect right away.
Nevertheless, to perform as they did last night, against an opposition such as Spal, was very surprising. Spal did not outplay Bologna, Spal did not dominate the game in any fashion. It was Bologna’s weak performance that lost them the game, not Spal’s brilliance.
I have already seen fans question Inzaghi’s choices. I was as perplexed by some of them, like that of starting Federico Santander over Diego Falcinelli when the latter has been playing the most of them during pre-season. However, we do not know the reason why Inzaghi did as he did, and there must have been a good reason for doing so.
Criticism is healthy, and the players as well as the coach should be criticized. But, people already calling the appointment of Inzaghi wrong should take a long, hard look at themselves. Appointing Inzaghi was not about tearing up the league this season, but about making steady progress over multiple seasons. This is just the beginning.
To end on a positive note, there were some positives last night. I thought Federico Mattiello and Mitchell Dijks both played well, racing up and down each flank. This was something which we lacked last season, and this bodes well for the season.
Until next time.
Photo: Bologna FC
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