Assessing Cittadella’s 2021/22 season
On May 17, 2022 by Jake IovineIt’s been a little while since Cittadella’s loss against Cosenza, ending their 2021/22 Serie B campaign which saw them miss the playoffs for the first time in six years. Here’s a deeper look on how the season unfolded.
We were hoping Cittadella’s season would still be well alive, hoping to see them in the promotion playoffs and, for the first time in history, get promoted to Serie A.
Unfortunately, the season ended almost two weeks ago against a relegation fighting Cosenza team in Calabria. The Granata knew they had been eliminated from playoff contention a week before the game had started, so motivation was lacking in that game.
And so Edoardo Gorini’s first year as head coach finished: an 11th place finish with 52 points, claiming 13 wins, 13 draws, and 12 losses. Gorini was put into a difficult situation, given the departure of his long time professor Roberto Venturato. On the pitch Gorini had to deal with many absences like Manuel Iori and Federico Proia.
There are many reasons why the Granata missed the playoffs. But despite the disappointment, this season shouldn’t be seen as a complete failure. Here’s my thoughts.
Edoardo Gorini
Like I said, Gorini should be given a lot of credit for what he’s done this past season. Yes, it’s not where we want to be. But looking at the table, Cittadella finished just six points from 8th place, and there’s lots of games where those points could’ve been recovered.
At the start of last summer, Gorini had not the ideal set up despite him being the assistant coach for several years and knowing the club since he was a player. Going into the summer, Cittadella were coming off a crushing playoff final loss to Venezia, and were on the brink of promotion. After the final, Venturato left his post, meaning Gorini was the one to step in.
That wasn’t the only obstacle Gorini had to deal with. Manuel Iori, the former captain and leader of the team, hung his boots after the game in Venice. In addition, key midfielders such as Federico Proia and Mario Gargiulo were bought by Vicenza and Lecce, respectively. Those players were critical in the past years where Cittadella were knocking on the door of Serie A.
Gorini had to adapt, and so he did. Mirko Antonucci turned out to be a hit with him being the main playmaker of the team. As well as Enrico Baldini running the show, other key midfielders stayed with the team and helped preform, like Simone Branca and Alessio Vita.
The only thing Gorini could’ve done better was game management. Cittadella dropped more points in the closing stages of matches more than usual this year. Those points dropped were decisive in the end, because had Cittadella held on for the result, it’s likely we could’ve seen the Granata in their six straight playoff.
Bad luck
It’s easy to blame the referees for a bad call that decided the game, or injuries that are so bad you can’t field a proper team. I’m not the type of person to say that.
However, in the space of a week during late February, Cittadella lost two of their important strikers. Orji Okwonkwo, who was a regular starter, was suspended due to a positive test in drug use. The other striker bought in the summer, Mamadou Tounkara, had a season ending injury against Monza. In a matter of a week, Gorini lost two of his strikers that were supposed to be regular starters.
This proved to be costly. Since Okwonkwo and Tounkara stopped playing, it started a poor streak that made Cittadella fall out of the playoffs. It was also visible in the playing style, as from that point Cittadella took a more direct approach to the games. This meant serving the ball long to Giacomo Beretta or Camillo Tavernelli to run on, and most of the time it didn’t work.
There was nothing Cittadella could do, as they weren’t expecting such a quick change. However, this lesson can be used in this upcoming transfer market to buy more players in the attack.
An improved defense
Cittadella may not have gotten into the top half of Serie B, but they can boast about having the most clean sheets in the league.
With 16 shutouts, Cittadella’s defense has undoubtedly improved from previous years. With 36 goals conceded in 38 games, it’s actually better than some of the teams above them. The only problem for Gorini and co, is the amount of goals scored, which dipped since the absence of Okwonkwo and Tounkara.
At the start of the season, it was mainly the core starters that were still with us. Davide Adorni took the captains armband, Domenico Frare started his third year at Cittadella, and Romano Perticone stayed at the club as well.
During the winter transfer window, things started to shake up. Adorni made a surprise move to Brescia, leaving Cittadella a big hole in the back. They brought in Santiago Visentin from Crotone, and Dario Del Fabro from the Juventus U23’s. Things were expecting to look bad for Cittadella’s strong defensive start, but Visentin and Del Fabro have proved themselves as worthy center backs.
We can’t forget the keepers as well. Elhan Kastrati had his best season as a professional with 32 starts and 12 clean sheets. During those games, Kastrati made important saves that gifted Cittadella the extra points. His work was noticed by the Albanian National Team, where Kastrati spent a week in the national team camp.
Luca Maneiro stayed as the backup keeper for majority of the season, but towards the end of the season, Maniero proved to be a solid backup. Five clean sheets in 7 appearances, Maniero gives us no doubt that he can still fight for the number one position.
Looking ahead
Stefano Marchetti and the entire Cittadella board have a lot of work to due this summer. It’s a very important transfer window as reinforcements in the attack must be thought of. With the solid defense shown this year, it’s something that Cittadella can build on for the next season.
The contract situation is another hurdle that we have to keep our eyes on. Currently, there are a handful of players out of contract in June. Lots are expected to re-sign, but the loanee’s are not for certain. Orji Okwonkwo is likely to return to Bologna, while Karim Laribi may rejoin Reggina.
Regardless, we can’t get too hard on the team for the season outcome. It’s disappointing for sure, nobody’s hiding that. Given the new changes and new situations, I’d say it was a very good season, a B+ is a reasonable grade. There’s a lot of room for improvement, and we hope those weaknesses can be filled this summer.