Bologna enter the international break still looking for the first victory of their Serie A season, with only two points on the board and a new voice on the touchline. The 1-1 draw against Torino offered Raffaele Palladino an immediate starting point after succeeding Domenico Tedesco, but the larger task is to give a winless side a clearer direction over the coming weeks.
The coach and the club
The pause in the calendar gives Palladino valuable time with his squad. His first days have come in the middle of a difficult opening, and Bologna will use the break to work on patterns of play and the tactical principles the new coach wants to introduce.
There have nevertheless been individual signs of encouragement. Among the Bologna players with ratings from at least three league appearances, Federico Bernardeschi has produced the strongest early return. The 1994-born wide player holds an average rating of 7.3 and opened his account against Torino, having started four of Bologna’s five matches.
Bernardeschi is already ahead of the level he reached last season, when his average stood at 6.14 across a campaign that brought four goals and two assists. His intention now is to raise that contribution further as Bologna seek to turn promising displays into results.
Reliable figures in a difficult start
Roberto Piccoli has also been central to the early selection choices. The forward has started every league match so far, scoring once in the draw with Sassuolo, and has an average rating of 6.5. He has been chosen ahead of Artem Dovbyk, whose 6.3 average came from only three rated appearances.
Dovbyk, formerly of Roma, also found the net against Sassuolo, but a muscle problem kept him out of the matches against Napoli and Torino. When fit again, he will be seeking a greater role in Palladino’s plans.
In midfield, captain Lewis Ferguson has provided a steadier presence. He has not been substituted in any of Bologna’s five matches and has avoided any negative disciplinary or statistical marks, earning an average of 6.1.
Niccolò Cambiaghi has similarly offered encouraging performances, with an average rating of 6.0. He is still waiting for his first goal involvement of the season, having recorded neither a goal nor an assist, but Bologna will hope that his work begins to produce decisive moments after the restart.
