Genoa return to league action carrying the weight of a difficult opening, but with the club still determined to build around Daniele De Rossi rather than abandon the project at the first setback. Sunday’s meeting with a resurgent Fiorentina offers a chance to turn a season that has begun with four defeats in five rounds, and no victory yet, towards a more stable course.
Key takeaways
- Genoa have lost four of their first five Serie A matches and are still waiting for a first win.
- The club have renewed their confidence in De Rossi and are preparing to appoint a new sporting director.
- Francois Modesto is the leading candidate to replace Diego Lopez, who is leaving Genoa early for the Championship.
- Sow, Meichtry and Colombo have all suffered injuries during the extended international break period.
- Genoa’s attack, level with Bologna’s as the least productive in the division, will again look to Osmajic and potentially Vitinha.
- The Rossoblu have not collected three league points in a match since the middle of April.
A club backing its coach through the early strain
The break has not been kind to Genoa’s resources. Sow is the latest player to be sidelined, following Meichtry, while Colombo stopped during the Rossoblu’s friendly in Romania. Even so, De Rossi received encouraging signs from the players available to him, at a moment when injuries and results have made the work more complicated.
Genoa’s board remain behind their coach despite the poor start. That backing is expected to be underlined shortly by the arrival of a new sporting director, with Modesto favoured for the role. He would take over from Lopez, whose time in Genoa is ending ahead of schedule before a move to the Championship.
The planned appointment is another indication that the club want a stronger structure around De Rossi, rather than treating the first five rounds as a verdict on his tenure. The immediate task, however, is much more straightforward: Genoa need a league win, and they need goals.
Fiorentina test the response in Genoa
Fiorentina arrive in a far healthier moment, and Genoa will need to find greater force in the final third against a side gathering momentum. Their scoring record has been particularly damaging so far, with only Bologna matching their lack of attacking output in Serie A.
De Rossi is considering bringing Vitinha back into the starting line-up. The forward has not started a league fixture since 30 August, and his possible return would be part of an attempt to give the side fresh energy around the penalty area. Osmajic remains central to those hopes: the Montenegro international is Genoa’s leading scorer with two goals.
There could also be changes behind the forwards. De Rossi has used the break to work on a four-man defence, although Ostigard and Vasquez were unavailable during that period. In midfield, Amorim will be absent, while Traoré could come in from the outset after showing that he had regained full match rhythm in the positive friendly against Rapid.
The likely picture is of a more physical, hard-running Genoa, designed to meet Fiorentina’s solidity and make the match less comfortable than the standings suggest. For De Rossi and his players, the afternoon is not simply about easing a poor run. It is about restoring the feeling that Genoa can still shape this championship rather than be carried along by its early difficulties.
