Three teams with more room for improvement

Genoa, Napoli and Sampdoria all had satisfactory campaigns in season 2007/08.

Genoa and Napoli came from the doldrums of the lower division, raring to leave their mark in the top flight and avoiding an instant return to the Serie B. Both succeeded to achieve their goals and they did it in style too.

These two teams, both former Italy champions, were never involved in the battle against relegation. Their position was so safe in the standings, that there were moments when both teams were even in the hunt for a place in Europe.

Napoli went on to finish in a creditable eighth place. They qualified for the Intertoto Cup and eventually found their way in the UEFA Cup via the summer cup competition. Genoa finished 10th in the final league standings and were only two points behind Napoli.

Sampdoria, on their count, improved their overall tally by a remarkable 11 points over the previous year and finished sixth.

These three teams, now, have one common objective for the forthcoming season... continue with the upward trend and, possibly, achieve something better.

Surely, there's more room for improvement.

This summer, Sampdoria acted fast and made striker Antonio Cassano's move from Real Madrid permanent. Ex-Livorno and Reggina coach Walter Mazzarri is still at the helm. At first, his stay was in jeopardy, due to contrasting views with the club's directors over the transfer policy.

UEFA Cup hopefuls Sampdoria did part company with a few players, the likes of veteran Vincenzo Montella, Christian Zenoni and Luigi Sala, but the most prized assets are still there, ensuring continuity and quality.

The loss of key midfielders Christian Maggio (Napoli) and Sergio Volpi (Bologna) will be alleviated with the arrivals of Daniele Dessena (Parma) and Marius Stankevicius (Brescia).

Sampdoria look to have all cards in place for another outstanding term though doubts persist on their lack of strength-in-depth to survive the double challenge of the UEFA Cup and the Serie A, with the latter competition expected to be their primary focus.

Ambitious Genoa were very active in the transfer market this summer.

Milan prised Marco Borriello away from Genoa and coach Gianpiero Gasperini will also have to do without central defenders Cesare Bovo and Gaetano De Rosa. Abdoulay Konko, Alessandro Lucarelli and Cesar Leon also left in search of pastures new.

In compensation, Genoa have made some significant signings with the arrivals of Francesco Modesto (Reggina), Andrea Gasbarroni (Parma), Giuseppe Biava (Palermo), Raffaele Palladino (Juventus), Giandomenico Mesto (Udinese) and Matteo Ferrari (Roma).

Genoa are still looking to find an adequate replacement for Borriello, with Rolando Bianchi, of Manchester City, widely tipped to plug in the huge gap left with the departure of the Italy forward.

With so many changes in their squad, Genoa could go through an initial bumpy period of transition, at least until the new signings find their feet and the new-look formation will start functioning as a unit.

Napoli have been somewhat more tactful than the others on the transfer market.

The southerners have kept hold of their best players, Marek Hamsik and Ezequiel Lavezzi, and in addition coach Edy Reja can count on the services of the versatile Maggio (ex-Sampdoria) and Argentine striker German Denis (ex-Independiente).

Napoli can keep up with the momentum of last season and possibly reach higher levels but only if they keep their enthusiasm under control and show the same kind of determined play they showed last season, particularly in home matches.