Palermo play Udinese at home tomorrow in a direct clash between two sides currently struggling to keep their heads above water in the Serie A standings.
Although it looks somewhat premature to talk of a potential relegation six-pointer at such an early stage of the campaign, it is safe to say that if these two teams do not up their game significantly they could both face the drop come next May.
From the first nine matches in the league, Palermo only managed six points after a 1-0 away win at Atalanta and three identical 1-1 draws (all away) at Inter, Crotone and Sampdoria.
The Sicilians are second from bottom, level on points with Empoli and five ahead of lowly Crotone.
Like Pescara and Crotone, Palermo are still to record their first home win this term after four defeats in succession – against Sassuolo (0-1), Napoli (0-3), Juventus (0-1) and Torino (1-4).
Such a negative trend at their own backyard needs to be reversed, starting from their match against Udinese who are also languishing at the bottom half of the table on the ten-point mark.
A stuttering start to the season forced the Udinese bosses to sack coach Beppe Iachini after seven matches with Luigi Delneri, a former Palermo coach back in 2005, coming in to fill his void.
Udinese were good enough to beat Milan away on match-day three. However, away from their Friuli Stadium, the northeasterners were outclassed by Roma (0-4), Sassuolo (0-1) and Juventus (1-2).
In their 1,000th Serie A fixture – against Torino on match-day eight – Palermo scored their first home goal of the season thanks to Bulgaria midfielder Ivaylo Chochev.
However, that was of no avail as Palermo were once again all over the place on Sunday, going down 4-1 to title contenders Roma at the Olympic Stadium.
To date, with 16 goals against, Palermo have the third-worst defensive record in the top flight. Only Crotone (20) and Cagliari (19) have conceded more goals.
De Zerbi’s options
Roberto de Zerbi’s 3-4-2-1 playing module is proving to be too attack-minded for a side with a porous defence. The Palermo boss also lacks a quality holding midfielder, capable of offering much needed protection to the back three.
Palermo had started the season under the charge of Davide Ballardini but he stepped down from his post after two matches.
The media attributed Ballardini’s resignation to the club’s inability to bring the necessary reinforcements during the summer transfer window.
Ballardini was the mastermind behind Palermo’s great escape last season as they looked heading straight back to Serie B after a turbulent year in which they went through several coaching changes.
However, Palermo went on to win 11 points from their last five games to avoid relegation on the final day of the campaign.
De Zerbi’s squad is largely made up of young foreign imports, all signed at basement prices.
In past years, club supremo Maurizio Zamparini, notorious for having a short fuse when it comes to dealing with coaches, used a similar transfer policy to a great profit.
Palermo launched the career of various highly-rated players, the likes of Salvatore Sirigu, Andrea Barzagli, Edinson Cavani, Paulo Dybala, Luca Toni, Javier Pastore and Andrea Belotti.
These players contributed to Palermo’s success on the field before being sold to the highest bidders, bringing in huge profits to the club... and Zamparini.
Although the policy remains the same with Zamparini all the time searching for new talent, one has to admit that in the last couple of years the quality of his new signings left much to be desired.
This is the main reason why Palermo have struggled so badly lately. And the fact that Zamparini hires and fires coaches at random continues to destabilise the squad in no small way.
Palermo are still in time to make up for their poor start to the season though.
And, if Zamparini is true to his words and succeeds in attracting a wealthy strategic partner from China, the Sicilians will have better chances of avoiding a bottom-three finish at the end of the season.