Blessin’s impact at Genoa cannot be disguised, but wins must follow soon

Genoa needed someone to steady the ship. By mid-January, the Rossoblù seemed to be disappearing beneath the waves of the Ligurian Riviera, having collected more managers than wins through the first 22 games of this Serie A season. Davide Ballardini was fired in November with the team in 17th in the table. In two months under Andriy Shevchenko, they sunk a further two places.

Alexander Blessin arrived promising “high velocity” football, “made of pressing and mentality”. Supporters did not know what to expect. The newspapers promised a disciple of Ralf Rangnick – one who had coached youth teams at RB Leipzig for eight years before taking his first step into management in Belgium with KV Oostende.

His impact has been more akin to a deity. Specifically, Neptune: ancient Rome’s god of the seas. Blessin has not so much steadied the ship as stilled the waters completely. Under his leadership, Genoa have played seven and drawn seven. Five of those matches ended goalless. The other two finished 1-1.

Put your old cliches about defensive Italian football to one side. Serie A averages 2.9 goals per game this season – second only to the Bundesliga among Europe’s top five leagues. Last season, it was 3.04. The domestic models for success in 2022 are provided by Gian Piero Gasperini – daring his Atalanta players to engage in one-on-one duels all over the pitch – and Roberto Mancini, who made Italy European champions by encouraging his team to have fun.

Blessin might even share some of their values. Ahead of Sunday’s game at Atalanta he acknowledged Gasperini’s approach and said it would be up to his players to “make the one-on-ones ours all the way to the 95th minute”. Both managers prefer a high tempo and a higher press, as well as