How does a team that had not beaten anyone on the pitch all season – nor indeed won a Serie A match since 2013 – suddenly produce a 5-0 thrashing of Genoa?Harold Wilson believed a week was a long time in British politics. What on earth would he have made, then, of football on Italy’s Adriatic coast?Seven days ago, Pescara were in freefall – bottom of Serie A and reeling not only from consecutive thrashings by Lazio and Torino but also an arson attack on their president’s private property. Desperate to change something, anything, they fired manager Massimo Oddo, replacing him with Zdenek Zeman. On Sunday, they thrashed Genoa 5-0. Related: Italy still producing prize managerial exports from its winning...
The Delfini are suffering one of the worst seasons of any club in Serie A history, a rout at Torino coming fresh off an arson attack at their president’s houseSixty-five seconds. That was all it took for Pescara to start unravelling at Torino’s Stadio Olimpico. A pair of defenders failed to prevent Antonio Barreca sending a cross over from the left, a third was outjumped inside the box by Marco Benassi and two more lunged hopelessly after Iago Falqué as he pounced on the loose ball and drove it into the roof of the net.Within 15 minutes, Torino had trebled their lead. It was 5-0 by the 61st. Pescara’s manager, Massimo Oddo, tucked himself into a corner of the visitors’...
Inter have made slow and steady progress under Pioli and Juventus would be unwise to underestimate Serie A’s form team when they meet on SundayYou could hardly blame Stefano Pioli for rolling his eyes at the question. Can Internazionale qualify for next season’s Champions League? Fielding that inquiry – or subtle variations upon it – has become as much a part of the manager’s daily routine as brushing his teeth in the morning.The answer never really changes. Pioli is always focused on the next game, controlling what he can control. On Thursday he cited an article published in that morning’s Gazzetta dello Sport to illustrate the futility of any other approach. Related: The 50 best young footballers in Italy Related:...