The 2015/2016 season was a pivotal moment in the career of Marco Giampaolo, who relaunched himself in Serie A at the helm of Empoli. The tenth-place finish, with 46 points, celebrated the talent of the man who was later dubbed Maestro, coming off an anonymous season in C at Cremonese. At the Castellani, Giampaolo took over Maurizio Sarri’s legacy in 2015.
Thirty points in the first leg celebrated the effectiveness of Giampaolo’s soccer, which varied Sarri’s thinking by veering to the 4-3-1-2 that became Empoli’s trademark. In the return leg, 16 points were enough for a quiet salvation. In the squad, at the starting tapes among the least equipped in the league, the indispensables were Mario Rui (the most used of an ideal defense composed of Laurini and the Costa-Tonelli duo in front of Barba), top scorer Massimo Maccarone (13 goals) often paired with Pucciarelli (6). In midfield, Giampaolo was good at nurturing the talents of Zielinski and Paredes, then 21 years old, who scored 5 and 2 goals, respectively. Offensive raids characterized the midfield where, with the direction of Buchel and Croce, the talent of Riccardo Saponara, in that year at one of the best seasons in his career, emerged.
The first victory was in the 4th game (Udinese-Empoli 1-2) and in the 7th (Empoli-Sassuolo 1-0) the three points finally arrived at home. Crucial was the positive series from the 13th to the 17th: in 5 games, Empoli won 13 points, racking up four wins in a row after the derby draw in Florence. With two days left in the first half of the season, Empoli was 8th. In February 2016, four draws were haymakers before a black March of only defeats. In Primavera, Empoli put up the decisive points toward salvation, breaking their fast of victories by beating Fiorentina 2-0 in the 32nd (Pucciarelli-Zielinski) and Verona (1-0, Maccarone) in the 34th.
The article Giampaolo at Empoli: rebirth in 2015/2016 comes from Calcio Lecce.
