Giampaolo happy with transfers and training ahead of Sassuolo

Time to go again. The league break has given Marco Giampaolo and his backroom staff the opportunity to work on the issues from the Spezia game and get his footballing philosophy across to his players, a philosophy which will have to be applied against Sassuolo.

“The team have put in a lot of good work over the past two weeks,” the coach offered on the eve of Sunday’s game. “We had guys away on international duty as well as a few who were out with injuries, but most of the group were able to train as I would expect them to.”

The topic of the January window was inevitably going to be discussed.

“There were a few changes before I came back and a few more afterwards,” the coach went on to say. “We didn’t see any big departures so that’s the main thing. We’ve brought in players of the quality of [Stefano] Sensi and others that bring freshness and enthusiasm, like [Abdelhamid] Sabiri and [Vladyslav] Supriaha. The board couldn’t have done any more at this stage. There’s no point in hiding away. I’m happy with the way things are.”

Sitting 11th in the league with 29 points so far this season, Alessio Dionisi’s side have managed the feats of beating both Juventus and AC Milan away from home.

“Sassuolo are an example,” Giampaolo said. “You can tell what their football is all about and their scouting is done with their style of play very much in mind. I’m well aware of them. I’ve been keeping an eye out in recent months because I like how they work. I have a lot of time and respect for Sassuolo but we want to put points on the board.”