Boyhood Parma Calcio supporter Alessio Rinaldi walked through the staff entrance at Stadio Ennio Tardini feeling on top of the world, fresh from being appointed the Emilia-Romagna club’s new manager. However, he was quickly brought back down to earth with a bump.
Rinaldi was immediately handed a challenging issue as two of the club’s real-life non-EU signings, centre backs Abdoulaye Ndiaye and Mariano Troilo, were unable to be registered. That resulted in them being left out of the pre-match training squad and becoming unhappy within two days of Rinaldi taking the job. He was therefore forced to send both out on loan for the season. The lack of finances available meant the new manager couldn’t really go out and buy new defenders, so he had to start retraining two holding midfielders to play deeper.
Rinaldi also had to focus on the players he did have available, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. He toyed with the idea of a proper Italian-style 3-4-3 but, given the aforementioned lack of centre backs, that wasn’t really viable. So instead, he came up with a fairly cautious 4-3-3 with Christian Ordóñez and Mandela Keita holding behind playmaker Adrián Bernabé, which converted into more of a 4-5-1 out of possession. The approach also required 6ft 3in striker Mateo Pellegrino, who was very much a target man every day of the week, to fill in as an inside forward.
Rinaldi Gets Started In Parma
Rinaldi’s Football Manager career began with an Italian Cup game at Pescara, and they cruised to a 4-0 win. Cutrone’s strike saw off Catanzaro in the next round. But they’ll likely struggle in a future trip to Fiorentina in round three.
Rinaldi didn’t have a nice introduction to managing in Serie A as Parma faced an opening-day trip to AS Roma. The hosts scored after 90 seconds, with VAR deciding to award the goal, and, despite Parma missing a couple of decent chances in the first half, that was all they needed for a 1-0 win.
Rinaldi’s first match in the dugout at the famous Stadio Ennio Tardini saw a visit from Torino. This time, they started better as Berrnabé whipped in a corner for Pellegrino to head in unmarked in the middle of the six-yard box. Nothing else happened until right back Enrico Delprato’s delicious cross found Pellegrino at the back post to power in his second header. And the attacker wrapped up a first league win as Bernabé’s pass found him on the penalty spot, he spun his marker and curled the ball into the bottom corner.
Next up, they visited rivals Cremonese, who had old man Jamie Vardy starting up front. And Bernabé was at it again, whipping in a free kick for Patrick Cutrone to head the opener on 11 minutes, before his free kick was half cleared for Ordóñez to rifle in his first career goal from 20 yards. Cremonese got one back, but Parma held on for Rinaldi’s first away league win.
A first draw followed as left back Emanuele Valeri nicked a point at home to Sassuolo, before arguabl their best performance yet at home to a strong Como side. Pellegrino scored an early header from right back Mathias Fjørtoft Løvik’s cross before Como scored a superb free kick. But Cutrone converted from winger Gateano Oristanio’s throughball and Pellegrino raced through to add a late third.
Late goals saw Parma cancel out Fiorentina for a solid point in Florence. Then an excellent goal got Parma going at home to Udinese, as Pellegrino’s superb header found Bernabé at the back post, and he curled past the keeper. And a solid defensive effort saw them hold on for a 1-0 win.
However, their biggest test so far came in a trip to AC Milan at the end of October. Cutrone missed a huge chance clean through after six minutes, and he was punished as Pulisic converted Leao’s cross and vice versa from a corner breakdown. Rinaldi read the riot act and got the required response as Pellegrino nodded in Oristanio’s cross, then Cutrone hit the post with an effort that was ruled offside anyway. And despite that rally, they slipped to a 2-1 defeat that gave Rinaldi plenty of optimism.
Parma looked to bounce back at home to Bologna. A quiet first half was instantly forgettable, but great play by Delprato put Cutrone in on goal, and he was fouled for a penalty that Pellegrino smashed home. But Bologna (who qualified for Europe last season) nicked a point with a penalty of their own on 74 minutes. Cutrone and centre back Lautaro Valenti earned a solid 2-0 win at struggling Genoa inspired by Zion Suzuki’s seven saves. They then fell behind undeservedly at home to Cagliari, but a strong halftime team talk saw Bernabé and Pellegrino score twice in six minutes to turn the game around, before the former sent the latter in to double his tally and Delprato’s low cross was smashed in by Pellegrino for his second hat trick of the season!
Another tough away day followed and, despite getting absolutely battered at Juve, Parma held firm. The referee tried to intervene with a very soft second yellow for Valeri, but Rinaldi rang the defensive changes and they held out for a huge point.
Nearly a third of the way into the season, Parma had only lost twice – at Roma and Milan – and sat in an impressive 4th place on 22 points – and, most importantly, 15 points clear of the relegation zone. While Pellegrino, playing in a completely unnatural left wing position, was the second-top scorer in Serie A with 10 goals in 12 games, only behind Moise Kean’s 11.
But could Rinaldi maintain that strong start? He was now fairly confident they would avoid relegation but, with their fairly threadbare squad and lack of finances, was also pretty sure they would drop into mid-table by the end of the campaign.
We’ll be back with more from our debut season in FM26 and a bit more of an introduction to Parma’s key players early next week!
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