When Thiago Motta took over at the helm of Bologna in early September after legend Sinisa Mihajlovic was relieved from his duties as the Rossoblu were win-less within the opening month of the campaign, the former Spezia coach underwent a strenuous transition.
Motta failed to win a single match within his first four opening fixtures, resulting in Bologna supporters demonstrating outrage and irritability and the former Inter central midfielder facing a great deal of skepticism within the media as his side sat in 17th towards the end of October.
Despite the untidy and cluttered start while taking the reign of the Rossoblu, Motta’s dedication and commitment has led to the full resurgence and transformation of Bologna, proving that his tactics and philosophy of play are far from a mockery.
Since being appointed as the gaffer within the dug-out, Motta has managed deviate from 3-5-2 formation and implement his favoured 4-2-3-1 tactical set-up. The Italian tactician injected creativity and vitality within the club, causing Bologna to play with a fluid and free-flow possessive style of play.
The Rossoblu’s capability to move the ball quickly and pin-point passes in between the channels through positive runs in-behind that suffocate the opposition’s back-line, as well as their swift transition when in defence to remain compact and press high in order to recuperate the ball within the central area of the pitch has made Motta’s side a daring side within the league throughout the second half of the season.
As it stands within the league, Bologna currently sit in eighth-place with 44 points, only one point shy of a spot to the conference league qualifying rounds next season as they amassed two wins, two draws and only one loss within their last five outings within the Serie A.
Since the league resumed following the Christmas holidays, Bologna have stunned many of the top-dogs within the league as they defeated both Atalanta and Inter, and have also managed to hold-off Lazio in order obtain a stalemate.
With only nine games remaining before the season reaches a conclusion, it seems far from impossible for Motta to achieve European football and bring Bologna back to their glory days.
It is safe to say that the 40 year-old Nerazzurri legend has matured since his first gig at Genoa and his short-lived era at Spezia, managing to immerse his side with a flurry of fresh and vibrant ideas, emerging himself as a promising coach.
