At the request of readers, Serie A Weekly welcomes guest writer Vincenzo Sottile. Vince will be covering Sampdoria as the squad struggles to make their return to first flight and Italian Serie A football this season.

Sampdoria find themselves with another tie in a 1-1 game against Sassuolo on Sunday, their records so far has not been what would have wished for with 3 wins, 5 ties and 1 loss. It has not been what they have planned for. The club could very well be one of the best in Serie B yet are not showing it at the moment. With their only loss coming against Torino, the first place team in Serie B, winning their weekend match 3-1 away to Hellas Verona which in honesty could have gone either way. If the Doria had put their chances away when in their meeting against Torino, they would have won that particular encounter with ease but on the day Torino was the better side, now leading their league opponents by nine points instead of a mere three.

With the first nine games for Sampdoria over and with 14 points, in seventh on the table; its far from where they should be (top three and promotion is the goal). Having a strong side this season and being able to find goals from both Cristian Bertani and Nicola Pozzi, 5 goals a piece, is not enough with more required still if their defence can`t shore up the back quickly. It is the Doria`s inability to hold on to the advantage which is dreadfully lacking. Allowing their opponents a portion of the spoils most weeks, with a share of match points and five draws to their score sheet. Two draw results have been nil-nil while the remaining three have resulted in final equalizing scores by Padova, Hellas Verona and now Sassuolo.

It won’t take that much for Sampdoria to push for a top spot, but they need to be a fortress at the back and play for the entire 90 minutes putting away scoring opportunities late in their matches which could help cancel out these annoying draw results and lose of points sending them further down the table and away from the season finale promotion to Serie A.

Sampdoria Scoring Leaders

Cristian Bertani - 5 goals
Nicola Pozzi - 5 goals
Massimo Maccarone - 1 goal
Federico Piovaccari - 1 goal
Angelo Palombo - 1 goal
Massimo Volta - 1 goal
Pasuale Foggia - 1 goal
Andrea Costa - 1 goal

A total 16 goals in the 9 games played so far, so they can score goals. It’s scoring them at the right times is what the club needs.

Nicola Pozzi has put himself as a leader on this team after being a sub last season, this season he has came out to shine and has been able to show that he can be a starting 11 forward.

Overall, Sampdoira have to get their act together and well, push themselves to do better and win games if they want to take the ride back to Serie A. They need to win games right now, so lets see how next weekend game goes against Ascoli.

Ascoli is 16th in the table and has been having a hard time in their first 9 games with only 2 wins, 3 ties and 4 loss.