Team Focus: Empoli Proving A Little Paradise for Maccarone & Co.

As a teenager, Empoli striker Massimo Maccarone was a little like you and me. He got a part-time job to bring in some pocket money to make ends meet. The trouble in the summer of `94 was that the World Cup was on and he desperately wanted to watch the games. So one day Maccarone picked up a crate full of melons and threw it to the floor. “I’m not ashamed of it,” he said. “I got myself sacked just so I could see the goals.”

This was a time when Maccarone was known as the “little Vialli.” It owed much to the hair. Or distinct lack of it. And his role as a striker. He regrets not making it at Milan, whose academy he attended during a golden age for the club. “I still remember Sacchi and Capello shouting behind me in training. My teammates used to tell me that if they were shouting it meant they believed in me. I got on well with Kluivert, Sebastiano Rossi and Billy Costacurta. I was like their little brother.” But the competition was too high.

Still, Maccarone did go on to represent his country. It seems like an awful long time ago now, doesn’t it? He was prolific for Claudio Gentile’s Under-21s. Not as lethal as Alberto Gilardino but a talent all the same and a full senior debut came when Giovanni Trapattoni was short of a striker ahead of a friendly against England at Elland Road following an injury to Bobo Vieri. “I won a penalty that Vincenzo Montella, an Empoli idol, scored,” he recalls.

Of course, we in this country remember Maccarone for his time at Middlesbrough and those were the days, which frankly seem all the more remarkable now, they were shocking a continent and reaching a UEFA Cup final. Never quite to the club what Fabrizio Ravanelli had been, he scored in the semi and looks back with a certain fondness on his spell at the Riverside. “It’s nice to remember my alter egos; Alen Boksic, Mark Viduka and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Jimmy helped me get to know London by night.” One can only magine what they got up to.

At 36, Maccarone might incredibly have one last European tour in him yet. Empoli currently sit eighth in Serie A. They are a single point from the final Europa League place. Victory in Empoli’s last game before Christmas against a resurgent Bologna was their fourth in a row, their hottest ever winning streak in the top flight. What it means is that this small town of only 48,000 just 15 minutes up the motorway from Florence is the third most improved team in Serie A this season. They are eight points better off than they were a year ago.

No one expected that of them at the beginning of the season. Surviving with four games to spare was considered a miracle. Its worker, their coach and guru, Maurizio Sarri, left for pastures new. Goalkeeper Luigi Sepe went back to Napoli and on to rivals Fiorentina. Star defender Daniele Rugani’s apprenticeship was over. He was Juventus-bound. Full-back Elseid Hysaj joined Sarri at Napoli. As did Mirko Valdifiori, the Pirlo of the provinces and architect of their style of play. Matias Vecino represented a big loss too. Without them and talismanic leader Francesco Tavano, Empoli were supposed to fall apart.

The appointment of Marco Giampaolo didn’t inspire much confidence. Once a rising star of Italian coaching - Giampaolo was interviewed by Juventus in the past - his career instead seemed to be on the wane. Sacked by Siena, he flopped at Catania and Cesena, took on the ultras and lost at Brescia and was starting again in the third division with Cremonese when Empoli called. What he found at the Castellani was a marvellous inheritance left by Sarri: a team with a well-established identity that knew a certain style and system off by heart. They say if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it and Giampaolo didn’t. He checked his ego at the door and hasn’t made any sweeping changes, much like Max Allegri initially upon replacing Antonio Conte.

But make no mistake there has been more to this gig than simply keeping things ticking over. It was a delicate job. The cogs that made Empoli work like clockwork were gone. New recruits had to be carefully sourced and then taught how to do what those had done before them and this is where Giampaolo and the club’s infrastructure deserves praise.

Empoli know their place in the football food chain. Their annual turnover [€32m] is what Juventus paid for Paulo Dybala. Their wage bill [€16m] is more or less what Real Madrid pay Gareth Bale every year. They have to produce their own and it’s here we recall their excellent Monte Boro academy which has given us Montella, Toto Di Natale and more recently Rugani and Lorenzo Tonelli. Empoli have had to play the market with savvy as well and happily act as a finishing school for the top talents of the big clubs. Consider Claudio Marchisio, Sebastian Giovinco and Ignazio Abate in the past and Roma’s Lukasz Skorupski and Leandro Paredes, Juventus’ Marcel Büchel and Udinese’s Piotr Zielinski today.

Then come players like Maccarone. Veterans steeped in the history of the club who can pass on its spirit and what it means to play for Empoli. So trusted is Maccarone by owner Fabrizio Corsi that he acts as an advisor. Corsi’s daughter Rebecca even thinks of him as a brother. Every Thursday night Maccarone organises a team dinner. “We talk about all sorts in front of a glass of wine.” It has fostered great togetherness within the squad. You only have to see the videos uploaded to Facebook of games of slaps with their charismatic kitman to see why Empoli is what they call an isola felice. A little paradise. They’re a well-run club and a well-coached team.

Only Inter [11], Napoli and Fiorentina [9] have kept more clean sheets [6] this season and Empoli’s first didn’t come until their 10th outing. Some of that is down to Skorupski. Magnificent in the win against Hellas, he has saved nine big chances. Only Nicola Leali [12] of Frosinone and Marco Sportiello [10] of Atalanta can boast better numbers in that regard. This is a team that defends well as individuals. For instance, Tonelli and Mario Rui are in Serie A’s Top 15 for duels combining for 310. And as a team as well. Empoli rank 7th for shots faced on target [61]. As was the case under Sarri, they’re proof you can have it both ways too. Because this is a team that plays some breathtakingly intricate and synchronised football.

Take the midfield trio. It has a combined age of 66. Paredes and Zielinski are 21. Büchel is 24 and they’ve all had their moments this season. Paredes laid on a wonderful assist against Udinese. Zielinski has now set up goals in back to back games, carbon copy chipped passes for Maccarone. Empoli’s decision to bring Ricky Saponara back to the club a year ago has also been fine business. Wasted at Milan - how they must rue seeing him perform at such a high level - he has combined for 11 goals this season. That’s as many as Dybala and Nikola Kalinic. Only Marek Hamsik [43] and Giacomo Bonaventura [42] have created more chances in the league this season. His 6 assists are a league high.

Maccarone is also playing with a new lease of life.

He has participated in five of Empoli’s last seven goals and haven’t they been memorable too. Take those in the Maccarone-Lasagne derby [Empoli-Carpi] and in Bologna when he celebrated by running across to the sidelines to take a sip of beer. His old teammate at Siena, Thomas Locatelli, was sat by the dug-outs at the Renato Dall’Ara and Maccarone promised to go out for a drink with him like they used to at the Old Bridge pub. Why wait until after the game? Big Mac and a Pint provided this season with one of its standout moments so far. So much for being down in one without Sarri and co, Empoli are more than holding their own at the bar and as such we should propose a toast instead: to Maccarone, Giampaolo, the team and their improbable success.

How high can Empoli finish in Serie A this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below