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Carrarese scoring against Spezia

Inside Carrarese: Calabro’s Tactics, Transfer Window and Best Players

By Emmet Gates

Published on: October 25, 2024

Carrarese’s adventure back in the second tier has been mixed, to say the least.

The Tuscan side haven’t played Serie B football since 1948, and have spent the majority of their existence bouncing around the lower echelons of the Italian game ever since. 

Carrarese’s claim to fame in recent years was that the club was owned by the legendary Gianluigi Buffon, with the former Juventus goalkeeper buying majority share in the club in 2010, along with former Livorno striker Cristiano Lucarelli.

Buffon, who hails from Carrara, remained majority owner of the club until 2015, when he sold his shares in the club and bankruptcy soon followed. 

The view from the Tribuna Stampa, Stadio Dei Marmi, home of Carrarese Calcio 1908, during Carrarese-Cittadella 2024-25 Serie B season. (Photo: Destination Calcio)

After a club rebirth, Carrarese won promotion to Serie B last season following a narrow 1-0 win against Vicenza over two legs in early June. Alessandro Dal Canto, now at Cittadella, was sacked mid-way through the campaign and was replaced by Antonio Calabro.

Calabro, who has previously coached the likes of Catanzaro and Carpi, guided the Giallazzurri towards the promised land, and Calabro was handed the job on a permanent basis last summer.

Carrarese Calcio 1908 manager Andrea Calabro during the press conference after his side defeated Cittadella 3-0 at the Stadio Dei Marmi, Serie B 2024-25 (Photo: Destination Calcio)

Yet Carrarese have found the step up in quality a difficult one. Five defeats in the opening nine rounds have proven as much. Yet there has been moments of light, such as the surprise victory over Sudtirol, one of the promotion favourites.

In truth, their struggle has been somewhat expected. The club have had to play their first eight games away from Stadio dei Marmi due to ongoing renovation work in order to get the ground up to Serie B standards.

The club finally got to play in their own stadium for the 1-1 draw against Mantova, having been forced to play some home games in Pisa’s Stadio Arena Garibaldi-Romeo. With a stadium holding just over 4,000 seats, expect the Marmi to be one of the most vociferous stadiums in Serie B for the remainder of the season.

Carrarese are hovering just above the relegation zone, yet it was always going to take the club time to adjust their feet after decades in the wilderness. Defensive fragility has been an issue, with 13 goals conceded in the first nine games.

Until the 3-0 win over Cittadella on match day 10, goals had been a little hard to come by, with Nicolas Schiavi and Leonardo Cerri now scoring three each.

Carrarese scoring against Spezia
Having lost five of their opening nine matches, Carrarese Calcio 1908 won their first home match at the Stadio Dei Marmi, defeating Cittadella 3-0, with Lenoardo Cerri scoring twice (Photo by MB Media/Getty Images)

Transfers: Carrarese spent a little bit of money in the summer transfer window in order to strengthen the squad. In came striker Giuseppe Panico from Crotone for around €200,000, while Argentine-Italian centre-back Julian Illanes signed from southern side Avellino for €100,000. 

Following 11 goals for Roma U19’s, Luigi Cherubini made the move north for his first taste of senior football, on loan, and scored his debut goal against Cittadella.

Meanwhile, Filippo Falco, a veteran of the Italian game having played for as many as 11 different clubs up and down the divisions, has signed on a free transfer, as has Filippo Oliana and Devid Eugene Bouah.

Best performers: Defensive midfielder Schiavi has been among Carrarese’s standout players in the opening weeks. Cerri, on loan from Juventus’ Next Gen, has also impressed, with the youngster finding the net in just his second start before banging home a brace during the 3-0 victory over Cittadella, Carrarese’s first win on home soil in Serie B for 2024-25.

Carrarese Calcio 1908 players Luigi Cherubini (pictured left) and Leonardo Cerri (right) after Carrarese beat Cittadella 3-0, Stadio Dei Marmi, Serie B 2024-25, Match day 10 (Image: Destination Calcio)

Tactics: Calabro, in the way many Italian tacticians do, has tinkered with his formation depending on the opposition. Calabro has tended to utilise a three-man backline but shift players around in midfield and attack.

He’s primarily used a 3-4-2-1 but, as in the case with the games against Cremonese and Frosinone, Calabro has opted for a plain 3-5-2. Against Sassuolo he went for a more dashing 3-4-3 system, which ended in a 2-0 defeat and hasn’t been implemented again. 

For the following game, the 1-1 draw with Mantova, Calabro returned to the 3-4-2-1 formation which worked wonderfully against Cittadella.