Inside Cesena: Mignani’s Tactics, Transfer Window and Best Players

Cesena’s decision to replace Domenico Toscano in the summer came at a curious time. The 43-year-old had just brought the Seahorses back to Serie B for the first time since 2018 after two largely successful seasons in Emilia-Romagna, but he and the club parted ways before the champagne spilt during the promotion celebrations was even dry.

Four months into the season, it is fair to suggest that fears Toscano’s departure would be a setback for Cesena have been swiftly allayed.

In fact, Michele Mignani’s first campaign in charge could have hardly begun more auspiciously, with the Bianconeri fourth in Serie B with 22 points after 14 matches, nine adrift of league leaders Sassuolo and one clear of fifth-placed Cremonese.

They have also reached the Round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, where they will face Atalanta next month, after dispatching Padova, Verona and Pisa in the first three rounds.

But it hasn’t been all plain sailing for Mignani’s men. Having won two, drawn two and lost two of their first six matches, Cesena remained frustratingly inconsistent over the next four games, beating Mantova and Brescia and losing to then-league leaders Pisa and Sampdoria.

But since the win over Brescia, Cesena have hit their stride, winning three of their next five matches and drawing the other two. A switch from 3-5-2 to 3-4-2-1 has made the Bianconeri more solid at the back as has the promotion of Jonathan Klinsmann to the starting XI.

The son of Inter Milan, Bayern and Tottenham legend Jurgen, Klinsmann has conceded just twice in his first four starts during which his team have picked up eight points.

If Klinsmann has made Cesena’s goal harder to breach, Cristian Shpendi has been a constant thorn in the side of opposing defences. The Albania Under-21 international is currently Serie B’s top scorer with nine goals in 13 appearances and salvaged a point in the derby against Reggiana on Saturday.

Shpendi has scored eight goals more than Cesena’s second-most prolific player and Mignani, who led Palermo to the Serie B play-off semi-final last season, has warned his side against being too dependant on their talisman.

“His greatest quality is his humility,” he said after the draw with Reggiana. “But we can’t rely on him alone. He needs to keep working hard and stay calm.”

Mignani’s entire squad would do well to heed his advice as they look well placed to mount a challenge for a second consecutive promotion and return to Serie A for the first time in a decade.

Transfers: Cesena spent just over €850,000 (£710,000) on players this summer, a modest outlay even by Serie B standards. Over half of that amount was spent on signing Brescia centre-back Massimo Mangraviti and Cosenza defensive midfielder Giacomo Calo, while Simone Bastoni joined from Spezia for €100,000 to bolster the Seahorses’ midfield.

Sydney Van Hoojidonk arrived on a free transfer from Bologna, while Marco Curto, Elayis Tavsan and Joseph Ceesay joined on loan from Como, Hellas Verona and Swedish side Malmo respectively.

Cesena waved goodbye to Luca Coccolo, Giovanni Nannelli and Lorenzo Pollini, who all left on a free.

Best performers: Serie B’s top scorer with nine goals in 13 matches, Cristian Shpendi has arguably been Cesena’s player of the season so far. The 21-year-old, who has also scored twice in three Coppa Italia appearances, is likely to command interest in January – perhaps even from Serie A.

Augustus Kargbo has chipped in with five goals of his own, while Simone Bastoni has been ever-present since joining from Spezia in the summer and Verona loanee Elayis Tavsan has proved a shrewd addition, scoring twice and setting up another despite making just nine appearances.

At the other end of the pitch, Jonathan Klinsmann has conceded just twice in four matches since being promoted to the starting line-up.

Tactics: Magnani has displayed the kind of tactical flexibility plenty of his Serie B colleagues are famous for. Cesena played five of their first six league matches with a 3-5-2 formation with Cristian Shpendi and Augustus Kargbo up front and a flat midfield featuring Daniele Donnarumma and Emanuele Adamo on the flanks.

But from the end of September onward, Magnani hasn’t been afraid of tweaking his plans to deploy a 3-4-2-1, 3-4-3 and even 5-4-1 formations.

The former has since emerged as his preferred option, with Shpendi alone up front supported by two between Kargbo, Tommaso Berti or Mirko Antenucci. Cesena certainly look more solid defensively now, having kept three clean sheets in the past five matches after recording just two in the opening nine fixtures.