Through the first two weeks of the season, Massimo Donati was picking the positives despite Sampdoria losing both of their opening fixtures.

But after defeat at home by Cesena last week, the former Celtic midfielder conceded his optimism was at best misplaced, and at worst downright naive.

Rock bottom of Serie B after three games, Sampdoria are one of only three teams across the 100 that make up professional football in Italy yet to win a point this term (Lumezzane and Siracusa in Serie C are the other two).

Donati himself suggested the club may need to make a managerial change to stop the rot.

“I believe the people at the club need to evaluate what my staff and I are doing on the field. If they don’t think it’s good, it’s only right that they make a change,” he said.

“I always feel my position is in question, even before the season starts.”

Defeat in Monza on Saturday afternoon could well spell the end for Donati, whose appointment raised eyebrows in the summer due to his limited managerial experience, and who may go down as yet another disastrous move from Matteo Manfredi and the club’s decision-makers.

To his credit, Donati has already shown a degree of tactical flexibility, switching from his preferred 3-5-2 he stuck to during pre-season to a 4-2-3-1 in the first three league fixtures, but to no avail.

Blunt in the final third and disarmingly easy to break down, Sampdoria have displayed all the issues that afflicted them last term under Andrea Pirlo, Andrea Sottil and Leonardo Semplici.

The Blucerchiati will again be without the injured Alex Ferrari for their trip to Lombardy, with the centre-back still nursing a thigh injury that kept him out of the defeat by Cesena, in which Estanis Pedrola suffered a hamstring problem.

The latter’s injury means the left No 10 role in Donati’s 4-2-3-1 is up for grabs alongside Francesco Conti and Antonin Barak, who failed to impress on his debut following his loan move from Fiorentina on deadline day.

If the picture is bleak for Sampdoria, the optimism that accompanied Monza in pre-season has been tempered by defeat by Avellino last weekend. The Brianzoli began the season as favourites to return to Serie A at the first time of asking and hit the ground running with a win over Mantova, before drawing against Bari.

The defeat by Avellino, however, was an abrupt wake-up call for a side that retain one of the most talented squads in the division.

“We are better on paper, but if we don’t approach the game with the right level of aggression, our quality won’t make a difference,” manager Paolo Bianco said after the loss at the Partenio.

“We must get accustomed to the more difficult aspects of the game, like winning second balls and mixing it up when the going gets tough.

“We have to quickly adapt to the demands of this league. If we don’t play with greater awareness, our true value won’t show. We’re strong, and on paper we’re better than a lot of teams, but we need to figure out how to make our game count.”

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