Inside Spezia: D’Angelo’s Tactics, Transfer Window and Best Players

With the exception of league leaders Pisa, Spezia are hitherto arguably the biggest surprise of this Serie B season.

The Aquilotti finished 15th last season, just three points above the relegation zone, but have already racked up two more points after nine games than they had in the first half of the 2023-24 campaign.

Three points behind Pisa, the Ligurians are the only team still unbeaten in the division and have conceded just seven goals so far – the best defensive record in Serie B.

If Spezia’s defensive solidity is impressive, their productivity from set pieces defies logic.

Of the 15 goals scored by the Aquilotti, 14 have come from dead ball situations, the best record across both divisions not just in Italy, but across England, Germany, Spain and France.

To put it another way, Spezia have a better set-piece record than Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Bayern Munich et al.

What makes their dead ball proficiency even more remarkable is that the only goal they scored from open play this season was their first, as Francesco Esposito opened the scoring in a 2-2 draw against Pisa.

The Italy Under-21 international has been one of Spezia’s players of the season so far, scoring four times in seven appearances after finding the net just three times in 38 matches last term.

Summer signing Edoardo Soleri has chipped in with four of his own, but the goals have been spread evenly across the teams, with two centre-backs and a defensive midfielder the next most prolific goalscorers this term.

The challenge for Luca D’Angelo in his first full campaign in charge is to keep his team’s impressive run going. A 2-0 win away in Salerno after the international break showed the Ligurians are no flash in the pan and fixtures against Bari and Brescia over the next two weeks should test their mettle further.

Transfers: Spezia spent just over €5.6m (£4.7m) on players this summer, with almost half of their budget splashed on signing the striking duo of Antonio Colak and Giuseppe Di Serio from Parma and Atalanta respectively.

Adam Nagy arrived from Pisa for €1m, while Francesco Cassata joined from Genoa for €600,000 and Soleri arrived on a free transfer from Palermo. Elsewhere, there were also five loan signings, including Juventus goalkeeper Stefano Gori.

Right-back Emil Holm left for Bologna in a €7m deal, while midfielder Rachid Kouda joined Parma for just over €4.5m.

Best performers: Soleri has had an immediate impact since joining, scoring four goals in the first nine matches, a return matched by Francesco Esposito. The duo have received plenty of help from an unlikely source in the shape of centre-backs Nicolo Bertola and Petko Hristov, who have contributed with three and two goals respectively.

Adam Nagy and Salvatore Esposito, meanwhile, have been among the best midfielders in Serie B so far.

Tactics: Like some of his adversaries in Serie B, Luca D’Angelo has shown a great degree of flexibility from a tactical standpoint so far this season. Spezia have mostly stuck to a flat 3-5-2 with Esposito partnered by either Soleri or Diego Falcinelli up-front, but D’Angelo turned to a 3-4-2-1 formation for the win against Cesena.

In the last two matches, Spezia have wheeled out a 3-4-3 line-up in which Colak and Falcinelli supported Esposito and a more traditional 4-4-2 with Luca Vignali switching from wing-back to full-back.