It’s their manager Roberto D’Aversa.
He took them to a promotion two years ago. They finished 14th in their first season in Serie A. They are currently in 7th place, ahead of Milan or Napoli. His record in Parma has been outstanding.
D’Aversa, though, hasn’t gotten the appreciation that he deserves. Their soccer isn’t particularly attractive to neutral fans. Even when you finally zoom in on them, their star player Kulusevski will capture all of your attention.
Look closer. You will find D’Aversa as one of the most creative, flexible, yet practical coaches in Serie A. Other Italian managers, such as Luciano Spalletti and Massimiliano Allegri, have risen to the highest level with those qualities. D’Aversa will hope to follow their footsteps.
A defense master
An organized defense means excellent coaching, and Parma excelled here: They concede ~1.42 xG per game, a whopping 20% improvement from they did last year, elevating them from the bottom 10% to the league’s average. For a relegation candidate, they have been outstanding this season.
Even shuffling between multiple formations this year—a 3-5-2, 4-3-1-2, or 4-3-3—D’Aversa wants them to sit deep:
The front three players stay extremely close to protect the center. The wide forwards don’t defend the flank and leave the work to their sided central midfielder, full-back or wing-back, as opposed to how they would do in the usual 4-3-3:
Parma’s compact but flexible defensive structure between the first and the second line often deters the opponent from accessing the center. Even when it does, the passing lane is so limited that Parma can contain it:
The central defensive midfielder has the most challenging job: He has distinct defensive duties in different situations; when the pressure on the ball by the first line is strong enough, the opponent will not have access to the immediate space behind:
The central defensive midfielder can stay away from the ball. Instead, he can position close the center backs. While he can protect them, he is also able to intercept the ball in the large area behind his teammates.
But when the first line can’t exert enough pressure on the ball, he has to act differently:
When the ball handler has freedom, the central defensive midfielder has to decide whether there is an immediate danger behind the first line. Without one, he will focus on covering his teammate, paying close attention so that he can engage the ball handler if his teammate is dribbled past.
But if the opponent passer has the passing lane to connect to his team-mate in the space between lines, then the central defensive midfielder will need to man-mark that potential ball receiver:
The man-marking duty becomes critical when the center-back or full-back moves out of his position:
Parma’s compact first line in the middle means they leave plenty of room on the flank. Without the support of the wide forward, the full-back often needs to engage the opponent aggressively. The central defensive midfielder needs to pay close attention to the resultant space: He either needs to mark the runner so that the center-back can provide the defensive cover or, instead, cover the center-back when he moves out to engage the opponent.
The same is also true when Parma occasionally press high:
Parma’s central defensive midfielder needs to always judge between intercepting the ball, man-marking a player, or covering for a teammate. D’Aversa makes this decision possible by asking his central defensive midfielder to consider a set of reference points: If his teammates apply enough pressure to the ball, then stay close to the center backs and try to intercept the ball. If not, then check if an opponent’s player roams behind the first line. Without one, cover the teammate. With one, man-mark that player. Finally, man-mark any runner toward the defensive third if the opponent can attack the last line.
An offense makeover
Parma’s offense hasn’t exactly excelled this year, creating only ~1.1 xG per game (pg), the 4th lowest in the league. But it has a substantial 10% improvement over that of last year, and considering the massive turnover in their attacking department, D’Aversa has done a great job.
This summer, Andreas Cornelius and Yann Karamoh were added to supplement Roberto Inglese and Gervinho, but the biggest surprise was Kulusevski. He has created close to 0.24 Expected Assist (xA) per 90 minutes (p90), more than that of Alejandro Gomez (Atalanta) or Luis Alberto (Lazio). With-Or-Without-You (WOWY)—a metric that measures how a player affects the outcome of a possession—shows that when considering only an attacker (an attacking central midfielder or a wide forward) makes at least one pass outside of the final third, Kulusevski boosts Parma’s average xG per possession by ~90%. His influence places him in the top 30% among qualified players since 2014/15, similar to what Paulo Dybala has impacted Juventus this year.
To fit all of these bits, D’Aversa has to rewire their offensive game:
The direct and vertical delivery on both flanks has shifted to an asymmetric distribution toward the right side. Diagonal switches now connect the left flank. These changes take advanatge of the make-up of the current roster: first, most of Parma’s technical players play on the right side. Matteo Darmian, a bargain at rumored €1.5m, starts as the right-back. Kulusevski also likes to operate on the right flank so that he can cut inside with his preferred left foot. Parma can play the ball through their most gifted players when it goes to this side; second, overloading on the right side creates space for Gervinho to attack the left side. He is the most dangerous when he runs with the ball, not when he acts as a playmaker. By WOWY, Gervinho’s dribble increases Parma’s xG possession by at least five times this year, placing him in the top 1% among all qualified attackers since 2014/15. Gervinho needs space to inflict damages, and advancing the ball via an asymmetric build-up is one great way to make it.
To connect the team, D’Aversa deploys a secret weapon: Juraj Kucka. He can’t make play, but is extremely physical with an exceptional work-rate. Most importantly, he has a great header:
Kucka will wait on the right side. The long ball delivered here will most certainly force the opponent’s midfielder or left-back to challenge for the header. The big Slovenian will often enjoy the physical advantage.
He will try to flick the ball over the opponent’s last defensive line to find Kulusevski, who will be surging forward. When succeeded, Kulusevski will go one vs. one against the opponent’s left-back or center-back. Even when Kucka can’t flick the ball over, his physicality often wins the ball and switches it to Gervinho on the ball-far side.
A play with Kucka’s header outside of the box makes up to almost 10% of all Parma’s open play possessions, top 1% since 2014/15. Consider how insane that number is: Lazio, with a tower in Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, use his header in only 5% of their open play possessions.
Headers are challenging to win, but D’Aversa has many reasons to stick with the play; Parna don’t have enough players to attack the opponent line-by-line. Building out from the back can result in a lot of turnovers. Instead, to create space, Parma’s players can station in the initial third, lure the opponent’s defenders out, and hit them with the long ball. Even if they don’t win the header, Parma have walls of players ready to defend the resultant second ball.
Developing the offense through Kucka’s header gives Parma flexibility: The header is the easiest way to create a tactical mismatch; the long ball is easy to deliver, and a physical advantage is hard to overcome. With Kucka, Parma can have an aerial target up top even without Inglese or Cornelius. They can support Gervinho and Kulusevski with Karamoh. Parma’s squad is hugely imbalanced in terms of technical talents. Having one extra technical player will elevate their offense. Fiorentina and Conte can tell you how difficult it is to contain all those players.
To grow, D’Aversa will need a platform bigger than what Parma can offer. A team with a European ambition would suit him. Fiorentina is an ideal destination in the near future.
