His back betrayed him. Harry Winks hasn't been able to provide the contribution he'd promised in Cagliari's excellent start to the season for the past three weeks, due to a nagging lumbago that has kept him out of action for three and a half games. The English midfielder's last appearance was on October 24th, the first half against Bologna, but he didn't play again after that. Last week he seemed to have recovered, but the problem recurred in the pre-match training session a week ago, once again in exactly the same form: nothing doing, his return postponed until after the break.
He is on the mend, but the days immediately preceding the trip to Como will be crucial (and Pisacane is the first to fervently hope to have the English midfielder available) in order to get the definitive green light, given that he was already called up against Frosinone but then didn't even make the bench.
Decisive
Cagliari is therefore eager to welcome back their midfield organizer. Since the summer friendlies, Winks has demonstrated enviable management of the midfield: geometry, calm play, coverage, and precise passing. It seemed as if he had been with the Rossoblu for years, rather than just arriving and coming off a difficult spell in England, where he had to contend with a double relegation with Leicester City, from the Premier League to League One. The same outcome occurred in his only Italian season, in 2022-23 at Sampdoria (where he missed half the season due to injury). Pisacane immediately trusted him without hesitation: "He's the playmaker we've been missing in recent years," he specified on the eve of the match against Udinese, noting that his arrival had filled a long-standing gap in the squad. So much so that his absence has been felt in recent matches.
The substitutes
Against Bologna, Gagliardini came on in place of Winks: certainly not the same. In the first of two away games at the Olimpico against Roma, three days later, Pisacane had opted for a 5-4-1 with Deiola and Romano in front of the defense to contain the Giallorossi's attackers, but it worked up to a point. And it wasn't the best, reverting to 4-3-2-1, an attempt to test Romano as a playmaker in the same stadium against Lazio. Against Frosinone, last Saturday, Pisacane quickly moved the cards: he started with a 3-4-2-1, again with Romano and Deiola in the middle, then almost immediately settled back into a 4-3-2-1 "because after five minutes the game was going their way and we had to keep the lines tight." Many changes, only one certainty: without Winks in the middle, Cagliari struggled.
Key week
The break has come at the right time for Winks, one of Cagliari's nine injured players and aiming to return to action in Como. The league break gives him an extra week to overcome a sore back and put the pain to rest, with the hope of being able to join his teammates once training resumes after the weekend. Asseminello is expressing confidence that he'll be back on the pitch when Serie A resumes, against a top-quality midfield like Como's. But Winks, who played in a Champions League final (in 2019 against Liverpool, when he was at Tottenham), certainly has no reason to fear any opponent. And Cagliari awaits him with open arms, well aware that they can't do without him for the rest of the season. Starting with the coach. Speaking of Fabio Pisacane: today at 7 pm at "Sa Manifattura," he will be awarded the "Elisa Nivola" Prize.
Richard Spignesi