The right day. This is what everyone in the stands, pitch and bench must have thought a bit on Sunday afternoon at the Olimpico. Vincenzo Italiano said it to Jesper Karlsson, before his entry onto the pitch, as revealed in the post-match, and perhaps he also said it to another element of his attacking team who badly needs to get unblocked in this Bologna: Thijs Dallinga.
The Dutch striker, who arrived in Bologna with all the best expectations, has so far disappointed: not only in numbers, but also in impact. A spark landed right against the Romahowever, with a finally convincing entrance. But how was the start of the season for the current 24 Rossoblù? Should we still believe in him?
Thijs Dallinga, a diesel “in his own way”
Let’s start immediately with the answer to the last question of the introduction: yes, we must still believe in him. Because Bologna has made an investment in a 24-year-old boy and these first months will not be the ones to draw conclusions. There was great enthusiasm around his arrival, especially in Valles: after the farewell of Joshua Zirkzeeanother Dutchman to take up his legacy, as if it were destiny.
But, for now, only the imagined “fairytale” remains. Dallinga arrived in Bologna with only good intentions, as confirmed by his words in the presentation press conference, but the start was completely different from all possible imaginaries.
Is this new? Perhaps, in terms of numbers, yes; in terms of “departures”, in reality, no. Let’s analyze his numbers, as of today, in the last two seasons, and therefore in his experience at Toulouse, in Ligue 1. In his first season in France (2022/2023), arriving from Holland, Thijs, at 12 November, he had played 14 league games, accumulating 909 minutes and starting from the first minute on 12 occasions, with only two games as a substitute.
How many goals did he score? Three. A goal every 303 minutes, therefore a goal every three games and a third, to be precise. “Three is better than zero”, many will say. True, but Ligue 1 is not Serie A, and the competition is not what it is now at Bologna for the Dutchman, who has a certain amount of Santiago Castro.
In the last one, however, as of today Dallinga had made 12 appearances in the championship, for the beauty of 782 minutes in which he scored for quattro times. He also had to deal with Europe, like this year: in the first four Europa League matches he spent 326 minutes on the pitch, for the beauty of three goals. Different numbers, for different awareness. Second year on a new team and in a new league, and the results at the end of the season showed in his statistics.
Bologna, have you all been waiting: did Thijs Dallinga send any signals in Rome?
What “frustrated” the Bologna fans the most in difficult moments was the little impact of Dallinga at the start of the season. We wrote it a few lines above: expectations were high, this entails burdens and honors. Certainly, for an attacker, this situation is far from easy. The Italian has allowed him, to date, 188 minutes in eleven Serie A matches, in which he has made 8 appearances, of which only one as a starter, in Como.
If it is true that with an average of just over 23 minutes it’s difficult to leave your mark – also given Bologna’s swings in this first part of the season – the good Thijs also put his own spin on it: in certain matches he almost seemed loosea foreign body. In the Champions League it didn’t go any better, in the 192 minutes available in four matches.
However, as with Karlsson, there seems to have been one reaction in the afternoon at the Olimpico. Dallinga entered the field on Sunday with a different attitude. He helped the team in moments of difficulty, taking important meters of the pitch and precious time, with fouls earned as a true first striker. He was more inclined to the spirit of sacrifice and the icing on the cake is the goldone and then canceled.
He wasn’t convinced in his celebration either, probably aware of the touch of the hand, but who knows, it still served him to “unlock” some mechanism inside his head. On the other hand, Orsolini also said it after the match: «I was sorry because Thijs entered well and deserved the goal, even if he had found it but then they disallowed it.” The team is with him, Bologna is with him and everyone is waiting for him: it’s up to him, now, to reciprocate all this.
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