Arezzo case archived, Juventus Next Gen is ready to play their cards against Pescara in the 2nd round of the Serie C play-offs. This time Brambilla’s boys are forced to win in the 90 minutes to get through to the next round; in fact, the blue and white have both the advantage of playing at home and the favor of two results out of three in regulation time.
Emmanuel Cascione’s Pescara – who took over Zeman’s legacy – had his work cut out for him to get rid of Pontedera in the previous round. Trailing after just 4 minutes, the Abruzzo team turned the match around before the break thanks to Cuppone’s brace, only to then concede a draw midway through the second half. A 2-2 not to rub your eyes, but useful for the cause.
ZEMAN START WELL, THEN HAD TO QUIT
The season experienced by our opponents was a bit up and down. Excellent start in the first nine days, with a third place which promised virtuous horizons, and a more muted second half characterized by several fluctuating performances which extinguished (already before Christmas) the ambitions of direct promotion, but were still sufficient to finishing the regular season in sixth place.
Championship also influenced by health problems of coach Zdenek Zemanwho had to leave the team during the current year, leaving the helm to deputy Giovanni Bucaro. The negative results, however, lead the Sicilian coach to resign after just 4 matches, the club is forced to intervene to find a new technical guide, thus choosing Emmanuel Cascioneborn in ’83, former Pistoiese coach, with a past as a footballer in Serie A with Reggina and Cesena.
QUALITY OFFENSIVE TRIDENT, DEFENSE TO RECORD
As per tradition, Zeman’s Pescara had been set up following the traits of a front-wheel drive machine, capable of winning matches by scoring many goals, net of some defensive amnesia. The 4-3-3, the Bohemian’s trademark, expresses concepts of speed and dynamism in restarts on the outside: Accornero and Merola act as lateral engines in offensive raids, giving the Cuppone top management the opportunity to exploit various situations on the many scoring opportunities created during the matches. The other plunger – often used during the game – is Cangianocapable of splitting defenses in two thanks to his speed dribbling skills.
The principles remained more or less the same even after the changes on the bench: both Bucaro and Cascione continued with the 4-3-3 – except for some experiments with a 3-man defense towards March – giving great freedom of action to the interpreters on the pitch. In the median the fixed point is Squizzato, young Inter school – born in 2002, steering wheel of the team, feisty and beautiful to look at -. The others are Tunjov and Aloi, who will easily be proposed as starters in midfield, given the absence of Dagasso. The central defenders Brosco and Mesik will direct the defense, the former “child prodigy” Plizzari in goalextreme defender who grew up in Milan together with Donnarumma.
The figures to keep an eye on are certainly those relating to goals scored: 60. Pescara recorded the second best attack in Group B, behind only Cesena. The top scorer is Davide Merola: 18 goals in the league and 2 in the Coppa Italia Serie C, 8 for Cuppone (plus 2 more in the play-off match with Pontedera), 7 Tunjov and 5 Cangiano.
Dizzying numbers in attack, not very reassuring signals from the defensive department. They have conceded 55 goals and Abruzzo’s defense is the fourth most defeated in the league. Among the most negative results of the season are the two 4-0 defeats, with Vis Pesaro and Gubbio, the 5-1 in Rimini and the 4-1 against Torres, all matches in the second round. In the very last moments the team was able to recover by winning 0-3 in Olbia and 1-3 at Fermana, approaching the play-offs well.
PREVIOUS BETWEEN THE TWO TEAMS
The traces left by the races played between Next Gen and Pescara this season they see one victory for each side. Defeated in the debut match at the Adriatico 3-1 – a brace from Cuppone and a goal from Accornero, before the signing of Guerra after the match was now over -, victory in the return leg in beautiful 4-3 on January 7th: guests ahead with Cangiano, then goals from Damiani, Comenencia, Cuppone, brace from Guerra and penalty from Tunjov in the final.
BRAMBILLA RECOVERS WAR. IT WILL REQUIRE GREAT ATTENTION AND COURAGE
Brambilla’s boys will have to prove once again that they are one of the loose cannons of this period. The defensive maturation and a phase of not having great attention could act as an inhibitor to extinguish the offensive streak of the Abruzzo team, then giving free rein to the actions on the side lanes, thus exploiting the ability to create dangers with the qualities of the protagonists from midfield field up. In this sense Simone Guerra’s return from disqualification will be an important step to try to materialize the game situations that Pescara will concede during the match.
The comparison is complicated, but the goal does not seem out of reach. Dreaming is allowed, all we have to do is have fun.
