CREMONA – Start the final cycle of the championship by seeking victory against Pisa. Cremonese will do so in front of the grey-red team of the 1983-1984 season which achieved their return to Serie A after over fifty years of absence. On Wednesday at Zini, the protagonists of that championship will meet again after 40 years to support the team Giovanni Stroppa who now wants to straighten out the course.
“It will be ten days of high tension, but first of all the match against Pisa will be the most important. We have prepared well and the team is well. Ravanelli has only recently started racing and is in doubt. The others are well. Between Saro and Jungdal I have yet to decide, but in general, given how all the players have grown individually, I will be able to manage their strength as I did recently with Castagnetti and Cosa, while others will be able to find the rhythm of the match, including Ciofani in the second part of the season he improved after suffering some discomfort with his knee and he is an asset that I will take into account.”
We return to Zini after Venice. Is there more bitterness or regret for Penzo’s second half?
“In the second half in Venezia we were not good in some episodes, but I repeat that Cremonese would have deserved more. I remember Collocolo’s opportunity at 1-1, that of Ciofani which could have made it 2-2. Against a Venezia physically and with our legs we allowed errors on their flare-ups but Cremonese didn’t stop playing and creating scoring opportunities.”
Is Pisa a more physical or technical opponent?
“Pisa is technical and has good football ideas. I expect a more unpredictable opponent than Venezia because up front they have short players who are good one-on-one. It will be a different match, and I know the strength of some players like Valoti or D’ Alessandro who I have already trained.”
Does Cremonese remain a very feared opponent?
“I answer by bringing up the performances, because I believe that no one can deny the impact that the team has on the pitch, even in matches in which the result went wrong. We also demonstrated this in Venice: after Vazquez’s goal, the lagoon players they are blocked, they started playing long balls and after having taken them all in the first half, unfortunately in the second half a mistake was made on one of these. Very good Gytkjaer but we got Venezia back into the running as they were unable to worry us. I’ll go back to the usual discussion : I’m very sorry that the team doesn’t finalize what it produces.”
A statement that Stroppa also extends to the defense, which is conceding many goals in recent matches.
“I’m sorry about that too. For a long stretch of the championship we suffered very little, lately negative episodes are punished. But I’ll say this: against Ternana I changed three players at half-time because I thought it was appropriate to do so. Only that you attack and eleven defend themselves. If this concept disappears we risk a lot.”
