Fresh from renewal with Spal until 2025after the meniscus injury that has him forced to miss the last part of the championshipThe defender blue-white Alessandro Bassoli gave a long interview to Estense.com, analyzing the season just ended between a painful salvation in Serie C and the desire for redemption for the future.
Bassoli and Spal together until at least 2025. A great satisfaction after a championship final that was anything but to remember…
“I am really very happy and very grateful to the club that offered me the renewal in a situation in which I am not yet one hundred percent physically recovered after the injury. I saw it as an important certificate of esteem and I can’t wait for July to arrive so I can start again, because I played between twelve and thirteen games this year and then I missed the best, hardest, most stimulating moment. where you had to get your hands dirty.”
I don’t know if he knew that his renewal was also welcomed by fans and professionals.
“Yes, yes, I’ve already noticed it a bit on social media and in the newspapers and I’m very pleased. When I arrived, perhaps, expectations were not very high because I had come from a fairly long period of inactivity. But then I was immediately put in the starting lineup. Maybe this also gave the fans the opportunity to appreciate me even more, beyond the technical aspect.”
How is the return to the field going?
“I’m almost ready, I feel 90%. I’m working to be at 101% in July. In recent weeks I had tried to speed up the pace, hoping to be available for the decisive matches, perhaps for any playoffs which we were then unable to reach, and perhaps I was wrong because then I had a slowdown due to having forced my return. Now that I have the whole summer ahead of me, there is plenty of time to calmly prepare for the next championship.”
Hoping it’s decidedly different from the last one.
“Of course, we all trust that this is the case. This year was quite difficult even if in the end we demonstrated what Spal’s initial value was and I think it will be useful to face next season with these good intentions.”
Colucci and Di Carlo. What didn’t work with the first one and what did the second one give you more?
“In my opinion, Colucci was a bit unlucky because when he was there, he didn’t have Dalmonte, Siligardi and the other important players for this team at his disposal. Personally I can’t help but thank him because it’s only thanks to him that I arrived in November, otherwise today I was still at home training alone. Then, since Di Carlo returned, the injured players returned and a couple of factors that weren’t working at the time were fixed. And in the end, this must also be said, if you have a team that is strong, that has solid foundations, that extra something that helped us score all these points is brought out.”
Because these quality didn’t come out at the start of the championship?
“The real reason why things didn’t work out I don’t know. Also because if I had known, perhaps, things would have gone differently. The only hypothesis is that, perhaps, they were carrying some waste with them from last year. Relegating from Serie B and finding yourself in Serie C, retiring with some players who have to leave, with the squad not being complete, ends up having its own weight that you then carry with you throughout the year. Once some aspects were sorted out and rebalanced for a moment, the true value came out.”
Now it is important not to squander the good that has been achieved since Di Carlo’s return.
“Certainly the fact of having a good backbone with expert people like Valentini, Arena, Carraro and Antenucci is very important to start again. I’ll take the example of Cesena, which last year had a crazy championship, but didn’t manage to get to Serie B. This year, by adding two or three elements, but maintaining its structure, it killed the championship, dominating it for a long time wide. This can be very useful, I also experienced it when I won the group with Pordenone. A year later, the players were the same, we changed a few players and we won the championship.”
Should we therefore also start again from Di Carlo?
“Di Carlo is an excellent coach, as is Colucci for me, even if the results didn’t come with him. I think they are both exceptional, then the club will see how best to move. Personally I think there are some alchemies to be created. Excellent coaches may not achieve excellent results with the same players. Sometimes it happens that a player performs better with one coach than with another. So we need to choose the right ingredients so that together they can be effective, a top player is not enough to win.”
There Is the recipe for the future therefore to build a solid group, also taking advantage of the weight of the men in the locker room?
“I am convinced that in a group, whoever takes the team forward and gives the guidelines is fundamental. There was a coach who said that young people are strong and old people know the way. And so for me all this is fundamental. For a team that wants to compete in a different, important championship, there needs to be those figures with experience, charisma, character, determination, who set an example for all the kids.”
You will certainly not lack the support of the fans.
“It’s a square that doesn’t need to be described. I knew it from the outside and experiencing it from the inside is really something else entirely. Experiencing the stadium from the inside, in my favor, because I had already had it against me as an opponent, is beautiful, it gives you a crazy boost. Then again, even in the city you live very well and are very calm. My children are proud when they see that they ask me for photos or autographs, it’s an aspect that I really liked.”
The goal for next season?
“Mine is always to win the championship. I can also go to any other team but for me this remains the goal. You play to win, then the club will make its assessments. But it’s clear that every player plays to get three points every Sunday. And if you score those three points every Sunday, it’s easy to see where you’ll end up.”
