Gianfranco Zola, former player and coach of Cagliari, made some statements during a radio broadcast
Gianfranco Zolaformer player and coach of Cagliariwas hosted by the broadcast of Radio “Cagliari Live”. On this occasion he made some statements about the team coached by the expert Claudio Ranieri (and not only). His words:
FITNESS – “I am fine. The secret of my shape? Nobody, I swear. The Sardinian sun helps but let’s talk about football come on (laughs ed.)”.
CAGLIARI – «I was looking at the situation of collisions and direct clashes and it’s a mess. Cagliari gets there after the defeat against Milan. It must be said that they were super motivated given the situation, Cagliari comes from a bad defeat that could have been done. Cagliari is lucky enough to challenge Fiorentina at home in the last minute, then after a few days they have the Conference final. This is a positive thing. Sassuolo? Difficult match but Cagliari has 2 results out of 3 while Sassuolo is in the last resort. This can also be an advantage because they have a coach who knows how to do it”.
RANIERI – «I had him in two important phases like the start in Naples, when I was starting and he helped me by giving me confidence when I needed it. Then I had it at the end, the last two years at Chelsea, the last one was the most important for me. All things considered, this is the year I did best. I experienced it in two phases in which I was able to appreciate the person and the coach. This gives me some guarantees for Cagliari. Class? Well, when the 5 minutes start for me, he’s different. He can tell you (laughs ed.). He is a very elegant and balanced person, he is appreciated both for his coaching and human skills ».
BEING ZOLA/RANIERI IN THIS CACLIO – «Everyone must be themselves. I realize that sometimes this isn’t the case given the situation but in those moments you make the difference by keeping your feet on the ground and behaving as you should. I learned it in my career and also from him”.
ANECDOTE – «Once I got angry with Ranieri, I apologize to him. He made me play in the cup and then not a few days later in the league with Tottenham. I was so angry that I threw all the balls and he stopped training. Then we explained, it was frustration that made me do certain things because I wanted to play and be a protagonist. Sometimes some players need to feel the coach’s authority even if it shouldn’t be exceeded, doing it just for the sake of doing it inappropriately”.
DECISIVE MATCHES – «Everyone experiences the week in a subjective way but everyone feels these matches, you’re playing for 10 months of work. It’s up to you how you react, some get excited while others suffer. When you are a player with a good level these matches help you, they make you enter in the moment that counts and with the right attitude”.
PLAYERS WHO AMAZE YOU AMONG THE ROSSOBLUE – «I really like Gaetano, he was what was needed in the midfield of the camp, he brings quality. I know he’s from Napoli but I like him”.
THE RIGHT MIX IN A TEAM – «For me, a team needs the right mix of experts and young people, I say this from my experience both as a coach and as a player. If I think about the teams I have coached, they have done well with the right mix of ages. The young people stimulate the more experienced and learn from the older ones”.
A ZOLA TODAY – «Difficult, the formations are now different, now they prefer 4-3-3, 4-4-32 and 3-5-3. For this reason, attacking midfielders must adapt as midfielder or winger. The playmakers used to do other things, they were asked to save themselves and the team brought them the ball in some areas. Now they have to do different things which have formed different types of players. I honestly think about whether it’s a school issue but I think this is the crux of the problem”.
COMPARISON VIOLA GOAL/ZOLA GOAL WITH JUVE – «Beautiful goal, no one expected it from me and against Juventus. The comparison is nice, his goal was also a beautiful one. I keep that goal in my heart because I know how much people cared about it and because we didn’t deserve the disadvantage. I also remember others with Roma. Every now and then I remind Buffon that I scored a header for him, when I do that he’s not very happy (joking ed.)”.
TORRES – «I am the vice president of Lega Pro and we are working to help the category. Playoffs? Great credit to the team, coach, club and president Pinna. Extraordinary season, I think everything that comes will be a bonus but don’t misunderstand what I say. It would be right for them to live it this way, for me it’s as if they had already won. I hope they can bring what they did in the championship to the playoffs.”.
SASSUOLO-CAGLIARI – «Initially it will be a tense match, both know the importance of the match. They will have to prepare it well and be clear but I expect an initially nervous match, I hope in the experience of some players and the coach”.
PROJECTS – «I’m happy with everything I’m doing with Lega Pro too, for them and for all of Italian football. It’s an extraordinary place for our young people, for me it was a space to grow. I like talking about football with Prime in CL, we talk in a fair and technical way there. The field? I like seeing it from the outside for now”.
