These are the words of Fabio Pisacane, Cagliari coach, after the 2-1 victory at Torino. The coach’s analysis with the media inside the Olimpico Grande Torino.
THE RACE
“We are very happy for an important victory on a difficult pitch, after a complicated week which gives even more value to this affirmation. The best thing was the reaction to the disadvantage, after having started the match well it could have been a blow. We were facing a strong, well-trained Torino, who also brought in high-level players in the second half, and we were up to the task. I like to look at the performance of several boys who have played little up to now, I think of Kilicsoy and Mazzitelli, evidence of how there is a valid group made up of always ready elements. Luca is doing well, I had already said that he was ready to give us a hand, then when his moment could have come he stopped again, but without a doubt he has the quality and experience that are right for us. Today he is a brick in a long journey, we take many positive notes but we don’t leave out some things that didn’t work and that need to be improved, such as the management of some transitions against a Turin team that we knew would put us in difficulty we could have managed some situations better.”
SOLID GROUP
“Today I had some opportunities in front of me, in some departments there was more choice and in others less due to defections, but I never let myself get carried away and work with what the moment gives us, given that in a season it can happen that we see the staff reduced by injuries. I’m happy because the team proves once again that it never leaves the game, that it’s on track, even after a difficult week and after a game where we left two points at home at the end. I’m happy because the group is carrying forward a constructed idea over the months, one’s identity, this is what gratifies a coach the most.”
WORK EVEN IN DIFFICULTIES
“When everything doesn’t seem to be going right, I think that there is only work to be done, without getting demoralized by the difficulties that a long season presents you with, such as for example so many injuries in a series. Kilicsoy’s goal? Aside from the goal, which is important but not the only thing to look at, Semih linked the game, helped the team, worked with the others, then he certainly has shots in close range that are really of the highest level, as a coach I have to analyze everything as a whole and that’s why perhaps in the last few weeks he had not been called into question continuously. Today Semih manages to operate in our system, bringing added value, and we are happy about this”.
NO EXALTATION
“From the beginning of the season I promised myself not to comment on refereeing episodes, and today I do the same (reference to the episode at the start of the match with the contact between Paleari and Idrissi, ed.). The only thing that bothered me was the lack of willingness to collaborate over the course of the ninety minutes, that’s all I feel like saying about the direction of the match. I focus on what the team is doing, the compliments it receives every week, and on the path which is still very long because the boys know that in football everything can change for the better or worse negative from one game to the next. Today we enjoy the fourth victory of the championship, the second away from home in 17 games, but from tomorrow we will immediately think about Milan.”
THE ABSENCES
“I don’t like alibis, they are the recipe to explain when you lose and they don’t belong to me. If we had lost I certainly wouldn’t have called the absent players into question, I prefer to concentrate on the work, on the work of the boys, mine and the staff. Exposed out? Technical choice, normal, because up until now he had almost always played from 1′ and with Pisa even after a week where he hadn’t worked at his best; today we managed his playing time but there was also a technical decision behind his starting from the bench. Idrissi? Riyad is growing, I know him well, he shouldn’t get excited but look forward, he, like other guys, is part of the group and has important qualities that he needs to refine.”
SEMIH’S SECOND CONSECUTIVE GOAL
“What he does on a narrow pitch, in training in particular, is circus stuff. Then the football pitch is big, he has enormous qualities but he comes from football like Turkish football where he played in a great team that has 80% of the ball and therefore plays in a different way. He’s had adaptation problems, but that’s normal when we’re talking about a very young boy having his first experience in Italy. We’re very happy for him, we know how much he’s been waiting for this moment and how much he’s worked together with his teammates, he deserves this satisfaction like that of last week.”
GYM PROTAGONIST WITH CAGLIARI
“He is a heritage of Italian football. He has leg, he knows how to use both feet with ease, I was immediately struck by his ball-and-chain personality since his time with the Primavera. What stands out is the fact that you never know in which direction he will go when he aims at you, he crosses with the right and with the left, he wants to improve. He can certainly grow, and for his sake we must also point out to him what isn’t going right, as for example in the last two matches he didn’t fully satisfy me in both phases. I wasn’t afraid to launch him straight away from owner, I’m not afraid of losing him, I won’t get into other dynamics that aren’t my responsibility. I hope he can stay in Cagliari at least until June, but I’m not talking about the transfer market, much less today in the heat of the moment and after a victory. These are considerations that are made in other places, the Club is attentive to every situation and we all work together to make the decisions that are best for us.”
