High level opponent for the Pergolettese Of Mussa in the first outing of the season. Against theInter champion of Italy came a 2-1 defeat, but also a performance that the coach liked: “From a performance point of view, it was clearly purely defensive. We suffered the right amount against a team that was clearly technically, tactically, physically and also athletically, much further ahead of us. We played a good game, we were always on the ball, without getting too upset, making everyone play with a lot of kids. Let’s say that I was interested in seeing the attitude and it was excellent, I was interested in seeing the solidity in the face of defensive stress and we had that.”
One of the positive notes was the grit and character that the boys showed immediately on the pitch.
“We have had a transfusion of grit: for me this is a fundamental aspect. The boys know that we cannot ignore our way of being on the field, our character. Aggression is a quality that we must have in abundance and today we demonstrated it. In addition to the final result, which in any case gives self-esteem, we were all good, I am very happy with both the new arrivals and all the others.”
After a tense match like this one, in forty-eight hours another friendly will be played in Brescia. Aren’t you worried about the proximity of the two commitments with a still short squad?
“No, we rotated, so those who have done ninety today will play zero or at most thirty minutes, no more. It is clear that the results do not count at this moment, what is important for us instead is to carry on with the work. Wednesday will be another type of defensive phase. Today we prepared the match to do a defensive phase against a three-five-two. Against Brescia we will try to study a defensive phase against another opponent’s game system, so that we train precisely to defend against different game systems and at high rhythms, because against a team from Serie A or B the ball clearly moves faster.”