Along the lines of continuity.
An umbilical cord with the previous technical management, which should facilitate the tasks, at the moment apparently very arduous, of the new guide. Some options from last season remain alive. It is true, Cagliari is still in its embryonic phase, with Nicola who will slowly have to realize how to use the elements at his disposal, but in the first outing in quota against Como, although negative for the result, some analogies with last season could be noted.
The coach wanted to trust Deiola, a player who is certainly not of the highest technical caliber, but who over the years has shown a visceral attachment to the shirt and an uncommon professionalism. He could be an important piece in the typology of a game system that is being built. Obviously, we shouldn’t ask him to play exceptionally well, but he should be inserted into a context where his attitude to sacrifice emerges.
The doors to ownership have also opened for Zappa. A blessing and a curse on the right wing for a few years now, the winger will have to work hard to establish himself definitively, at 24, in the top division. He has some shortcomings in defense and in the calibration of his cross in action, but they can be corrected.
Last time that portion of the field was covered by the dynamism of Nandez, but Zappa is well structured physically and has further margins for growth. This is year zero for him: either he asserts himself peremptorily or he will have to settle for living in a dangerous limbo from which it will be difficult to escape. The fact remains that this year the club will be able to rely on Deiola and Zappa without obviously expecting great “performances” from a technical point of view, but it will be able to obtain something more from both dictated by attachment to the colors and constant commitment.
For the rest Nicola is evaluating. In the outing against Como, Hatzidiakos found a place in the center of the three-man defense alongside the new arrival Luperto. For the Greek, a future yet to be written while waiting to know Mina’s decisions, torn between returning to the red and blues or attempting the Brazilian adventure. Hatzidiakos, together with Wieteska, was the mystery object last season. Arriving with references that were anything but second-rate (when all is said and done, he is still a Greek international), he never highlighted those qualities that had suggested his purchase. He warmed the bench for a long time and was only used on rare occasions. Nicola is testing him, like Wieteska, to understand if he can be useful to the cause. Without false prejudices, but with the awareness of being able to have additional arrows in a bow still in the assembly phase. Even in the second outing against Catanzaro, Nicola continued to insist with some of the linchpins from last season. Inserting the new arrivals little by little. Without haste.