Below are the statements of the Salernitana coach John Martusciello in press conference:
Who will not be part of the competition?
“Soriano and Adelaide are unfortunately not available, they will be reintegrated into the group next week”.
What new things should we expect tomorrow?
“The market has served to broaden the choices, an intelligent job has been done based on players who are functional to my thinking. Tomorrow there will certainly be some news, I won’t go out on a limb because I don’t want to give the opponent an advantage. We trained well, Maggiore also returned to full fitness last Tuesday and has recovered physically and mentally. A clean and serious boy who will grow in condition, when he gives me condition I will throw him into the fray. Today there will be the last session before the pre-match retreat and tomorrow morning, with lucidity and clarity, I will choose the eleven. There are 29 of us, this type of difficulty is welcome. The bar is raised only like this”.
How useful was this stop?
“It’s pretentious to ask the team for things today that time hasn’t given me the chance to convey. I’d like to see the spirit of the last performances. There can be mistakes and defects, especially in tactical situations, but the sense of belonging must never be lacking. It’s a concept that I repeat to the boys every day, then the growth will come week after week. We can’t be very organized, during this break I started again from those situations that I proposed on 12-13 July in retreat. Today I have 29 players and I don’t want people to go home dissatisfied. 10 training sessions don’t change much, it takes time. Stojanovic, Ferrari, Jaroszynski, Soriano, Adelaide have played in higher categories, but objectively speaking we have worked together little to have the certainties that I want. For now it’s enough for me that they maintain the same attitude. I know that you and the people want everything right away, you like novelty. But the result is achieved through a project. We are tracing the foundations, we have made the perimeter useful for pouring the cement to structure the building”.
Will it be played with one striker or two forwards?
“Regardless of the game system, it is important to understand the importance of being balanced. We must not only attack or defend, you can dominate the game without taking many players beyond the ball line. When in Mantua we switched to 4-4-2 we conceded a little, if the opponent eludes the pressure they can create problems for us in the penalty area. Tomorrow is an important game, Pisa has experience and in this category they understand the weak points. They seem sly but then they manage to turn everything around. I preach balance from everyone, not just the players”.
Is there a player who can act as an attacking midfielder more than anyone else?
“We have several. Soriano, Adelaide, Hrustic, Tongya, Verde. I prefer to talk about the team and not the individuals, continuing to focus on the theme of balance. The changes during the previous matches were the result of the need to recover, forcing that could perhaps happen in the future when the teams have equal oxygenation. In some circumstances I changed when the opponents were more tired and their full-backs were declining in performance. The interpretation of the boys was important. Otherwise I would not have risked the four strikers as happened with Mantova and Sampdoria. I don’t like to take a punch and give another. We must learn to read and understand the phases of the match, to date we have not yet reached this level. I don’t know if it depends on inexperience, the heat, the transfer market. And it is a discussion that I can extend to other matches, not just ours. I see tacky goals. There is daily comparison with the boys, there is involvement. I take this opportunity to tell you an anecdote. During the week we were doing a particularly tough session, 3-4 players pointed out to me a teammate who was tired and at risk of flexor problems. I approached him, hugged him, he told me he wanted to continue. After 20 seconds the same scene happened. Luckily he didn’t get hurt but I appreciated the collective ability to think in a specific moment of the work”.
What group is being born?
“A lot of things have been said about the “old guys”, they haven’t shown me any wrong attitude. If they made some mistakes in the past, today they are mentally prepared and have moved forward. The new guys have also shown great availability. In this week of training I made myself known, they made themselves known, they spent time together. Torregrossa? If he hadn’t had any physical problems, perhaps he wouldn’t be playing in Serie B. For the guy he is and for the player he has shown himself to be, he is an added value, he is a top player that the technical staff must put in condition. He will give his contribution, we’ll see if from the beginning or during the course of the game”.
How is Valencia, who was one step away from leaving until a few days ago?
“Everyone showed up well, they worked in the right way. He has an open ear to the market as happened with Maggiore. He is giving me what I wanted, but I have to make choices and tomorrow three of them will go to the stands. He is not to blame for anything that is wrong but I am paid to make decisions. There is dialogue between all of us. I can call up everyone, but there must be 23 of them and I have 29. Anyone who distances themselves from this type of mentality cannot be in this group. It is part of the rules”.
He will return as a former Inzaghi. Did he ask anything to the players he led a year ago in Salerno?
“I don’t care about Inzaghi. I don’t want to be rude, but it’s not up to me to talk about his past at Salerno or his relationship with the owners. I’m focusing on my job.”
Do you think you have suffered refereeing errors?
“In some circumstances they have favored us, in others they have penalized us. At the time we poison ourselves with respect to clear situations, each individual reacts in his own way and lets instinct prevail. Everyone can make mistakes, if we don’t enter into this mechanism it’s difficult. Then maybe instinctively you tell him to go to hell. In my opinion favors and wrongs balance each other out, there are no conspiracy theories from this point of view”.
How did he work this week?
“I worked as a defensive phase based on the behavior of others. In the last few days we have instead insisted on the proposal also based on the characteristics of the opponent we will face”.