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12.00 – The two consecutive defeats against Napoli and Udinese have put Parma in perspective, after the sprint start of the first two matchdays. Pecchia’s team, if they want to aim for a comfortable salvation, must avoid lapses in concentration and errors, because Serie A does not give anything away. Tomorrow the Crociati are engaged in a fundamental direct clash in Lecce, where it is mandatory to get back to scoring, to immediately find enthusiasm and awareness. In a few minutes, mister Fabio Pecchia will present the challenge from the press room of the Mutti Training Center in Collecchio. Follow his words live thanks to the LIVE! of TMW.
12.29 – The conference begins.
How is the team psychologically?
“Accepting criticism is part of the game. This swing of emotions that revolves around the team is not good, this team needs enthusiasm. Our trajectory is quite clear, we need to maintain a certain solidity. When you lose you have to know how to deal with criticism and everything that goes around it”.
Tomorrow is a challenge between teams with the same goal:
“The team’s clear objective is to maintain the category, it will be a marathon, a very long match, whoever has more balance will reach the objective. Every match is different, on Monday we faced Udinese who are in that position in the standings, not by chance. Tomorrow we face Lecce who in the last matches, especially in Turin, I have seen in excellent physical and mental condition”.
Start of the season with many injuries and suspensions, who do you have back?
“This has created a few more obstacles for us in addition to those of the opponents on the pitch. We have to respond as a group, between suspensions and injuries the number of players has been reduced but we have to have the energy to face tomorrow’s match. There is certainly Suzuki, there is a Hernani who has worked during the week and has improved his condition, then the rest of the group is the same as last week”.
You have an attack from the left side of the table, six goals with three different strikers:
“Speaking of solidity I am talking about the mental aspect, there is a dispersion of useless energy with everything that is created around the team. We go out on the pitch to try to score and win, approaching them with a certain spirit. This has been the positive aspect of this start and we must continue to work on this path. The desire to score must not be only from the attacker, I hope that the midfielders find the goal, we need goals from every department. Then we must record some situations when the opponents put us under pressure”.
Will it be an opportunity to try again the attacking module seen on Monday or could we see three midfielders with Hernani?
“Both hypotheses are valid, on Monday we faced a structured team like Udinese with quality offensive players and we managed to maintain balance. It’s not a question of men but of interpretation and on Monday in the first half it was very positive. Hernani is an important player also from a psychological point of view, he is a reference and also allows us tactically to be able to rotate, to have an offensive player and to have structure in the offensive phase. It was important for us to recover him”.
Did Almqvist tell you anything about Lecce? Any previews of the lineup?
“I spoke with Pontus, he gave us some indications about some players, but Lecce have changed several men this year. He wants to do well, he wants to show off, he wants to give his contribution, whether it’s at the beginning of the match or at the end of the match”.
What kind of week has it been after a defeat, especially for the youngsters? Does it leave any after-effects?
“It’s a game that burns, we faced a healthy team, physically strong, that never lost its balance. This gives value to our good start until the goal in Lucca. There is disappointment and anger but this is Serie A, we will need it. Probably last year we would have handled it differently”.
Since you’ve been in Parma, you’ve always suffered in the post-national matches. Is it a coincidence or are training sessions different?
“These are different weeks, many coaches say so. It doesn’t depend on the type of work, we don’t do extra work during this period. However, clearly with so many players away, with the travel, this creates some discomfort for the boys”.
How to explain such a high number of injuries compared to last year?
“There could be many reasons but I think that the championship is also this, the rhythms and the loads are different, even our type of match is different. We need to adapt to the category, we are paying the price”.
Parma would be first at the end of the first half, does this difference compared to the second half have any value?
“We won the match against Milan in the second half. It depends on how you want to see things, we got four points, the only victory came in the final against Milan. I would instead underline how much good the boys did, for the desire to play the matches at their best, entering the field looking for the goal. This is a great positive thing, I would praise this”.
The defense hasn’t been very solid, especially on high balls. Do you think you’ll change anything?
“Even in these numbers, two goals with Delprato in goal have an impact, he will certainly have to work on coming out on high balls… The numbers are distorted, more attention is certainly needed in some situations, but there is also the skill of the opponents”.
Is it a coincidence that the two rookies were the ones expelled?
“Since it’s a team of rookies, it’s nothing special. We have a percentage of 99% rookies, so this doesn’t have any weight in the statistics.”
Parma makes few fouls, Udinese has made many. They need more malice, should the team learn from this?
“We have to learn a lot of things, we have room for improvement, the boys want to grow in every aspect. In management, on the defensive level, and also in their grit, if we want to use this term. To get a result you need everything, this too must be useful, we have to work on it. On the bench I often get nervous when there are systematic fouls, they must be punished because they are a form of interruption, not necessarily only reckless fouls deserve a warning. The systematic must be punished, but there are aspects on which we must improve and this is one of them”.
12.50 – The conference ends.