After Aldo Firicano, he was the last “hard and pure” libero to wear the rossoblù shirt, brought to Sardinia by his “mentor” Gian Piero Ventura.
Even today Francesco Zanoncelli shows that he has a special eye for his former team: in fact, he always follows Cagliari’s ups and downs with attention and participation, maintaining his proverbial realism and basic pragmatism.
Francesco, Cagliari concedes a lot of goals and almost never scores. The midfield struggles to act as a glue with the attack and the points are just two in five games. In short, it seems to work very little…
“First of all, let’s say that the goal declared by the club since the beginning of the season is to reach safety as soon as possible: I don’t think there are or were any other particular ambitions. So the fact of suffering had to be taken into account a little… Of course, maybe things have been going objectively badly lately – I’m thinking especially of the last match, the one with Empoli – but Cagliari knew well that it would face a difficult and troubled championship.
The repeated setbacks have certainly created discontent and bad feelings among the players and the fans, but I am convinced that the team was assembled to be able to achieve salvation. There is also a coach who, from this point of view, truly represents a guarantee. And yesterday’s victory in the Italian Cup against Cremonese is in any case an injection of confidence for the entire group.
I repeat, the focus must be on salvation. Full stop. After all, I don’t think the club has ever had any different ambitions. And the fans are also aware of the fact that that is the finish line to reach, in light of the real potential of the rossoblù squad.”
From what you have seen so far, what are Cagliari’s biggest problems? Do they struggle more in defense, midfield or attack?
“I think it’s more of a collective problem. Initially the team had also made a good impression, then it ran into a series of defeats suffered against opponents, however, very uncomfortable. This must be remembered. Empoli itself, on paper not highly rated, at this moment is a loose cannon for any team in Serie A.
The Cagliari players must now unite and regain some confidence and self-esteem. The environment must remain calm and continue to make its support felt both for the club and the team. Also because, I repeat, the objectives are very clear: achieving safety for the islanders is equivalent to winning a championship.”