Below are the statements of the Salernitana coach Stefano Colantuono on the eve of tomorrow afternoon’s match against Modena:
Mister, what are the difficulties of tomorrow’s match?
“Modena is an excellent team, the classic category opponent who can put anyone in difficulty. I also trained a couple of players: I made Caldara his debut, Palumbo was very young when he arrived at Salernitana and today he is there a leader. They are well trained and an excellent and important performance will be needed without looking too much at the rankings while being aware that, in such a balanced tournament, 2-3 victories in a row allow you to get on board.”
Stojanovic and Ghiglione did very well as fifths, considering the many absences, will Sfait be the only alternative on the left?
“I can tell you that Sfait won’t be there, he had some problems during the week. I did some experiments during the week, also trying Gentile. Then there’s Kallon, but we need to work on him. He played this role in Genoa, but his characteristics are markedly offensive and in the non-possession phase there are different deliveries and I would like to go into more depth. Njoh will also be missing and we are in a bit of an emergency but we adapt. Sfait himself is a player more inclined to attack than to defend, Njoh instead it is more a fifth suited to our ideas”.
Does Tongya recover?
“He’s almost ready, but the same thing applies to Maggiore. He’s re-athleticizing himself, he’s recovering, but bringing him tomorrow would be a stretch. I prefer to leave him here, let him train again without subjecting him to the psychophysical stress of the trip. I prefer to recover him well and look after him available against Juve Stabia. We are talking about an excellent player.”
Your opinion on Adelaide?
“All of them are important players, they demonstrated it in the match against Carrarese which was absolutely not easy. And tomorrow it will be an equal challenge. As for Adelaide, they are not yet 100% and we are realizing that it is an added value and that it has another step. We are managing him to avoid other types of problems, but he is constantly growing and we are sure that he can provide a great contribution. There is no doubt about this.
What do you expect from the team tomorrow?
“We have to guess the approach. I have read their statements and I know that they want to win at all costs. Of course, no coach says they want to lose and these are classic phrases of circumstance, but the approach will make the difference and we will have to adapt to many environmental situations too. There are many things not to do wrong, we will try to play football and we have good players. I’m fine with risking one-on-one matches if the team is proactive. We need a game of great attention, just as the championship requires of series B. Who will have more quality in the long run. I don’t want to go from an exciting victory to a “two steps behind” match, I expect at least a performance of the same level It’s important to put together some victories.”
Attackers scoring again, how is Simy working?
“He’s a rebalancing player. I know him well, he can give us a hand and he showed it as a substitute. He’s a decent boy, first and foremost. He’s the one who knows the Italian championship the most and who can be a point of reference for foreign players. We need goals from the attackers, those in Serie B who have people who clock in can get to checkers. I would like to remind you that Simy had already scored 2-3 important goals. It was up to us to put them in a position to score goal from Soriano, born from a long insertion. In general, however, I say that we must not indulge in flights of fancy. Otherwise the awakening is traumatic. I liked that Calabro said that Salernitana was foaming at the mouth: that’s the phrase I liked the metaphorical character. It’s a necessary characteristic in this championship, tomorrow I want to see a team of soldiers.”
Are you working to improve the defensive phase?
“First of all, it is impossible for an opponent not to create any danger for 90-95 minutes in a difficult championship like Serie B. I refer to my two matches: against Sassuolo I would say that we gave away a couple of goals. For the rest with Carrarese I saw some steps forward and their initial opportunity came from an undetected foul on Soriano. If it goes down the referee blows his whistle, if there hadn’t been a save on the line I think VAR would have intervened. As I said before, sometimes you can concede one-on-ones but I have good players who give me guarantees from this point of view.”
What do you expect tomorrow? Can’t the team that wins change?
“Difficult match, against a top-class opponent who exploits the physicality of the defenders by sending many of them scoring on dead balls. We will have to be very careful, when a team manages to be balanced in both phases it can make the superior technical rate prevail. If today in finishing, if nothing happens, I would like to give continuity to the team that performed well against Carrarese, my compliment also extends to the players who came on in the second half and who offered their contribution as demonstrated by Simy La’s goal continuity is fundamental for us.”