“We worked well. I am happy with the availability of the boys and we have prepared ourselves to face the match that comes, complex as always against a difficult opponent, in which we will have to perform to come out of the pitch with a positive result”: so Fabio Grossocoach of Sassuoloin the usual press conference on the eve of Rigamonti’s away match against Bresciamatch of the ninth day of Serie B.
How are the national team? Will Berardi be there from the start?
“Someone returned earlier, some later, but they are all in excellent condition. Every now and then getting fresh air can be helpful. We have them all available except Matteo Lovato, the recovery will be a little longer. As in the previous races too , reluctantly some boys will not come with us, but we are improving a lot even with those who are having less space, the various D’Andrea, Missori, Antiste, Kumi, Miranda, I am convinced that they are showing great participation, they have quality, they raise the level of training and they will be important. For the first time we have had Domenico on a continuous basis, he trains with great enthusiasm, he will be in the match but he won’t be in the entire match, we will have time to decide how much playing time he will have in this match.”
He never lost against Brescia as a former player. Is there a hint of revenge?
“I didn’t know it and I wish I didn’t know it. All the places I’ve been have left me something, even less positive experiences, and I think I’ve left something behind too. I’m happy to meet up with people I’ve spent a short time with, in a short time you can’t do great things, but in that short time I also had good relationships with someone and I’m happy to see him again. He’s an opponent who has defeated Palermo, Cremonese and Frosinone at home and who is a very worthy opponent. We’ll get there with humility and determination, ready to express our potential knowing that the difficulties will be high but we are also capable of presenting difficulties to our opponents”.
Could having interrupted this journey with the stop have been a problem?
“This is a post question. First we tried to do things well, working, struggling, doing intense training and we think we prepared well for a difficult race. Our goal is to try to give our best performance because it brings you to the best possible result and we will see what it will be.”
What would you like to see again compared to the last race?
“There have been positive things, we will try to propose them again on the pitch. Some good things have been done, we focused on some to improve but we do it in every match. Skill is trying to do it regardless of what the team tells you game and therefore knowing that there is always room for improvement and working to try to make up for these improvements.”
I wanted to send you a provocation: will the match against Brescia be a ‘greedy’ Sassuolo like with Cittadella or will it be a ‘satisfied’ Sassuolo like with Spezia?
“We are neither greedy nor do we want to settle. We try to arrive with great respect, aware of our qualities but knowing that they are not enough on their own, as the history of the championships shows us. This is something that we know well and should not surprise us, we know the many qualities that our opponents have, we must respond on the pitch to express our potential because we believe we have important qualities.”
The 6-1 at Cittadella attracted attention. Is there a risk of relaxing?
“There are always risks, our goal is to never let our guard down. We know what we want, we know how difficult it will be to go looking for it along the way. We have to be good at not letting ourselves relax or weaken ourselves with compliments or criticism. We know our path, our qualities, we know that they are not enough, we must combine all this with very great motivations and that we must always have”.