PRESS ROOM | Pisacane presents Fiorentina-Cagliari

Fabio Pisacane presents Fiorentina-Cagliari, the match scheduled for Saturday at 6:00 PM at the “Artemio Franchi” stadium. The Rossoblu coach spoke in the press room at the Unipol Domus.

READY FOR THE MATCH
“Everyone has been called up except the injured Belotti, Felici, Folorunsho, and Deiola, as well as Di Pardo, who is suffering from a calf strain. Liteta and Pintus are not starting and will play on Monday against Sassuolo in the Primavera 1 championship to gain playing time and help the Under-20s. When you win, sometimes it means things are working, so the idea might be to leave nothing, or almost nothing, in place. But every match is a story in itself, and we’ve prepared carefully, as always, looking at who we’re facing and our own characteristics, working on what worked well against Juventus and what we didn’t. Sulemana and Dossena? They’ve brought enthusiasm; it was important to bring in players who don’t need time to settle in and who know the environment they’ve returned to. They’ve raised the level of training; they’re two important players. We’re confident; it will be an important match because, looking at the table, it’s a direct clash, but Fiorentina has top-level qualities and isn’t built to be there; they’re a very strong team that The club is changing its face with the transfer market, bringing in quality players in place of others who are just as important. The Viola are confident about their results and performances, but certainly from a human point of view, the blow of losing their president shouldn’t be underestimated.”

THE VICTORY AGAINST JUVENTUS
“I always think about the team, not the individual. After Genoa, the team was aware of the setback, but also of having done many good things despite many absences and a young group with only two experienced players. Just as we shouldn’t have gotten depressed before, I hope the team doesn’t get too excited now, but I’m convinced that won’t happen. We know the objective; against Juventus, the statistics were against us, but I think the numbers speak for one match and not the entire journey, which we know very well.”

IMPORTANT MATCHES AGAINST DIRECT RIVALS ON THE FIGHT FOR SERIE A
The team has always tried to implement the game plan laid out during the week. It’s not about taking home compliments, but points. We applied a different strategy against Juventus. Head-to-head matches? We lost one, but everyone has their own vision, even if sometimes I don’t agree with it. In recent weeks, in some head-to-head matches between the various teams, there was more fear of losing than desire to win, and it also depends on the timing of the matches. Given their transfer campaign and the quality of their squad, I don’t see Sassuolo among the teams that need to stay up, like Fiorentina. We need to find the right balance, even in our evaluations. There have been games—against the big teams and against our direct rivals—in which we’ve performed well and others less so, but the timing, absences, and fitness levels also need to be taken into account.

AGAINST VANOLI
“It’s a source of pride to face him. He’s a coach with more experience than me. He worked with Conte and has international experience. Playing against him is like playing against everyone else; it’s always a high-level challenge that’s very stimulating. In every match, I realize where I am and the difficulties I face every day.”

GAETANO PLAYMAKER
“He has the qualities a playmaker needs. He has personality, he’s a guy who sees himself in that role; we’ve talked about it often. He’d been seen in that position years ago. I don’t want this to be seen as a stroke of genius on my part: if he’d performed poorly, it would have been necessary to see him play that position again in other games anyway, because a player needs three or four games to understand whether he can thrive in a certain position and with such tactical duties.”

THE EVOLVING TRANSFER MARKET
“The transfer market is dynamic, and it’s a time when some players, especially those less used, may have unsettling thoughts. I know I have a healthy group of professionals, as I do. All those leaving for Florence are players who are part of the project and ready to make themselves available from the start or during the match. There’s certainly some talk about the attack, but these are issues that concern the manager first and foremost. The transfer market is dynamic, there are opportunities, and they can arise at any time. Dossena and Sulemana are two players we really wanted, and I thank the club for making me happy. We’re vigilant; if someone leaves, we’ll bring in others. Prati is leaving for Florence; he’s a Cagliari player, but anything can happen, but that applies to many players.”

WEATHER WARNING AND TRAINING
“In this tragedy, where I’ve seen parts of this land disappear, albeit temporarily, I’m convinced that everything will be fine. No one expected something like this, but these situations make you stronger. It’s a gut punch every time something happens to this land. In the first few days of training after Juventus, some players needed to recover, and we worked more on strength in the gym than on the pitch given the wind and persistent rain, but these are small things compared to the effects it had in some parts of Sardinia.”

DIFFICULTIES FOR FANS
“For the fans, we’ve reached a point where we need to rethink certain things, especially when it comes to organizing, because it’s tough to know at the last minute whether they’ll be able to go to the stadium to see their team. It’s tough, but we’re happy for those around Italy who are showing us their support. We need our fans, even far from Sardinia, and it’s increasingly difficult for them to organize; it’s not good, and something needs to be revisited.”