PRESS ROOM | Pisacane ahead of Lazio-Cagliari

Ahead of Lazio-Cagliari, Fabio Pisacane discusses the team’s current form, the condition of individual players and his selection decisions ahead of the trip to the Stadio Olimpico.

THE TEAM’S CURRENT FORM
“When you lose, you certainly cannot be in a good mood. The team realised that, against a strong Roma side, a little more attention would have been enough to come away with a result. It’s something that will help us grow.

GATTUSO’S LAZIO
“The league table speaks for itself. Lazio are coached by a great man, as well as a great manager. They are in excellent condition, both mentally and physically. Along with us, they were the team that had performed best. In my opinion, the difference comes down entirely to energy: they have managed to maintain it regardless of their opponents and the difficulties they have faced. They have a deep squad, talent and physical strength and, like all the teams near the top of Serie A, they have been well put together”.

THE DIFFICULTIES AND THE DEFEATS
“Losing is never pleasant, regardless of what you put into a game. At this moment, I need to give the team a sense of direction; that’s what I’m here for. We have had our defeats poorly distributed across the first nine matchdays, and that is a warning sign for us. Our energy levels are low, especially in those moments when we need to dig in and defend. Before, there was almost an individual and collective satisfaction in trying to keep a clean sheet. Now, a cross comes into the box and we might get our distances and positional references wrong. It’s something we need to work on: if we want to pick up points and win games, we need to show a different level of concentration.

DEFENSIVE BALANCE
“Defeats drain your energy. Our job now is to rebuild it through clarity, responsibility and the determination to help one another on the pitch. I believe strongly in energy. As I’ve always told the players, when we wake up in the morning, there’s a little bird knocking on our heads – the bad one – and we have to be good at keeping it under control. At the moment, it’s making a difference in the mind of every one of us. This team exceeded expectations over the first six matchdays, and I have to make sure I keep their confidence high, keep them focused and build their self-esteem. All of this must go hand in hand with meticulous attention to detail”.

ATTACKING OPTIONS
“I still need to assess the condition of all the players carefully, especially those who played more than 60 minutes in Rome. Nzola did better when he had the ball and tried to make himself available when he didn’t. Our defending starts with the attack, and we need to be even more proactive with our initial pressing. As for Fadera, we will assess his condition with the coaching staff and medical team, and he could be back in the side. There will be some changes because playing three games in a week, including two away trips, requires a significant physical effort. I’m convinced that whoever plays will do everything possible to turn this run of results around”.

MIDFIELD AND WINKS’ RETURN
“Deiola plays well both in midfield and in defence because he always brings the qualities I value most: the right attitude, a fighting spirit and a warrior’s mentality. Romano had a fantastic game. Winks has been training with the team since yesterday, and I’ll assess whether to use him. As with the other players, I’ll make the decisions I consider most appropriate. We need Winks to be able to do things to the best of our capabilities, including when we have possession. The team has also done well in terms of keeping the ball and building play, but at the moment I don’t have a particularly deep squad when it comes to midfield options off the bench. My decisions will depend exclusively on the individual players’ condition”.

EARNING THE OPPONENTS’ RESPECT
“During the first six matchdays, this team earned the respect of its opponents, but that doesn’t mean we should crumble at the first sign of difficulty like snow in the sun. The problem isn’t what other people think, but what we might unconsciously start thinking ourselves. We’re pleased by what an opponent who is currently in excellent form has said about us, but it should also put us on our guard. We’re facing a difficult game against a team with impressive numbers, and we want to go there and put in an important performance.

SULEV’S DEVELOPMENT
“Ivan is a player I know extremely well because, when I took over the Primavera team, he was very young, perhaps 15. The Club made a significant investment by bringing him to Italy, to Cagliari, from Bulgaria, because they believed in his qualities. He needs time to settle in, and he’s fortunate to have a manager who has been watching him for three and a half years; that can help him along his journey. He clearly has technical quality, a good left foot and, physically, he has plenty of power. He’s a player with outstanding qualities, and I believe in him. Perhaps his moment will come tomorrow, in a month’s time, or perhaps it never will: it depends on circumstances and how things fall into place. In any case, he’s a player I hold in very high regard”.

ON SUGAWARA
“He needs to improve in certain areas of what I ask of him, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of defending. I want certain things in specific areas of the pitch, and he’s working hard to meet those demands. He’s willing to learn and everyone likes him. I think he had a good game in Rome in terms of his work on the ball. When you concede a goal, especially from a cross, three or four players are involved: perhaps the distances and positional references were wrong. I don’t feel it’s fair to blame him. He’s a serious professional, a player with important qualities, and I’m convinced he’ll make his contribution”.

TACTICAL SET-UP
“The game against Roma is behind us. We lost it and came home empty-handed. There were some positive aspects and plenty of things to analyse and correct, but that game is no longer relevant. Tomorrow will be a completely different match, against an opponent who plays and attacks space in a different way. We need to understand what we did well and what we got wrong in Rome, trying to reproduce the positive aspects and correct the negative ones. Against Roma, we defended with three and with five at the back, and built up with a back four, pushing Sugawara higher up the pitch, with Fadera almost playing as an advanced winger and Nzola acting as the target man. Tomorrow we could see a different set-up, both in and out of possession”.

HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GATTUSO
“The greatest compliment I can pay Gattuso today is to say that I see him as a human role model, as a man. I know Gennaro, I respect him, and I also know his father and, therefore, his roots. I’m delighted with what he’s doing because he deserves it. I know how much he suffered, including after his time with the national team. From a technical and tactical perspective, he’s a manager with more experience and more seasons in the game than I have. I take ideas from everyone, and he’s one of the managers I’ve been keen to watch over the past few months because I’ve seen things that are different from what he used to do”.

THE PLAYERS
“I think Obert may have been affected a little by his time with the national team, where he played almost every game. He arrived just two days before the match against Juventus, and the lad has been exemplary. He needs to improve above all in picking up his positional references in the penalty area, something he did in the second half against Roma when marking Mancini. I have faith in him, and he needs to stay calm. I don’t think he’s physically drained, although he’s played a lot of games and may be feeling the effects of the effort. I expect Maldini to be on the pitch. He has a slight problem, an inflammation that he’s been carrying for some time, but he needed to rest. When he returned from international duty, he hadn’t trained much and had also been through a significant emotional effort. That allowed me to bring him on in Rome and give him some rest. If he’s feeling well tomorrow, he’ll certainly be involved. Fazzini has done a very good job over the past month with the fitness staff. We’re convinced that his physical condition has improved considerably. He’s someone who could start tomorrow. Trepy was perhaps one of the most positive aspects of the game in Rome. It’s a shame because, after the move he created all by himself, he deserved a different ending. He’s another option for us: he attacks the space in behind, and has both technical ability and physical strength. This month, enormous credit must go to the medical and fitness departments for the way they’ve looked after him and supported him. Seeing him back on a Serie A pitch after 71 days is something that also does justice to all those people who don’t often get mentioned but work incredibly hard for the good of Cagliari.”