PRESS ROOM | Mr. Pisacane’s words

These are the words of Fabio Pisacane, Cagliari coach, after the match at the “Artemio Franchi” stadium in Florence against the Viola.

THE MATCH ANALYSIS
I’m happy for the lads; they showed the same spirit of sacrifice as against Juventus, adding some truly remarkable and quality plays. I’d emphasize our ability to sacrifice and suffer when necessary: ​​we could have made it 3-0, we showed all the qualities needed to achieve our goal. I would have accepted a draw, but I certainly would never have agreed to it before: we must work to make nights like this and victories like this a regular occurrence, not the exception. We must have ambitious dreams and goals; that’s the only way to grow. We interpreted the game plan well, we know what we have to do and how to achieve it. Today we won not because we’re simply strong, but first and foremost because we were a team. It was normal to drop back a bit and suffer when Fiorentina brings on so many quality attacking players. We’re talking about a very strong opponent, built for other objectives and who continues to replace good players with equally valuable ones. We’ll enjoy this victory, take a break, and focus on Verona, because it will be a truly important matchup.

THE ROUTE AND THE PERFORMANCES
“When you have to stay up, it’s important to perform well in both phases. Points certainly count, not compliments. Today and against Juventus, we took home the entire prize; in Cremona and Genoa, we had almost 40 shots on target and only one point. So, sometimes, it’s appropriate to keep a low block and attack in a certain way. I think it’s presumptuous to play differently, especially against big teams like Fiorentina, who in my opinion have one of the best squads in Serie A. Today, it was a head-to-head clash in terms of the standings, but in terms of quality, the Viola are in a very different league to us. So, it takes humility and the ability to manage all situations. Our ball possession rate in the last two games hasn’t been particularly high, but today it’s improved compared to a week ago, so maybe we’ll improve on that front too. In the meantime, let’s continue on this path, which is undoubtedly the right one: I think the result of a match rarely lies, whether you win or lose, even by a heavy margin. Then you need to analyze the data, the moments, and all the factors in a comprehensive way.”

STRONG GROUP
“I’ve seen many of these guys work brilliantly over the years, when I was at the training center in other roles. I coach a strong group. We don’t look too much at the standings; we know Serie A well and we know how tricky it is. Now we’ll take a break for a day, then we’ll immediately work on the match against Hellas Verona.”

ESPOSITO’S SACRIFICE
“He has great quality, he knows that playing for Cagliari, this Cagliari, requires sacrifice and dedication at all times; then, with a certain spirit, his technical skills and individual creativity emerge, and that was evident again today in many moments, including Sebastiano’s assist for Marco.”

SUPER PALESTRA
“He has untapped potential. If he improves his ability to run free, move off the ball, and change direction, he can really explode. This is a generation, as I always say, that thrives on applause and praise. Today, Marco needs to hear my compliments; he deserves them. He can become something incredible for our football. He needs to work, as he is doing, on some technical and tactical aspects, but that’s normal. However, he has the maturity to focus on growth and become a very important player for Italian football.”

SULEMANA, THE HUG FOR THE BOYS AND ALBARRACIN
“Ibrahim came on at his best, I had no doubts. He further raised the level of the midfield, giving us an extra solution, he did well. The lads trust the demands made of them, the hug with Mina also comes from this, but it was a hug to the whole group for how they work and for everything they give me. Albarracin? I spoke to him in the past few days, he’s a 2005 player we’ve been following, and we hope he can give us a lot by joining us and gradually developing like the other young players in the squad. I hope he becomes another very important Uruguayan in Cagliari’s history. We must never get too excited, you always need to be balanced in your judgments and assessments. Now let’s focus on Verona, after Genoa it wasn’t a given that we’d bounce back like this, and after two consecutive wins it will be important to be immediately mentally prepared for another direct clash.”