Cremonese, Ballardini: “Sampdoria is well equipped, we have more bruised players”

The coach spoke at the press conference on the eve of the match against the Blucerchiati

La Cremonese is a guest tomorrow at 16.30 of Sampdoria by Dejan Stankovic, who is back from the knockout at Roma. After the defeat in the semi-final first leg of the Italian Cup against Fiorentina, coach Davide Ballardini presents the match in the press conference on the eve of this: “We’re worse off than the match we had with Lecce, we have more bruised players and we’ll have to assess players like Meïté, Benassi and others.This however does not matter, tomorrow is an important match and therefore we need to do it as best as possible despite the many difficulties that exist, we have never apologized, we are happy when we do well and we recognize when things go badly, without an excuse. How do I see Sampdoria? They changed a lot in January, now they have a clear identity and a competitive squad of players because where they go they always play good matches and good results, at home they won against Verona and it is certainly a team that is well equipped and it is the testimony that despite this it is in that position in the table, it is testimony to the great balance that exists in our championship”.

“Won’t there be emotion for my return to Marassi? No, there isn’t this feeling because there is only attention to the match – continues the grey-red coach -. Now I say so, then anyway for about ten years we have up and down and more than 150 games with Genoa, but that thought didn’t come to me. We have other thoughts. Is it a decisive match to change the season like in the first leg? A lot has changed, in January it’s a structured team. With the Cup match is all concentrated in a few hours and a few days, until Wednesday we were thinking about doing well in the Cup and then our thoughts immediately turned to tomorrow’s match but you understand that between Wednesday night and Saturday at 4.30 there is little time. Everything is concentrated and we think only of us, of the players who are doing well, of recovering those who have spent a lot. These are the thoughts on which we are concentrated. Can Dessers and Buonaiuto be re-proposed? Unfortunately I remember a Verona-Cremonese match in which Buonaiuto and Dessers, I don’t know if you remember… It’s true that against Fiorentina they were good because they went in well and another Cremonese was seen in the second half. In my opinion, the two of them are not enough for the attack, because you need support to give them the opportunity to play the ball on the ground, but the two of them need an additional presence to support the attack. Does Dessers seem more effective as a substitute? It’s also true that up to now we’ve often been better in the second half of the match. With Monza, as I told Dessers himself, he didn’t enter with the right attitude, while on many other occasions he did and it’s also true that we often struggle in the first half because we’re not so bright and intense right away, but it takes time to get in the way. Those who enter the second half, not only him, find a more lively and ready team, therefore more proactive. The ideal would be to start well right away, intensely and then try to play the game that way. Even Fiorentina, who are one of the best in form today, had an excellent first half but then suffered in the second. There are few teams that play the whole game with such attention and intensity.”

“Should I think of deploying Buonaiuto in the trequarti? I had Cossu who didn’t even play in Serie C at Verona – explains Ballardini -, he came to Serie A and did very well as an attacking midfielder. Daniele Conti missed a game and I made him play director: Buonaiuto for me he is that prototype player there. He likes to start more from the left to return, he sees the game from there because he scores the ball or finishes the action. He can be there, but for me the attacking midfielder is an attacking midfielder , while Buonaiuto is a striker. The attacking midfielder is clearly good at finishing, but he’s a midfielder: he does well with presence and attention and determination in the two phases of the game. Buonaiuto is a second striker or a winger, if you play with him and two forwards I have three players with strong offensive qualities. If blocking Augello means blocking Sampdoria’s game? Eh maybe… Looking at Sampdoria there are many players with championships behind them such as Rincon, Winks, Gabbiadini, Djuricic… They are players thick, but it’s true that Augello is a symbolic player for seriousness and quality, he arrived who wasn’t even considered too much instead thanks to his commitment and his quality he carved out an important role in the team. He is a player to be limited because dangerous situations can arise from there.”

“In terms of characteristics, the ideal second striker for Tsadjout, Dessers and Ciofani is Okereke – he clarifies on the solutions in attack -, after the others they have characteristics that are not exactly similar. The first striker is Ciofani, while the others can play first (Dessers, Tsadjout and Felix), but they express themselves better as second striker, even if Dessers can still play first striker like Tsadjout, but they can do it. Who certainly cannot play as second striker is Ciofani. How is Quagliata and if we will be able to see any young players from the Primavera “Very good, he should have come in against Fiorentina. We’re also calling Basso Ricci, who at the moment seems like a guy who fits in, he trains with the first team and he’s in with them, so for now he’s with him. They’re training Borghesan and Grandoni are also often with us. If we have worked on the smudges at a defensive level in the last few outings? The defensive phase is not only done by the defenders, if you only put them under pressure it is clear that sooner or later the defender will find the attacker who will dismark. For me the defensive phase should be done well by the whole team, our midfielders must always help the defenders. In case someone suffers there must be coverage and then maybe you have less difficulty. Clearly between Wednesday and today we didn’t work on it because there wasn’t time, but we work on it every day because it allows us to play with clear references. In what perspective will you work in these two months, given that we work well here? Precisely for this reason, for me you are very stimulated to think that tomorrow you can do better, the day after tomorrow even better, etc. As I have said on many other occasions, all the premises are there: society, the environment, structures… For me it is a crime not to do well in a situation like this. I repeat that the city and the people are very close to the Cremonese, you know the company better than me and you know that it is serious and strong and in any case always present. The structures are there, it’s a crime not to be able to do well in a situation like this.”