Berlin (AP) – Alexander Blessin, as coach of the Italian first division football club CFC Genoa, even drew the attention of Italy’s coaching legend Fabio Capello.
“Honestly, I never thought he’d know my name. It makes me feel small next to him. Still, of course it’s an honor for me. I was very happy that he saw a few of our games,” said Blessin a “Sport1” interview.
Capello, who won the Italian championship seven times and the Champions League once during his coaching career, recently said that Blessin’s tactics were a textbook example of how Italian football could emerge from its crisis.
“We got applause after the first game”
The 48-year-old from Stuttgart took over the Serie A club, which had almost been relegated, in January, and now Genoa is only three points short of a saving place. “I was eyed critically by the Tifosi at first. In Genoa there was a mood of doom, many no longer believed in staying up, but after the first game we got applause straight away because the fans saw what we were planning to do with the team,” said Blessin.
The defense in particular is outstanding. “Since I’ve been here we’ve been fantastic in defense and conceded just three goals in nine games. The crux of the matter is that we’ve only scored three goals too, failing to convert our many quality chances into more goals. “
Blessin explains that Nadiem Amiri, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, is not yet working with his corona infection. “Nadiem has incredible skills,” said Blessin. “We have to bring him up to make him more resilient.” But it’s not the time “to throw us around with deployment times. I feel particularly sorry for him because he was very unlucky.”