Venice – End of the match at Penzo. Venice-Sampdoria 5-3. Vanoli leaves the press room, meets Pirlo and stops to talk. Hug, pat on the back and word to the Sampdoria player. He tries to lighten up. «What were you saying to each other? He asked him if he would give you a tip, given that Venezia has plenty? «No – Pirlo replies – he asked me if we could do something on the transfer market, but I told him that we are blocked, we can't do anything for now». The coach's analysis focuses on two concerns: injuries and the inability to strengthen. And on the positive side, the team's desire, penalized by the usual individual errors. «Did I expect it to be so hard? If we hadn't had these 7-8 injured players, who would be important for every B team – observes Pirlo – we wouldn't be in the standings at this point, the team was very competitive”. And if the blockage on the market is added to the injuries, the climb is even steeper. «When we put it back together at 3-3, if I had had the chance I would have put a defender but on the bench we only had a Primavera player (Lotjonen ed.) who was also coming off an ankle injury. Having little opportunity to change becomes difficult. We do what we can. But don't feel sorry for yourself.”
Pirlo promotes the attitude of the team: «There is nothing to criticize about the attitude and desire shown in the match. The goals conceded were individual errors, the usual ones we make. We were also left with 10 men, 11 against 11 would have been another match, we had started well, with the possibility of scoring.” But the coach doesn't take it out on the referee at the end of the match: «There were mistakes on our part. We work a lot on aggression on crosses, but instead we let them stop and watch: on the cross we shouldn't think “it's not my stuff”, because the danger is created on the other side.”
But the coach encourages his team: «We were equally good. We must maintain this attitude, the great desire not to give up, to also form a group with the fans, who are also numerous in Venice. We stick to this.” Among the mistakes, Ricci's penalty foul weighs heavily: «Someone with his experience cannot make that mistake – recognizes Pirlo – defenders don't slide into the area, let alone if midfielders can do it, I told him, it shouldn't happen , the details make the difference even if he played his game in a role that wasn't his.” Even without Esposito, Borini and Pedrola, three goals arrived: «We have always created opportunities since the beginning of the year, perhaps finalized a little less. The thing I argue about is that a goal can also be scored in the last minute but you have to stay in the game until the end and something can happen, even on a placed spot or an opponent's mistake. But if you concede these types of goals it becomes more difficult.”
We think about the next one. «We won't recover injured players and Benedetti won't be there, we'll have to invent something. And we will have to bring in some young Primavera players, I had 4-5 on the bench, at this moment they can be an added value. We fight with who we have. The ranking is short, we play game by game trying to win.”
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