Collecchio, 20 January 2023 – The words of Crociati coach Fabio Pecchia during the press conference ahead of the match against Perugia in the press room of the Collecchio training centre.
THE MATCH AGAINST PERUGIA
“There is a desire to respond on the pitch and to work, to show that we are capable of doing certain things. And there is little else to add. It was the same against Bari, but the team five days before had a very high level performance. And so the team must be able to pick up from what it did before the Bari game. At this moment there is little desire to talk, it is true that the team is young but it is also aware of the situation, of what we have experienced. More application, more attention to work on the pitch, because then everything is reflected in the game. This week there has been a big push, even more, on work, on the desire to do our own thing and little desire to talk. From a mental point of view we must be good at facing them with the patience of knowing how to find the right opening at the right moment. This is the proof that when you’re not at your best you can run into underwhelming performances. Or perform at a very high level, like against the most in-form team in Serie A. When you lack physical or mental energy, you can stumble. Franco (Vazquez) is well, he has worked and recovered, Bob (Inglese) too. Mihaila won’t be there”.
THE WORK WITH THE CLUB
“Since the beginning of the season we’ve been talking, there’s continuous communication and it’s not that this only needs to be shown in the most challenging moments. There is a desire to be together, to work, to pull together. There is little to talk about, we just have to keep our heads down and push on. The relationship with the club is constant, at this moment even more so. But it has always been there. We’re just concentrating on the work on the pitch.”
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FANS
“When we started in the first friendly matches the fans noticed a good attitude, a good way of holding ourselves on the pitch, which conveyed passion. That created a good atmosphere around the team and that has continued. Beyond the expectations from the fans to want more and more, but at a time when this path of ours has been wobbly, this environment has been forged. At the moment, the sense of responsibility increases even more. I keep saying it, it’s a journey that must be made, the team needs its fans, its people, and this passes through to the performance. We, for the most part, have succeeded in this and we have come even closer to the fans. And a good atmosphere was created. There is little to be surprised about, so much depends on what we manage to do on the pitch. Everything around us is a consequence of what we do on the pitch. For us, it is even more of a responsibility.”
THE ANALYSIS
“There were some victories, like the performance in Venice, that was of a very high level, but as a team I had a good part of the group. In other games we were poor, in that case there was a deserved result. The group always works, and works hard. The team’s attitude can change when there are so many injuries. That’s the beauty of football: tomorrow we have to do our talking on the pitch”.
