Alla vigilia di Como-Torino, il tecnico granata Paolo Vanoli ha così presentato in conferenza stampa la partita
It’s the eve of Como-Torino and, as usual on the day before a match, Granata coach Paolo Vanoli introduces the match in a press conference. “The team is well. Apart from Lazaro we are all there, Valentino has a small problem with the soleus and he won’t even make it for tomorrow but we will try to recover him as soon as possible because he is an important player.”
La conferenza stampa di Vanoli
You score from 12 games in a row, to load the players do you use these statistics? “No, that’s not what I need. I always push the team to score goals because I like to create. This statistic pleases but it is not something I look at. What pleases me more is that this team used to be tied to one player in the making, instead now we go in goal with more men. We have to keep doing that, it’s part of our growth.”
How do you deal with Como? “I give kudos to Fabregas. I was lucky enough to see him as a player at Chelsea, every training session he showed a strong mentality like the other Spaniards. It is no accident that he won I don’t know how many titles. But we see even now what Pedro is doing. As a coach I had the pleasure of seeing him last year that we fought until the end for promotion, they were better in the final part, we were good in the playoffs. Como is a continuously growing club, they made a functional market in January, they added young prospects and quality.”
Without Ricci better a two or three-way midfielder? “This team has the ability to play both ways. You know that within the game there are more game and even in the game you can change the module. The module is not the priority today but it is how you play the role.”
Could Vlasic be moved further back? “No, I am lucky to have midfielders who can fill Ricci’s place. Therefore, it makes no sense to start with Vlasic in midfield.”
Ilic has 90 minutes in his legs, can he play in Ricci’s place? “There are Ilic, Tameze, Gineitis, Linetty, I have various options to choose from.”
Did Ricci see him calm after the bet case? “Yes. Yesterday he also talked to the president who came to the Philadelphia. I saw him serene, calm. He apologized to us for the expulsion and also asked to come to Como with the team, this is a beautiful gesture of a captain who wants to be close to the team.”
Aren’t you amazed by what is emerging, with so many kids involved with betting? “Society has changed, I see it with my kids as well. We have to try to understand the kids. Then for what is happening we wait to understand the truth. However, as a coach and as an educator I am thinking a lot about this, it is my duty also as a parent.”
Would he have expected this leap of Fabregas from player to coach? “The coaching job you have to have it inside. Then you also have to give kudos to the club that I am carrying out an important work by taking players who are functional to Fabregas’ game, this is what all clubs should do. Sometimes you need not only money but also ideas. Cesc comes from a soccer, like English soccer, where they are used to having managers and he is taking this path.”
Did you say anything to Milinkovic-Savic during the week? And did you happen to make any mistakes? “When I was an Under-17 I told my boys to go and see my goals, the internet however betrayed me because they found my first own goal. You know that Vanja has a great personality, this is his strength that sometimes, as it happened on Sunday, became his weakness. There is no need to tell him that he made a mistake, he knows that but he also knows that he is having a great season. But I also look at the positive things, it’s true that on Sunday I was angry for the first 45 minutes – it was a question of mentality on how you have to face a team that closes down – but then the boys were able to react, they equalized and went for a win that we wanted. The team grew a lot on reactions.”
He sounded a bit like Juric to us, speaking well of the work of other societies. “It’s a duty to also take as an example those who do things well, like Como. It is no shame for me to say that. We have seen with Atalanta over the years what it has done and what it has continued to do. In every society where I have gone I have always tried to leave a better society. What I can do is find solutions, I was taught that when there is no money there has to be ideas, I am trying to grow this club with ideas as well. If I don’t want my players to find alibis, I don’t have to find them first. I am trying to improve what I have available.”
In the choices of formations, Ilic or Linetty, you don’t seem to look at economic issues “Absolutely not”
Biraghi talked about building a winning mentality, how happy is he to have a player who talks like that? “When you go after players who are functional to what you are doing, you can only get better. That’s what I’m trying to impose for a future perspective. What we got a little bit wrong is what we did in the summer by taking players who were not functional for what we were doing. The skill of a coach is also to change.”
Paolo Vanoli – www.toro.it
