Following the match against US Catanzaro, Coach Alessandro Diamanti went to the press room at Orogel Stadium-Dino Manuzzi to answer questions from the journalists in attendance.
“It’s a hard-fought and extremely important victory, and the positive thing is precisely this hard-fought nature, because that’s how Serie B is—that’s the reality. As for the performance, I saw a lack of courage with the ball. We did fairly well, but with little courage. We could have done better in many situations, but the guys stayed focused because we were playing against an opponent—as I’ve already said—of real quality and in a league position that doesn’t reflect their true worth. They have strong players, and this is a victory that, in my opinion, is worth double because today wasn’t our best performance.”
“I’ll say it again: the first half of the match was played with the handbrake on. Both we and they were like that, and during halftime I told them: ‘Here we are, doing everything with the handbrake on. We need to let go of the handbrake. I don’t know how the second half will go, but we have to let go of it.” And we tried to let go of it. They played a cautious game, and it wasn’t easy to find space behind their defense; we’d worked that out well with Cristian, so he had a bit—not much—room to operate. In my opinion, the wingers could have done better with the ball at their feet, because they lacked courage. That’s what I asked them: “Guys, we need to have courage—let’s play soccer.” The way I coach them—with the things I tell them and the composure with which we do things—we need to have more courage; we need to try harder, because they’re players of great character.”
“Honestly, I’m very satisfied because we earned this victory—otherwise, these wins don’t come. I’ll say it again: I’m very satisfied, but as I’ve always said, I don’t focus on the results, and that’s the truth. I don’t focus on the results when we lose, I don’t focus on them when we draw, and I don’t even focus on them when we win, because I have to keep a clear head. Today we’re happy about this victory, but we also know we have a lot of work to do.”
The full press conference is available on the official YouTube channel of Cesena FC:
