Turati: “An evening to enjoy, but it will only get harder from here”

Eighth consecutive win for the Aquile, with head coach Marco Turati speaking to the press as follows:

“I wanted to call the whole team back to the Curva because these are moments to be enjoyed: it doesn’t happen often to make a start like this and to live through situations like this. The Curva deserved to have us in front of it for a long time, because it has always backed us since our first outing of the season against Torres.

An evening match, a full stadium, the day of the 120th anniversary: it was a real thrill from start to finish. I knew it was a special night and I really wanted the team to approach the game well. In that respect the lads were magnificent: we found the net straight away with a move we had rehearsed, without knowing whether we’d be able to use it, and they were brilliant in realizing it was the right moment.

I was afraid of this match, because Gubbio have players who, if given the right conditions, can hurt you, and today I could already see the hand of a coach who trained me and whom I know very well. Nothing we do can be taken for granted: Gubbio’s players gave everything in every tackle and every move, and that makes my lads’ merit even greater.

We kept our opponents away from our box and I want to highlight that: in the second half Gubbio had two forwards like La Mantia and Beretta on the pitch, and letting them into the area would have been very dangerous. Congratulations to everyone, not just the defenders but also the midfielders and the attacking line, for the work done without the ball.

On the left we’re lucky to have an attacking midfielder who loves to occupy that zone, and we often find ourselves with a numerical advantage there; on the right we have other qualities thanks to different players. In the first half, in my view, we made some wrong choices on the left: there was a lot of space, but we weren’t good enough in our timing and decisions. In the second half we did better, even though Oyono, who played a superb game, tended to cut inside often since he isn’t a natural in that position. We did well, but we still have plenty of room to grow.

Everyone wants to be a protagonist in this team, and that helps everyone. Capomaggio? In this context he can really shine. He could even have scored: I ask him to try more from distance too, but for now there’s a dinner at stake between us if he scores from outside the box, and I won’t have to pay for it tonight either, although he came very close.

Sganzerla is a young lad, and I’ve asked a lot of him since the start. His good fortune was to do the whole pre-season camp with us: it helped him get comfortable with demands very different from what he was used to. Today he also scored a great header, and I say that as a former set-piece header myself. In recent years there are fewer and fewer players who are good in the air, but I believe it’s a truly important skill that can decide a championship, which is why I always urge my lads to be effective in those situations.

Overall I’m happy with everyone, I can’t fault anyone, and today we also got back Cancellieri and Cannavò, important players we had been without for some time for different reasons.

In these first nine matchdays we’ve faced strong squads, with players who have been on bigger stages. I know very well that every Sunday will be difficult and that we must never lower our guard, because it only takes a moment to get players with heavyweight résumés back into the game. So far we’ve been very good, but the season is very long and we have to keep going like this. From here on it will only get harder: today Gubbio tried to make things difficult for us, and match after match our opponents will try to give us more and more trouble. We’ll have to stay focused, and I have great faith in my lads.”