Turati: “Against Livorno, we need the same spirit we showed in San Benedetto”

Ahead of the match against Livorno, Coach Marco Turati had this to say at the pre-match press conference: “Our biggest regret today is losing Florenzi, first and foremost, because—as we all know—he’s a strong player who was already giving so much on the field. We’ve lost an important figure who was helping the whole team and had really embraced the Spezia spirit; in soccer, as in life, these setbacks unfortunately happen. We spoke yesterday, and he told me he’s determined to return to the field soon and stronger than before, so we’ll all eagerly await that moment and support him every day.

His absence will have to be filled by other players with the same quality in the final third; Jimenez certainly has similar qualities—perhaps he’s more of a midfielder than Aldo—but overall, it’s up to me to find the best solution to get the most out of the players. Then we also have Limonelli, who came on against Sambenedettese with the right attitude; he was lively just as I like it and had an excellent game, but overall, in the midfield, I have plenty of options, and I have to thank the director for that.

Di Serio? For me, he’s part of the group of central midfielders; the main goal for now is to get him ready and help him fit into our system as smoothly as possible. Him on the wing? Right now, I prefer to work with him in the role he’s most comfortable with, partly because I’m convinced he can score a lot more than he has so far, but if the need arises, I don’t think he’ll shy away from it and will be ready to play in another position as well.

I think that regardless of having three games in a week, everyone needs to feel responsible and like a key player; I never talk about rotation, but I always make my selections based on what the players show me during the week and on the characteristics of the opponent we’re facing. I think that in the coming matchdays we’ll continue to give playing time to many players, as we have up to now, because I believe it’s important for everyone to feel like a key player.

Livorno—with its history, atmosphere, and fan base—deserves to be in higher divisions, just like Spezia. Then, of course, it comes down to the actual game, and they have players who’ve even played in Serie A—many with quality and experience—so they’re definitely a team at the top of the table, just like us, and not by chance. We’re facing a strong, undefeated team that also put in a tremendous performance in the Cup against a powerhouse like Reggiana, but we know we have an obligation to take the field with the right attitude, continuing to put what we’ve learned into practice, having fun, replicating the spirited performance we showed in San Benedetto del Tronto, and focusing first and foremost on our performance. San Benedetto del Tronto and focusing, first and foremost, on the performance.

Zilli and Jimenez have shown up in excellent condition; they have great qualities, and on a personal level, they’ll also contribute a lot to the entire Spezia community because they have strong values—they’re serious, grounded young men who are clear about their own goals, but above all, those of the team.

We have no muscle injuries, but between knocks and various other issues, we’re definitely short-handed; on the other hand, we’re getting Cannavò back, and that’s fantastic news.

Mateju? He has a wealth of experience and a career that’s certainly nothing new to us, but I can’t say what his future holds—that’s for the club to assess.

I’m very pleased with the match in San Benedetto del Tronto, not just because of the result but also because of the way we played; however, I always have to assess the spirit the team brings to the field, and against the Rossoblù, I saw throughout the entire match exactly what I want my players to convey—and that’s precisely what our fans want as well.

I’ll never hide behind the result: for me, the attitude must always be what we saw in the last game, and it’s the same spirit I saw in the most recent match—the one that must define everyone who wears our jersey. In this early phase, we have an obligation to grow in terms of character, so if tomorrow we play like we did last week, we can all enjoy ourselves once again.

Bright? He’s one of the guys who’s improving day by day, and we’re working hard with him to help him reach his full potential, because he has distinct and important qualities. Jeremy has only been with us for a short time, so he still lacks some of the automatic reflexes, but he has incredible speed, and little by little he’ll improve and bring us great satisfaction. Cannavò has been training with us for a few days; we’ll definitely bring him along, but I don’t want to overload him with responsibility, and we need to give him time to fully recover from his injury, which was certainly no minor one.

It will certainly be a different game from the previous ones, against an experienced and seasoned team that knows exactly what it wants and that I think also intends to make a splash in this league; therefore, we’ll need to be very focused right from the opening minutes. I think that in the five games we’ve played so far, we’ve faced teams that may not have been as prestigious, but which—whether through their tactical organization or the quality of their players—have still managed to put us in a tough spot, and I’ve definitely liked how my team has responded. So I’m very confident about our future, but now we have to stay focused on what we need to do.

The main challenge ahead of us is to build on the positive things we’ve done so far, maintain consistency, and improve, because every match consists of many mini-matches, and right now we definitely need to grow in our play when we don’t have possession, as well as in managing certain moments of the game—trying to understand when to push forward and when to slow down: All of this is part of a growth process, and in a very young and new team like ours, it’s normal that we have to work hard to make everything perfect.”