Genoa has recently resumed training at the Pegli sports center and, following the statements released immediately after the end of the match against Parmathe rossoblù sporting director, Marco Ottoliniwanted to return to Genoa’s moment. Those three points in the standings in seven days can become a difficult mental condition to absorb. The belief that emerges from Villa Rostan is that the qualities of the group will emerge, that new leaders will mature in the squad and that, above all, compared to the performances, a few points are missing in the rankings. In short, there are many doubts and questions.
“We are determined to get out of this situation, we are looking for the right solutions together with the coach to get more results because the performances were not lacking, as the data available says – begins Ottolini – We carry out analyzes both when things are going well and when they are not going well. Bitterness and frustration are part of the game, as happened on Sunday with that missed penalty. The performance data on expected goals tells us that we should have had three or four more goals – the rossoblù DS is keen to point out – We concede little, the opportunities exploited by the opponent are more than normal. We lack concreteness and we need to work on this. Structure and solidity have always been there“.
What in football has always made us think with greater clarity and tranquility are the results. Genoa are lacking, either due to a lack of concreteness, or due to errors in the construction of the squad, or due to some tactical solution that is not producing the desired effects. In this sense, at Genoa, are you thinking of changing something tactically speaking? Has this been a topic from last Monday to today?
“We are finding solutions to improve the result: someone will be able to play more, someone will be able to change positions, someone must give more – is Ottolini’s summary – We have nothing to reproach the group as a whole in terms of attitude, but we all have to give something more. We have lost some leaders but others are growing. My job is to always support the team, the values and dynamics of the group. Now we have to play game by game. In Turin you don’t go for a walk and then there’s the Cremonese (viewed closely last Monday evening at the “Zini”, ndr) which has intensity. But we have many qualities that I’m sure will emerge“.
Qualities that we expect to see re-proposed on the pitch by the summer signings, but which are already clearly visible in the young players of Genoa, who have grown up with great awareness of what it means to wear the Grifone shirt. Probably one of the keys to trying to reverse the trend. “Youth is another part of the club’s strategy. There are steps for kids. You have to understand when it’s time to put them on the field by identifying the players who deserve to be in Serie A. We need a path like I think we’re doing and the facts speak for themselves. We have valuable young players, then we need to evaluate who is ready” specifies Ottolini on this point.
Returning to Genoa’s current moment, fresh from the 0-0 home draw with Parma, the point that seems to be made is that the team’s performance and data were not below expectations, as were the malice and intensity. For now, however, they are not returning the points that Genoa deservedlooking at the vision the club has at the moment.
“In attitude, intensity and commitment we are already at very high levels. A little more competitive cunning is needed in certain game situations. You have to get the points with the game, but also with that extra one percent of other factors” is what Ottolini declares. An Ottolini who clarifies how there are differences between home and away games and how we are thinking of moving some elements back in midfield to work, like a “brain”, on the balls recovered by a midfield up until now always made up of Frendrup and Masini.
“Difference between home and away due to the lack of a brain in the middle of the pitch? Always been in our DNA in recent years, apart from the Serie B year; we play better in winning the ball back and with quick action. It is one of the topics we are addressing with the coach. We want to put something more into the ball possession phase” explains the rossoblù DS, who in the summer had the keys to the incoming and outgoing transfer market.
Here we talk about a key chapter. The very specific question: because in the summer a lot was received and nothing was spent at first team level, in the face of an increase in budgets for both the youth sector and for Genoa Women (and a now almost definitive completion of the thinning out of the redundant players who were weighing on the budget)? “We’ve been talking about sustainability for years, it’s nothing new. We have a restructuring plan for the club, a strict plan to be respected with the maintenance of the category and salvation as its basis. The sustainability part remains fundamental“. What if in January we needed to strengthen ourselves to maintain the category, a fundamental condition for the recovery of the club? “If anything needs to be fixed, what needs to be done will be done” explains the rossoblù sporting director, who is very clear about the club’s shared objective: the salvation.
The current ranking says it, but the summer declarations of Mr. Vieira as soon as he arrived in Moena also said it (click WHO to reread them). It was July 16th and, among the various declarations of the French coach, there was clearly: “The difficult part begins now: what we did last year was good, but the championship starts again with all the teams at zero points and we know that staying in Serie A will be very, very complicated“.
“Salvation? It’s reality, this is the goal we’re all aligned on – reiterates Ottolini – Serie A is set to become more competitive. We must be increasingly ready for this scenario. We have all the tools to achieve the goal. Now some see everything as black, but we have a duty to be clear-headed and think that there are 31 games ahead. We have a structure and an identity, this is a team that lends itself to interpreting multiple systems. We have to find the balance. Total harmony with Vieira”.
Could the harmony between Vieira and Ottolini, between coach and sporting director, often reiterated by the coach, be put at risk by his move to Juventus, as advertised by some sports newspapers? In recent weeks there have been no contacts between Genoa and Juventus or between Juventus and Ottolini. What is certain is only the date of the Board of Directors of the Juventus club, next November 7th. Then we will know more. “There are other things to think about. I’m focused on what there is to do here, doing well against Genoa” comments Ottolini. Now let’s look at the match against Torino.
Genoa, Vieira on Sky Sport: “The difficult part starts now. We have to pick up where we left off”
