Juve, Spalletti: “Elkann’s support key, tough night ahead” | OneFootball

Luciano Spalletti spoke ahead of the match against Bologna in a press conference. The coach from Certaldo presents the challenges of the match.

Juve, Spalletti in the press conference: “It’s nice to feel Elkann’s presence, tomorrow will be a complicated evening”

Juventus is preparing to face Bologna in the match valid for the fifteenth round of Serie A. The Bianconeri coach Luciano Spalletti presented the game in a press conference, here are his words:

On John Elkann’s words? “Even though I have only been here for a short time, I can involve the whole team. It’s nice to still feel the strength and passion of John Elkann and the family for this club. It’s up to us to give shape and substance to this passion, honoring the past and building a future of the same level or even better, as Elkann told us when he came to visit.”

How are Bremer and Rugani? “Rugani can be used in a limited way. As for Bremer, due to the delicacy of the situation, he is one of those who is available but you can see he needs time, we have to be cautious not to put him in difficulty. Regarding the change of formation, I’m still surprised when I hear people talk about formations and positions on the field. In today’s football, it’s changed—you don’t win by occupying positions but by occupying spaces.

Now it’s all about one-on-one across the whole pitch and you have to adapt to this kind of football. It’s true that I have the idea of setting up the team with this 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, I want to try to do something different, but it’s just a starting point because then the match leads you to other formations, because the game forces you to make many changes during the match. Now it’s an individual matter that you put at the service of the team.”

On Bologna? “Congratulations must go to those who coach them and those who built the team, they are showing great quality and they know where they want to go. They’re not afraid of anything, they force you into a lot of duels, they try to close you down, they direct you where they want, they don’t care how much space they have behind them. To be good at playing the game you have to break down these barriers, not just man against man but man beyond the man. If we’re not ready for this, it will be a complicated evening for us to talk about.”

Can Conceicao be more decisive? “This is his evolution and he has to try to score more goals, be more determined in the defensive phase, because he has this deadly burst. Maybe we also need to help him improve in tackles, in the defensive phase and in duels, but we have seen great willingness from him. We are on the right track.”

Juve has always struggled in direct clashes… “Probably personality is a fundamental element in football. If in the past personality meant taking risks with a play, now it’s about accepting the match all over the pitch, about directing them into the spaces you want beyond the technical gesture. The match must be filled with what is needed in modern football and we have to make progress in these things.

Now everyone does this and it becomes a constant to know how to carve out where you want to go. To get a passing grade on the report card, one play is enough, but to play a champion’s game you have to be at the heart of the team for 90 minutes and close to the ball. One play is no longer enough, now it’s a different way of thinking.”

How do you avoid certain first halves? “You need what I just explained. There are two types of matches in the same game. The team’s behavior and a condition for the individual plays. The individual episode that can make the difference.

There’s a limit where you can’t do this, it can happen once, but not often, then you start saying ‘I interpreted this one wrong, I feel frustrated because it shouldn’t have happened to me and I didn’t know how to react’… it’s something that we are available for and we do what is needed without presumption, without boundaries, without hesitation. We go and do what needs to be done, which is the reason we are here.”

Do you see yourself in Italiano? “I would like that because I’m older than Italiano, but you can’t go back. Surely you can learn something from Italiano and I think he’s one of the strongest we have. I told everyone to get Italiano, not just De Laurentiis.”

Have you experienced other similar situations? “No one will convince me not to expect great things from this team, no one will convince me that they’re not good. You won’t convince me not to think that we will overcome these limits. In my work it has always been complicated, but I kept doing what I had to do. A coach must be obsessed with being able to modify, improve the team. I use dialogue because I see them interested and available, if there was a need, then we would talk less.”

Have you spoken to Elkann? How long will it take to win? “I have spoken to and seen John Elkann. I saw him yesterday and every now and then he sends me his thoughts and they are things I appreciate. Today he spoke about the future and we must keep that thought in mind. When you are part of Juve you have to think about the maximum that can be achieved and sit at the round table.”

Spalletti explains the decision not to go into retreat: “Retreat, we won’t go into retreat anymore. Retreat is not a place but a mental condition. We won’t go into retreat anymore because as far as I’m concerned it’s an extra effort. I’ve seen all the paths to take and this is one more effort.

For the boys who come from abroad, those who have wives, children… from tonight you start the journey, then the bag, you go there and all day you think about the match and everything becomes a problem for your muscles and your head. If you’re dealing with a group of good guys, whose mental condition is correct like those at Juventus, you don’t go into retreat. Whoever wears the Juventus shirt is always in retreat, even when at home, because they know it depends on the results. So, we leave tomorrow morning.”

Francesco Avano

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.