Episode Transcript
Well, I don't think it's a level up, I think it's a few levels up. And I said it because I really meant it. I really felt that the steps from Serie B to Serie A were very, very high.
That was my feeling and I still keep saying it today and I keep repeating it today that when I go back to that moment, I was saying it for a reason and it's proving and it's showing now that there are a lot of quality teams and that nowadays you make a mistake last year. It was hitting the post or the ball was going out for two meters.
Now you make a mistake and they punish you and it's a goal. So this is the type of level where we are at the moment. We need to be conscious of that and keep working, keep being brave, keep developing our methodology, our style of play. And as I always say, keep growing, which is the most important. How has this step up been for you personally? For me, the same as a coach, as a young coach.
Only one year coaching basically from when I retired and of course I'm learning every day. I try to talk to a lot of people. I like debating. I like learning. And I'm very conscious as well that there is a long way to go for me. That's why I try to create a really solid staff because these are the people that...
are also helping me to develop everything that we're doing here and making me grow, telling me the things straight in my face, the good and the bad. I don't like the yes people when they tell you, yes, you're great, yes, you're great. No, I like to talk things in the face the way they are. And I only see learning.
in this way. You have brought in lot of experience as well, a lot of older players, you've got the likes of Alberto Moreno, likes of Pep Reina as well, Sergio Roberto. What are the values that they bring and how important are they to the dressing room and to work on the training pitch as well?
Well, is very important, especially for me as a young coach as well, because I knew, and again we go back to what we said about the difference between the Serie B and the Serie A.
I knew how hard it could be and also knowing that we want to bring and to create an environment of young players. know, there's always, especially at the beginning and where we are now, what we're trying to build. To bring some experience is also important in difficult moments because we knew that the difficult moments, they will come and to be ready, not only from the staff point of view or my experience or my mentality, that also...
between them inside the dressing room, they can approach certain situations by themselves. And I think these players, this is where they have a big role, you know, and a big responsibility. can put, you mentioned these three players, I can put my hands on fire, you know, for them. This is why I don't like to invent too much the players that come here from my side, you know.
have to be people that I can trust blindly. And I think with these three guys, I do for quality, for what they bring on the pitch and also for what they bring outside the pitch because they are humble people, hardworking, what we're talking about, the high standards, the culture at the training ground, they take responsibility for their actions. They leave the team in difficult moments, they are leaders. And that's why...
we thought of bringing them here and we were lucky that we could achieve it. They are a massive help, as you said, with regards to helping set those little standards and the little things that you said at beginning that were off when you first arrived. What's their role in helping eradicate that and helping you lift those levels? Well, as I said before, you know...
We have quite a young squad as well, it's a mixed mix, but for the young players, some of them are arriving, know, some of them are coming from lower divisions and to reach these levels of quality, of ambition, of quality in this case, it's not easy. Until you are there, sometimes, for example, Da Cunha, Engelhardt, these are players that they come from the second division.
All of a sudden they find themselves in Serie A where the level is higher, where the quality is better. Me as a coach, I cannot expect them to be ready 100 % from day one, even if last year they did very well. I'm giving two examples. Yannik in Düsseldorf, they nearly get promoted to Serie A. Da Cunha did really well in Serie B, was an important player for us, but we all need some time to adapt. And while this adaptation happens...
These were the most experienced players. They need to step in and help, so not always the message is mine.
because last year we were not many as a staff, the club is growing, we're still a very small circle so obviously every day is my message, my message, my voice, my voice, my voice and sometimes I believe that having another perspective and another voice and another tone from other people can certainly help a lot. You talked as well previously about the importance of patience when dealing with
Young players as you've mentioned just there. How important is patience across the board in helping these younger players coming through?
Listen, I started very young and someone was very patient with me and I've seen other young players where people have been patient, where others they have been impatient and they never made it and maybe they were better than the other ones. So we all need the right steps. We all need the right time. I'm conscious of that and I know exactly what to do. I know sometimes the players don't understand, sometimes the fans don't understand why this doesn't play, why this doesn't do this, et cetera.
I think they need to trust a little bit what we're doing. We see everything. We understand, we analyse you know, everything that happens around the players, around the plays. And that's why we take certain decisions based on what we see and on what we know. And I think there is, as I said, a process. Some players, they adapt and they get on with the league very, very quickly. Others take a little bit more time, but they need to trust.
that the right time comes and especially when the opportunity comes, grab it with two hands and show and prove that you are ready to get into the next levels.
Well, I'm not a coach that looks too much into or complains too much about the injuries. Unfortunately, now we have many and we have to deal with it. When I was in Primavera, I remember two times as well.
Two of the best players got injured and the fitness coach said to me, you never say anything when there are injuries or when players cannot play. I said, what can you do? You're going to cry? No, you still need to step up. You need to find solutions for your players. You still need to have a competitive team. And I see the way I am. I believe I'm quite a positive guy that when there is a problem,
you must find a solution and you will find a solution. I will find a solution no matter what. Sometimes it takes a game, sometimes it takes two games, but I must find a solution. And this is how I think, this is how I approach things. in this case, for example, in midfield, we were short in numbers for injuries and sanctions.
Yannik, who was waiting for his moment, he stepped in. Now he played two games and a half in a row. Da Cunha who is normally a winger, number 10, he played in midfield and he delivered a really good game. So, again, I'm a young coach. Of course, I need to also adapt to the situation. I need to understand my players. I need to understand some moments that also I'm new at and I've never experienced before.
And slowly, slowly, I think we're all growing, know, the team, the fans, the staff, the directors, the people that work at the club all together. Two years ago, we didn't have any of this. We were training Monday one place, Tuesday one place, Wednesday one place. We didn't have a restaurant where we can eat together. You finish at three o'clock and you need to go to the first bar or go home to get a sandwich because it's already too late to have lunch.
There are so many things that people don't know. People don't see where this club was a year and a half ago and where we are now. It's an incredible, you know, we are incredibly lucky to be part of this amazing project where basically it was from zero to growing and now being in Serie A after 21 years. And we need to understand as a club and people that work here that this takes some time, that we're growing too fast.
maybe faster than what we should have. And for this reason, we have more responsibilities and we need to deal with each thing at the time, trying to get the right results at the same time while everyone is growing.
The stats say as well that the team are playing phenomenally well in comparison when you look at different teams within Serie A. How do you juggle that message to the players, to the club that, yes, you can acknowledge that we're growing and we're playing the right stuff, but the results still matter? How do you get that message across? Yeah, this is something that, of course,
I'm in no one's land because I try to understand as well from myself. I see football and I've been competing in football always to win. Playing well it's great, doing the right things is great, but I like to win and I like to get as many points as possible.
and I know that the team deserves a little bit more up till now. I know that we've been playing well in games against big teams that we haven't got the three points. And this is frustrating for me because I think, for example, the other day it was the first time in my life, in my career that I lose three games in a row as a player, as a coach. I'm not used to it, but this is also part of the learning process for me, you know, for the team.
and new experiences that we need to deal with, stones that are in the road that you need to jump and you need to surpass them. And again, working, good mentality, good attitude, positive. I can identify very quickly who is negative and who is positive. I can identify from my experience in many, many dressing rooms who is part of the boat and who is trying to get out of the boat. And for this reason, you know, it's...
It's easy for me to make certain choices of who plays, who doesn't play. And again, we want players and people here that know exactly what we're doing, believe in what we're doing and have the mentality to go on and step up every time under any circumstances. One of the things that has hindered the club in a little sense in terms of getting results has been the ability to play at home. There's only been four.
home games so far this season in the league. How much has the club and the team suffered from not being able to play in front of their home fans at Stadio Sinigaglia this season? Well, playing in front of our fans, of course, it's very important. To be fair to you, everything goes so fast that I don't even have time to think if we play away at home. My job is to understand what the other team is doing, prepare my team to...
to go on and be ready to play the game, try to win three points. I don't like to look at excuses, injuries, playing away. It is what it is. It comes as it comes and we need to deal with every situation at the time. Perfect. That means that maybe in the second part of the season we'll play more games at home, in front of our fans, in front of our people, in our crowd. We need to be strong, we know, if we want to do something good.
This year at home we need to be very strong and we will have an opportunity to prove that.
Why do you think that Italian's top flight is beginning to recapture the imagination of a global audience once more? I think this is great. That means that the league is growing, the league is getting better. I do think in many ways it's a very interesting league because it's different in terms of playing style, in terms of structures than many leagues in Europe. But I think...
It's a league where you can learn a lot, where a lot of teams do different things to what we see in Europe. For this reason, I think it's very interesting league that a lot of people from around Europe, around the world, are interested in watching. A lot of top teams. think eight teams now are in Europe, in Italy. That shows you also the good level of the league in terms of quality.
I'm sure that it will keep growing as I see it and hopefully, you know, all together we can help to bring Serie A to the highest quality. How long is it until Como are joining all them in Europe? I don't know. One step at a time. We have a plan, we have an idea. For example, now we are much more advanced than where we thought we would be a year ago.
but this is all you need to take the right steps at the right times, as I said before. I'm not scared to talk about it in the sense of, you know, that hopefully if we keep working this way in a few years, we can make it. But again, the pitch, the ground is where you have to speak. You know, here it's very easy to talk about certain things, but...
where we have to talk the most is on the pitch, show and prove that we deserve points and points and points, good performances, be strong. And then, you know, the results in this case, the performances will mark and will determine where we can be in a few years. But let's stay focused on this year first. We have a lot of things to do.
