Operation relaunch is something for veterans. Catanzaro clings to its senators to beat Carrarese and begins to move up in the standings. There is no one more suitable than Pigliacelli, Antonini, Petriccione and Iemmello to lead the team. They are not the only ones with so much experience, but they are the ones who have been in the locker room the longest, they know the city and the fans better than others, they know how to take the “pulse” of the environment, they have charisma and leadership recognized albeit to different degrees and in different ways. It is them that coach Gorgone relies on to win his first official match in the Giallorossi.
The lighthouse is always Iemmello. In Bolzano he missed an opportunity that could have turned the game around (two minutes later Sudtirol took the lead), while in Pisa he scored a great header which was not enough to at least avoid defeat. Pietro had already achieved the first stamp of the season at the “Ceravolo”, but in the Cup, and in any case it wasn’t enough to move forward, given that Sudtirol had always recovered the result at the end and then celebrated on penalties. In practice, one of his decisive shots is needed, the ones that Eagles supporters are used to. Typically, when things were complicated, the captain was always there to respond.
The same goes for Pigliacelli, who last year was fundamental in the long run-up to the playoff final: «My best save? The one in Monza because it kept the promotion dream alive”, he said the other evening, from the stage, during the presentation of the team at the Biodiversity Park. In these first three matches he has been extraordinary with some interventions in Vicenza and Pisa, but he has not yet pulled off the feat that was decisive for the result. Nothing better than Saturday’s challenge to do it, if necessary.
The defense and the defensive system as a whole will help him: in this sense the recovery of Antonini is important, who played very well in Bolzano despite an ailment to manage (so much so that he had to leave before the end as a precaution) and who returned to the group yesterday: he is to all intents and purposes at the coach’s disposal (Frosinini is too). After seven goals conceded in three matches, the Brazilian back in condition is crucial to lead a renewed back pack both in terms of interpreters and the tasks required.
A little further on, Petriccione will be essential, the balance man in the middle and the engine that makes everything turn. If Catanzaro moves as they did in the second halves in Pisa and Bolzano, thanks to the direction of the number 10, they will hardly remain empty-handed again. A success to unlock: no one is more suitable than veterans to try.
