A game at three thousand per hour, like those awaiting Catanzaro in the playoffs. Vivarini had said it before flying to Pisa and reiterated it after the 2-2 draw in Tuscany: matches like this prepare for… the good things that are about to come. The narrow and steep path that leads to Serie A must be tackled at high speed and intensity, otherwise they will throw you out in an instant.
Well, maybe not completely, but his team's response was up to the task and that of an opponent who had upset Palermo at home, is going through an excellent moment (and it showed) and – it's worth remembering – costs three times more than the Giallorossi. Despite the double advantage, the regret for the draw is practically nil, even if it is logical to ask ourselves about the Eagles' possibilities if only they had had a few more changes (not to forget that four of them were out due to injury) and other key elements they had not had the ailments that held them back immediately before, Iemmello above all.
The coach didn't cling to the alibis that were there, perhaps because various aspects of the overall performance comforted him: it's true, Catanzaro has rarely suffered so much from other people's play and in the second round they had never sweated like this on the pitch. opposing pressure, but in the first round they would have lost a match like this badly (Como at the end of October, Ascoli in mid-December), while in Pisa they never lost their bearings and, despite the difficulties, the team knew always what to do following the north star of his game lines or his codified schemes.
This is demonstrated by the two goals scored against the Nerazzurri and also by the compactness of the defensive system, regardless of the two slaps received in episodes, i.e. a corner and a deflected long-range shot.
As has always happened in this championship, after every dry match there was no shortage of goals in the next one. Pontisso's beautiful right-footed volley was the Giallorossi's eighth center from a corner, among the best six of the tournament in these situations. In terms of preparation and execution, the midfielder's seal had already been seen at the beginning of January, when on a corner from the left by Vandeputte Verna, stationed at the far post, had unlocked the home match against Lecco: Vivarini and his staff, who prepare these solutions, they have a long view.
Ghion's injury was a setback that was not needed, but in April Vivarini rediscovered Pontisso, who was good as a substitute with Parma and a starter to be admired between Modena, Cremonese and, indeed, Pisa. Goals aside, the twenty-seven year old is proving to be reliable in both phases and, with Petriccione, forms an efficient and well-matched pair of playmakers: he has evidently grown too, with his third scratch in the Giallorossi shirt and the second of his career in Serie B; he had signed his first almost eight years ago, on his debut among the cadets, on 10 September 2016, when he played with Spal (against Ascoli). On the seventh useful result away from home – anything but random or fortunate – it is emblematic that his signature also stands out, that of a wingman finally in power.
