At least one change in the starting lineup is required for Friday evening’s trip to Venice. Stefano Scognamillo has to serve a one-match ban due to the warning received against Modena and leaves a place free in the center of defense. Among the very starting players, he is the first to have to withdraw for disciplinary reasons (fifth yellow card), but sooner or later it would have happened, Vivarini had taken it into account and is ready with a replacement: the strongest candidate is Luka Krajnc. Scognamillo’s absence is heavy, obviously. The Neapolitan was among the best in the first twelve championship matches, he loomed large against Sampdoria and in Bolzano, he put together many very positive performances and is the player who has improved the most in the two years of management of the Abruzzo coach. His progress was evident in many aspects: the cleanliness of his interventions (when he arrived in Catanzaro he received a penalty every two matches); the management of the ball during the setup phase (together with Brighenti he is the man with the most passes among the Giallorossi); the ability to cover various roles in defense, i.e. not only as a lateral in a three-man line (on the right or left), but also as a pure central defender in the four-man formation that is used this year.
It is no coincidence that Vivarini has not deprived himself of it until now: Scognamillo always started from the beginning and was never replaced. Krajnc can take it over without making him regret it. In terms of physical characteristics, the Slovenian is more or less on the same level as his teammate, in terms of technical skills he perhaps has a little more quality, in terms of experience we are essentially on par even if Krajnc is more used to Serie B having frequented it for a long time before moving for two seasons in Germany. In short, on paper there should be no backlash.
Vivarini would have two other solutions. One is the inclusion of Miranda, the other that of Krastev, but the two twenty-year-olds do not give the same guarantees as Krajnc, nor does it seem appropriate to test them against one of the best attacks of the tournament: Miranda played just seven minutes in Bari, as a substitute and on the right wing, before getting sent off for a second yellow card; Krastev has not faced an official test since the preliminary round of the Italian Cup against Foggia. It goes without saying that the 28-year-old Slovenian is the favorite by far. These days he has to improve his harmony with Brighenti, but neither of them lacks the skill, so problems shouldn’t exist. Being a natural left-footed player, Krajnc should be placed in the vice-captain position, who in turn would move to the right-central tile left unprotected by Scognamillo.
Behind them, as always, Fulignati, who yesterday called for redemption via social media: «Let’s all get up together and stronger than before!», wrote the goalkeeper. The fans listened to him: in a few hours the thousand tickets for the guest section of the “Penzo” were practically sold out. The club is pushing for an additional allocation (perhaps another two hundred tickets).
Time change
Change of time for Catanzaro Brescia, match valid for the 18th day of the Serie B championship scheduled for Saturday 23 December. Instead of 2pm, the kick-off was set by the Serie B League at 3pm «given the note from the Ministry of the Interior-National Observatory on Sports Events informing of the report received from the Prefecture of Catanzaro regarding profiles of critical issues for the management of public order and safety services”.