"Retirement? My choice": "Spal, play without fear"

The match against Legnago is yet another watershed moment for Spal, a direct clash for salvation that the white and blues just can't afford to miss. Antenucci and his teammates arrive from the Villafranca retreat to best prepare for the match, a choice that coach Baldini commented on as follows: "It's the logical consequence of the first half against Pineto and, in general, of the last match. I wanted it personally, I spoke about it with director Casella: I wanted us to be together not only during training, but throughout the day. The club made sure we could go, for which they should be thanked. We are trying not to leave anything out, it was an old-fashioned retreat: we did two doubles, with specific sessions for attackers and defenders. It was essential to have a week like that, but only the result will tell us if it was a right or wrong choice. There were discussions, we laid bare what could be the difficulties of the moment, even if working on the mind is difficult. We had individual and team discussions, but I repeat: only the result and the type of performance will tell us if this week was useful". "I asked the lads what their work priority was: they all answered 'saving Spal' - Baldini says -. The short-term priority is to get the full result against Legnago, without conceding a goal in the first ten minutes. You need a certain type of attitude on the pitch, the fear component means that the legs don't turn as they should. We must try to take this fear and tension away from the players. The history since I've been here says that we are subjected to heavy pressure, because by changing modules and players the results haven't arrived. If it were a tactical problem it would be much simpler, but that's not the case".

On individuals: "Galeotti, Fiordaliso and Zammarini are suspended. Arena and Paghera are not 100% recovered, while Bidaoui will be fit for a while longer. El Kaddouri, on the other hand, has been called up, he doesn't have match rhythm but he's available. Antenucci? He'll play from the first minute, but whether he starts from the bench or is a starter, for me Mirco is as if he always plays".

Jacopo Cavallini