Lorenzo Pansa: ˝We are growing, at Ghisolfi I expect confirmation. The Super Cup is stimulating"
First months of work in view of the 2018/19 season for Bertram Derthona di Lorenzo Pansa, in his second season on the team's bench. Capable of winning the A2 Italian Cup last year, the coach was present on 18 July at the presentation of the new building inside the 'Cittadella Sport', the project of a club that ˝he wants to improve day after day and has great ambitions, the same ones we are trying to transfer to the pitch. I believe there is a great unity of intent regarding the growth of the club, the structure and the team: this is a very important aspect also for the future˝.
After the weeks of preparation in view of the championship, the coach took stock of the situation regarding the growth of the roster, which was renewed in the summer compared to last season. The reconfirmations were ˝four, including Francesco Stefanelli who continues his rehabilitation. There are seven new members and in this period we have begun to build a common experience, which will be useful to us"..
To create the group, Bertram faced worthy opponents during the preseason, including Reggio Emilia, Varese (twice) and Cremona, teams that play in Serie A. The choice of such challenging friendlies was aimed at ˝compete at the highest possible level. The results in pre-season – continues Pansa – they matter relatively. I'm interested in seeing the emotional impacts of players in everyday life, understanding what works and what needs to be adjusted or even modified. The choice of an intense preseason was designed to allow us to have a litmus test of our growth˝.
The last friendly scheduled before the official commitments of the season will be Ghisolfi Memorial, now in its fourth edition. From the match that will be played on Saturday in Tortona, coach Pansa expects to ˝to have confirmation of the progress shown in the Parma tournament, where we played both the semi-final and the final with great energy against Varese. This is the main objective of the match, in addition to seeing steps forward at a tactical level in both attack and defense. We hope to be able to field Gabriele Spizzichini for a few minutes in order to give him a run-in ahead of the Super Cup˝.
At the end of the Ghisolfi Memorial, it will already be time for Bertram to concentrate in view of the Super Cup scheduled in Bologna on Friday 28th and Saturday 29th September. In addition to the Bianconeri, Treviso, Fortitudo Bologna and Casale Monferrato will take to the field, teams that ˝they excelled, for different reasons, last season. For this reason the Super Cup will be very stimulating, even if – says Pansa – It arrives at a particular moment in the season: I don't think it will have an absolute impact on the progress of the championship. However, they will be two good matches to play against strong teams: we will have to have the ambition to obtain the best possible result and also the coldness to see the commitment as a step towards the championship˝.
A tournament, that of A2, which promises to be very competitive: with the increased number of promotions and relegations ˝everything changes compared to before because every match will be played as if it were a final. There are many teams – continues Pansa – who have invested resources and ideas in this championship, I am convinced that we will see great balance in the West Group. I believe that, in this year, consistency can seriously make the difference˝.
