CESENA-CREMONESE | THE PRESS CONFERENCE OF FABIO ARTICO

Today at the press room of the Orogel Stadium Dino Manuzzi, Sporting Director Fabio Artico met with the journalists present for the press conference ahead of the Cesena FC - US Cremonese match, scheduled for Thursday, December 26 at 3 p.m. at the Via Spadolini facility.

"The numbers say that at home, we have an attitude, probably related to the fact that we are comfortable in our stadium, with our fans, and with our curve that certainly gives us an extra emotional charge. Yesterday, I heard the coach talking about ferocity, application, determination, and approach to the match: it is clear that away from home, we lack something, and it is something that we have to make up for in the next games."

"It is clear that if we didn't have problems, we would probably be first in the standings. We absolutely must not forget where we come from, who we are, and our goals from the beginning of the season that do not change, after which this does not mean that I have to be happy. I am hardly content, I always want to improve, and if today I have to give an account of what our journey in Serie B has been so far, for me it is more than satisfactory, but I also know that with great humility and application we can improve."

"Analyzing the matches in-depth, I start from the assumption that this, by characteristics, is a team that prefers to play rather than be aggressive. I say this based on physical characteristics, technical characteristics, and identity. In my opinion, we have a team that is also fun in watching it play. After that, it lacks that bit of competitive nastiness, that determination and approach to the game needed in a Serie B league. We must add it daily with application, determination, and work, always adding a little piece daily."

"I recognize the qualities of van Hooijdonk because what he has done in the past cannot be erased. He is a guy who has shown he can score goals and be available to the team, he has certainly found little space, but we still have two games before the market starts and six games before it ends, there is plenty of time to be able to reflect and figure out what to do. I start from a concept: I do not like the January market because, first and foremost, it is a market of opportunity and not of choice. I don't choose what I want, but I choose what's there, and usually,, it's players who haven't found much space; therefore, I should take a player who, has played less for four or five months,, then put him in a context and reathlete him. This means three or four more weeks of work without knowing how he will react to the new work, the new tactical themes, and the insertion into the team. I believe little in the January market, but as Cesena, we will be attentive to the developments, and if there are opportunities, we will take them to improve what to date have been the things that can be improved."

"I will add a consideration, though, that I always believe a lot in the players I have in the house, and I believe in them: I said it last year, I said it this state to the boys, and I reiterate it now. In my opinion, the players who have found less space so far have qualities because until three weeks ago, Tavsan was a little bit in the back, while now he has shown that he can be there and make a difference, and the same goes for Ceesay. I'm convinced that van Hooijdonk also has characteristics that can give us a hand, Francesconi had been idle for three games, for a month he didn't come in, now he has been playing for two games and in my opinion he was one of the best on the field yesterday. We always have room for improvement in the guys right now, then we'll see."

"The match with Cremonese will be a tough game. We are playing against a team that certainly has not expressed its value because it has an excellent coach who knows the category very well, has already won it several times, and has in its interpreters players who can make a difference in Serie B. Surely it will be a tough game because they are strong and have a great individuality, I saw part of the game they played yesterday, and they deserved to win against Sampdoria. More than them I think about what we will be, I think we will have to face the match with great humility, we know that our stadium and our curve give us an extra push and we will have to be ready. I am confident the guys will react, and we will play a content game."

The entire conference is available on the Cesena FC YouTube channel: