Ballardini gives first Sassuolo press conference: ‘I’ve barely slept’ | OneFootball

New Sassuolo coach Davide Ballardini admitted that he has barely slept since his Neroverdi appointment on Friday, as he and his team have been busy analysing the team and their future opponents’ matches.

The Serie A ‘survival specialist’ conducted his first press conference on Saturday afternoon, during which he explained what he has been able to do during his first training sessions, and how he expects the team to perform in the coming weeks.

Ballardini was officially appointed as Sassuolo head coach on Friday afternoon, penning a short-term contract until the end of the 2023-24 season. He has 12 matches remaining to steer the ship away from the Serie A relegation zone.

Explaining how the interest from Sassuolo came about, Sassuolo told the press, via TMW: “Sassuolo approached me and I’m really pleased, because Sassuolo is a club in a situation where I have been many times before, and I also said to my colleagues that we may not have accepted unless it was a club of Sassuolo’s stature. I’m really happy that they thought of us.

“I haven’t slept much because we’ve been watching so many games. When we arrive, we try to make ourselves known to the players, we try to make them understand what we ask of them. Of course, you can’t change everything in two days, you might look at two obvious aspects, the attack and the defence.”

Expanding further on what he and his staff have been able to implement in their initial training sessions, Ballardini said: “You give an idea of how you want your team to defend, but it is clear that you want to improve everything over time.

“One thing that is fundamental for me is the spirit, the attitude. Sassuolo has a duty to have the right spirit all the time. We can afford mistakes in matches, as long as the mindset is in the right place.

“The boys played on Saturday and Wednesday evening. Yesterday we observed them for an hour and a half, they moved and played well. Today we were a little calmer, because we coached some of our defensive and attacking ideas.”

Ballardini continued with an assessment of the players he has available to him. Overall, he is happy, but he believes that the group can still offer even more.

“We are happy to have this group of players, there is commitment, they are well connected, because they are all friends with each other. There is a lot of good in this group, but as the fans have pointed out, they have to have that hunger as well. They need to have fire in their bellies.

“There are foundations in place for us to do well. It is clear that we are going to face teams that are motivated, fast, aggressive, physical, so we need to go in with an attitude where we know that we are going to do better than them. That inner flame is going to be fundamental for us.”

Asked where things have gone wrong for Sassuolo this season, Ballardini made sure to steer the criticism away from the defensive unit.

“The responsibility doesn’t just lie with the four defenders. It’s a collective responsibility. We have to be narrow, compact, solid, even when we attack. In defensive phases, the first thing you need to do is be careful, cover the pitch well and have the right spaces between different areas of the pitch.”

Ballardini concluded his first Sassuolo press conference with a positive update from the medical department: “Berardi and Erlic are back, they’re available.”