New Catania, Viali reveals the recipe: "High pressure and enormous offensive potential"

The ideas of the new coach of Catania, William Viali, focused on one concept: “Ball aggression in the last 20 meters and high pressing to gain control of the action.”

This is where the run, yet another, of Catania towards Serie B begins, to be achieved through the playoffs. “There is little time,” Viali made clear right away, and regarding the agreement signed for a year and a half, he stated: “I am not looking for a contract; I am here to dream, my Catania is these three months, I have zero thoughts about the future. I have worked hard to coach and I am working to quickly return to Serie B.”

On the game plan: “This team has also done some very good things and has the best defense in the league. There has been positive work; I believe that beyond the numbers, it is important that the interpretation of the game is valid. The foundation should not be thrown away, especially since we are now six games from the end and there is not much time. But this team can do many different things. My goal will be to try to increase the group's knowledge to change the challenges on the fly in the playoffs. The matches will be different and they are decided even at the end. The team must be good at turning the result around until the 90th minute.”

Catania with a more offensive approach, with a four-man defense (but in Cosenza, Viali nearly reached the playoffs with a 3-5-2, even bringing four forwards into the box). On this, Viali expressed himself this way: “The offensive style is a characteristic of the teams I coach. This team has an enormous offensive potential, don’t think that I just started watching Catania recently. In this job, you watch everything even when you’re not working. I have often watched Catania over time, and increasing the excitement of the offensive potential really energizes me.”

Still on the playoffs: “They should not be a burden; we need to compete to win, but without stress. Compete to win for the fans. Knowing how to cope with difficulties during matches also changes in the last 20 minutes. A tactic is needed to overcome opponents, but in the end, the heart wins; in these two months, we need to create magic to make the post hit the goal and not the post outside in the 90th minute.”

Viali spoke again about the relationship with the team: “I already know three or four players from the group directly, and I can convey every concept in the best way. I like to talk to the players to discover them and find a key to get the best out of each of them. I started yesterday to speak individually with the players, and today I will continue to talk quickly. I need to gain time. Then it will become a group dialogue.”

Regarding individuals, Viali did not go into much detail. But he spoke about Caturano: “I coached Caturano, for example, and I will try to enhance him since I guided and got to know him well for two and a half years in Cesena. He has great potential.”