Giampaolo: “We must believe in our ideas and our ability”

After the international break Sampdoria travel to Pescara and the Stadio Adriatico for a Saturday evening kick-off in a city Marco Giampaolo knows well.

“It’s the first place I worked at after hanging up my boots,” the Doria boss told journalists ahead of the game. “I was just 30 at the time and it was an important stage in my professional development. I held a number of positions there and learnt a great deal. There will be no place for sentiment tomorrow, though – the game is too important.”

Exactly seven days later, Samp will be locking horns with city rivals Genoa in the first derby of the season but Giampaolo was quick to dismiss any notion of that weighing on his players’ minds.

“We’re focusing on one game at a time. We have Pescara now and we need to play well and get a good result. We’ll worry about our next opponents in due course.

“My players are in good shape, both those returning from international duty and the guys who stayed here.”

The Blucerchiati boss also reserved some praise for his opposite number Massimo Oddo, an old acquaintance of his.

“I’ve known Oddo since he was a boy. His dad used to be my coach and he would come along to the pitch.

“Massimo is a decent coach himself. He likes his teams to play good football and picks players with a lot of technical ability.

“We have to focus more on ourselves than on our opponents, though. We must be careful, stay switched on and believe in our football ideas and our ability.”