After a turbulent week at Sampdoria, coach Roberto D’Aversa urged ‘everyone’ involved with the club ‘to take an oar’ and help the Blucerchiati out of the storm. ‘We’ll get out of it together and we have to start by winning the derby’.
D’Aversa prepares his team for the first Derby della Lanterna in 2021-22, when the Blucerchiati and Genoa clash at Marassi on Friday night.
But the week has been strange for the blue side of the city, as it started with Massimo Ferrero being arrested for an old case of bankruptcy while he was in Milan to negotiate with potential new coach Dejan Stankovic.
D’Aversa’s job has been uncertain for a while, as he has struggled to get results after replacing Claudio Ranieri, but he stressed he’s ‘proud’ to be the coach of Samp and wants to help the club get out of the difficult situation they are in ahead of the Genoa derby.
“I would like to make some reflections,” D’Aversa said at a press conference. “At this moment, everything seems black, but there is the will on my part to see things in colour.
“The first reflection is to the President Massimo Ferrero, for whom I have professional and human esteem, and I hope that this situation will be resolved quickly.
“The second one I want to do for Sampdoria, intended as a club. In these days they are showing togetherness and I’m really proud to be Sampdoria’s coach.
“The third is for the team. We know the importance of the derby, a game that must not be player but won. We must go out on the pitch with the determination to be protagonists. We have a great opportunity to enter the history of the club by winning the derby.
“The last one is for the fans. There will be need for unity and colours. Not just on the streets but in the stadium too. We are in a storm, but everyone must take an oar. It’s a difficult moment, we’ll get out of it together and we have to start by winning the derby.”