Dietmar Pfeifer: “The best FCS of all time”

SportNews: Hand on heart: Did you believe at the beginning of the season that FC Südtirol would be so high in the table after the first half of the season? Dietmar Pfeifer: I have to make a small preliminary remark. Over the years we have tried to put together a group that not only has footballing qualities, but above all works on a human level. We have learned that success always requires a unified team, which is why we tried to put the team together based on this criterion this year too. To come back to the question above: Of course it was difficult to predict what would happen in the summer. Over the months, however, we have come to understand that the right decisions have been made when it comes to personnel. I am convinced, and was already in the summer, that the standard in the Lega Pro is very high - if a team still manages to establish itself at the top, that is a strong achievement. This FC Südtirol is the best I have ever seen.

The team struggled a little at the beginning, but things have only been steadily improving since November. Did the new players need some time to get used to it or did something else happen that gave the team a change of direction? I think the defeat against Cuneo at the end of October was the turning point. The players then realized that it takes that certain something to win a game. From then on, they began to look primarily at themselves and their own strengths. Other important moments were, for example, the game against Alessandria, in which we basically gave ourselves two goals, but then showed a great reaction and restricted the high-flying opponent in our own half. Or of course the win against Cittadella last Sunday. While other teams would have been content with 2-2, we threw everything forward in the final minutes and won.

A few years ago, in the 2nd division, FC Südtirol lost the game against championship favorites La Spezia, similar to Alessandria, and then really took off. Sebastiani was the coach at the time and we all know how the season ended, namely with promotion. Are there any similarities to this year? The biggest mistake we could make now is to completely change direction and try by all means to get into Serie B. The team knows what they have to do, i.e. continue the performances of the last few months. We have to think from game to game and be aware that even the best teams can drop points over the course of the championship. At the same time, we must not allow ourselves to be influenced by negative periods.

Many are now wondering whether the club will give its coach a small gift after the great first half of the season, i.e. a new player, so that the already quick-witted team would receive a further boost in quality? Luca Piazzi has been active in the transfer market for 12 months, but we have to face reality: we have a competitive team and we must not unbalance this team now. Considering we had players like Tait, Furlan, Fink, Lima and Gliozzi on the bench on Saturday, there is no shortage of alternatives. If we hit the transfer market again, it has to be a special player. Otherwise we stay the same. As a reminder: Even in the year we won the 2nd Division, we kept the team the same all year long. That's why I express the club's management's fullest confidence in the team and hope that the audience will also receive a similar approval. Then we are still on the right track.

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Dietmar Pfeifer: “The best FCS of all time”

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