Gianluca, after 500 games in Serie A what is your next goal?
“Staying in Serie A with Bologna.”

That should be easy.
“Yes, but Beppe said it well: let’s not put a bandage on that head before it’s broken. Soccer is beautiful because the look of the championship and the standings can change any Sunday.”

Against Roma, though, it went really badly.
“It was an ugly game, but we were missing important players and we really felt it against a great team like Roma, which is now also in the best shape of everyone in my opinion.”

You held your own against other big teams, though.
“All those games were alike: with Milan, Juventus, and Lazio we went under, then made up the difference, and let in a decisive goal near the end. With Roma, unfortunately, things went worse. We, the players, made mistakes: the coach yells himself hoarse, but apparently we’re a little deaf.”

Have you ever foreseen a sense of being powerless like on Sunday?
“Never. But last year in the second round I felt similarly: if you think about it, last year we gave in on the counterattack to Como, and this year to Roma. The main error of the Roma game was giving too much room to them after we let in the first goal, which was beautiful, by the way. We all went forward to try to even the score, but in this we gave advantage to their style of play, with people like Totti, Montella and Cassano in attack and Lima and Mancini on the wings. Against the big teams it’s always important for us to keep playing our game: we should have been careful and should have tried to wait out the half at 0-1; if it went that way, the coach could have done something at halftime to change things. Certain games change very much in the second half.”

Mazzone has stated that if you get to January with 6 points in the standings, it’s unlikely that acquiring new players will improve the situation.
“The coach says that in part to make us, the players, take charge, and take responsibility. From now until Christmal, however, we have four games in which would could get six, seven, eight points.”

How is it going, waiting for the January open draft?
“We must save ourselves: we don’t know who will come in January, if anyone will be bought, and in any case this group will still make up the majority of Bologna’s players. I don’t like to hear talk about the market, but it’s important to be critical of yourself, and if you hear that a player may be coming who has the same position as you it means that you’re not accomplishing as much as expected. At this moment, there are many players who are not accomplishing as much as they could. As the coach says, there are those who play one good game and then can’t repeat it next time around. We are trying to avoid relegation and we must get rid of this inconsistency; in order not to be relegated, we must be more consistent and stable, playing at the 6-6.5 level in each game, and having some “7” games. If we have too many ups and downs, we run a great risk.”

Reggina, too, is coming off a bad loss: “your” Inter didn’t do you a great favor by beating it 6-0 on Saturday.
“Maybe it would have been better not to meet them after a chafing loss that they will want to forget as soon as possible, but they probably don’t feel that good either. They still don’t know who their coach will be; it’s certainly a hard week for them, they won’t be very calm. I hope we can take advantage of that. And if Guidolin really will be the one to take Colomba’s place, it will be really strange!”

Will you be happy with a draw against Reggina?
“We need a victory as well, a take-off, a bold stroke: one point would not move our standings by much. Ever since I’ve been at Bologna, it has gone badly at Reggio Calabria: three games, three losses; let’s also try to break that taboo, please!”

Mazzone wants Signori and Nervo back on the field.
“Their return will be important: it gives you confidence to have experts in the field. Against Roma I was the only one of the “old ones”, but I’m in the goal, and that’s not the same; a midfielder or a striker can charge the whole field, and it’s more difficult for a goalkeeper. With them, we will be better equipped.”

People are starting to raise their voices in discontent.
“We have six points in the standings and we’re third from the end, but we have only been booed after the losses, which is normal. As long as the protests are civil, it’s not a problem. We would prefer applause and victories, obviously, but all that is part of our job: when you are down in the standings, you must also accept the boos. We don’t like it, but for now that’s how things are.”

Gazzoni was confronted directly during Bologna-Roma.
“I’m sorry about that. We would all like to have many, many more points than 6. But we must stick together, stay united; it will be a hard year, and the arguments between us, the fans, and the press are useless. But the fans have understood that it will be a difficult year, and I can tell that the people are supporting the team.”

Bologna, among other things, is not protected very well.
“It’s for the big teams to be protected, it’s always been this way. But I want to talk only about soccer, not balance sheets or other things. We at Bologna get our salary regularly, we certainly can’t complain.”

A question: today you presented the book that covers your career. What is the beautiful photo on the cover?
“It’s a photo taken at the end of Italy-Norway, a game in the ’94 World Cup in USA. A real struggle, ten against eleven.” (*)