TAKING NOTES FROM THEO HERNÁNDEZ
Focus
Speed, acceleration, dribbling, energy and stamina. Maurizio Ganz is aware that he has a versatile player at his disposal, one who’s first name is Valentina and surname is Bergamaschi. From Varese, having grown up on the shores of Lake Maggiore, she started the season as a winger in the Coach’s 4-3-3, often linking up with Valentina Giacinti, with whom she forged a great understanding.
A winger, yes, but with the potential to play up and down the whole flank, and why not right-back. Valentina can, and loves to, start from a deeper position so that she can exploit the spaces and create numerical superiority. She’s often done it this season, on occasion for the National Team, and she hasn’t hidden her fondness for this.
A little bit like Theo Hernández: Valentina’s play on the right-hand side is inspired by the explosiveness of the left-sided Frenchman, who she aims to replicate. “I’d like to play like Theo: he plays on the left, I play on the right, but that doesn’t matter. I like his style of play and that’s the aim,” she said at the end of January after AC Milan v Pink Bari.
The goal is to take full advantage of her speed and use it in the best possible system. Maurizio Ganz knows well that this is a project to work on with patience and perseverance in order to allow Valentina to gradually grow into the role, emphasising the benefits of it and correcting the minor, inevitable defects that come from the position change.
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