Bologna –
The annual congratulatory toast between Virtus Segafredo Bologna executives and the press was held at Casa Virtus today. On the sidelines, Paolo Ronci spoke this way about the 2022 that is coming to an end:
“We are closing a 2022 with many positive memories, including winning a Eurocup that brought us back to the Euroleague and keeping the promises made by Dr. Zanetti: right now we are playing in the top European club competition and we are coming off a home double-header with a lot of spectators, a fantastic atmosphere as it has been missing for so many years in Bologna. The wish I have to make to the whole Virtus world, to the city of Bologna and to all our fans: at the risk of repeating myself, the atmosphere of these cup nights was fantastic and to be able to close the year with a game with such great appeal as the one against Fenerbahce, will allow us to have the great pleasure of experiencing it together with the city of Bologna and our fans to whom we send our best wishes for a happy Christmas with the family and a 2023 full of success.
“The budget? I am very critical in general, the balance sheet makes us satisfied but we are aiming to do better and better: in the league we are first alone and it is not a given since we are experiencing on our skin what it means to have this high number of games and in terms of physical and mental expenditure, as well as injuries. In the Euroleague we are fighting and the team is responding in a concrete way to defeats, although we might have had a few more wins to get us closer to our goal, but we still have accumulated experience and we feel we can offer our fans a team that fights and is capable of bouncing back.”
“Our women’s team also makes us very proud because we are also facing a new path there as the Euroleague, but for “age” reasons of the team, which has a younger historical path there are many parallels with very good prospects: in the league, in the face of some injuries that deprived the team of some key players, important victories such as the one over Venice have still come and we occupy second place. Until the end they will fight for the set goals, scudetto and Coppa Italia, and of this we are sure: in the Euroleague some games were very good, others less so, which would have guaranteed us a different position, but it goes without saying that it is a path made of experience considering the absences we had.
We are also very happy with the youth sector: it is a new path, with a lot of attention on the territory, from the city of Bologna and the province, with good indications from the youth sector managers. For us the result is important but the social impact on the cities much more because being part of the virtussina family for us must be a reason of great pride.”
On the transfer market, like all Euroleague teams, we are always careful: if in the judgment of the technical staff there is a need, we will be ready to do so, evaluating together but we are not moved by haste. Should we identify a profile that would increase the value of the team, we will not back down as this company has always done. We also need to be patient in the long-medium term evaluation on a player and it is wrong to evaluate him every 48h.”
