Cremonese coach Davide Ballardini recently spoke about the situation of Ghanaian striker Felix Afena-Gyan, a young player in his first year with the Serie A team.

In a post-match interview following their draw against Verona, Ballardini praised his team's performance and mentioned that the referee's performance was not something he liked to focus on.

He instead chose to give credit to his team for playing a great game against a well-equipped opponent.

However, the coach did touch on the subject of Felix Afena-Gyan when asked about the young player's progress. Ballardini acknowledged that Felix is a talented player with qualities like speed and agility, but he still needs to improve his technical and tactical abilities to perform consistently at a high level in Serie A.

"He is a young man in his first year of continuity with a Serie A team and he has made many appearances. It is clear that he needs to improve a lot. You took him because he has noble qualities like speed and agility, and gradually the technical and tactical aspects will improve. With the qualities he has, if he improves, he can become a very interesting player. But Serie A doesn't wait for you, it wants you to be ready, and if you're not, it shows."

Ballardini's comments reflect the reality of playing in one of the world's top soccer leagues.

The competition is fierce, and players need to be ready to perform at a high level at all times. While talent is certainly a necessary component of success, it is not enough on its own. Young players like Felix must also put in the time and effort to develop their skills and adapt to the demands of the league.

Ballardini's comments show that he has faith in his young player and recognizes the potential for him to become a valuable contributor to the team.

Afena-Gyan has played 19 matches in the Italian Serie A failing to score and has one assist and 5 matches in the Copa Italia with 2 goals since joining Cremonenese from Roma in the summer.