“I felt that the team needed support because it was a strange match. We took the lead straight away and the team lost something by going too vertical, I made the change at half-time not to penalise Noslin but I needed to put more dribble. The team then played 25 minutes very well with the three midfielders, we created. We have to think that the Cagliari they had a shot on goal following a deflection, they are a tough team, trained well and the players are attentive. These are games where you have to give everything, I congratulate the boys because if you don’t spend everything you have you won’t win.
Champions? We are fighting with ourselves and this is the most beautiful challenge. We are as ambitious as the square, I am particularly ambitious but I know that it is more important to look at the path. The numbers make us very happy, but the path will lead us to achieve what we want. This team can grow, we have young people who are already doing well but who can still give much more. We keep the ranking, but we have to recover quickly because on Thursday we face a big European team. The goal is to improve what was done last year, but it would be a mistake to talk about it. There was so much external pressure in this match, it would be a mistake if the team mirrored themselves. We don’t want to fly under the radar, we want to keep this enthusiasm that gives us pleasure, but we can only do it through performance.
The 4-2-3-1 is not easy to maintain with so many close matches and it forces you to play vertically, but today these conditions weren’t there and we needed the three midfielders who gave us a different way of holding the match. We had to get inside the area not with verticalisations but through maneuvering, the team created many situations. I have to congratulate the guys.
Pellegrini he is a boy who has many qualities, he needs to take his head and brains and I took it from the beginning. It has potential which unfortunately needs to be managed, when players don’t feel involved they get into difficulty and I understand them. If he plays with application he is a strong player.
Patric he started the week with a little annoyance, today we tried but we decided not to risk it. He has already had an instrumental exam and the player is fine, I don’t rule out that he can recover for the Porto.
Castro he needs trust and expects it from me. Today he had a small problem, now we’ll see how he is during the week. I can’t wait to be able to use him, there was this exclusion from Europe which penalized him in playing time.
The others are kids who have to make their own journey and are growing, for me Thank you he is a strong player because when he kicks he scores goals but he is building a role for himself. The same thing applies Dele-Bashiruthey need to understand but they will.
Today was a mature performance, we knew the difficulties of the match. The goal at the start took something away from us, this team must never lose its edge. We will hardly win matches that we don’t deserve, today the team deserved it because in the difficulties created by the opponent they created. On the right there was a double full-back with a lot of running and physical structure, there were expert players with a lot of physical presence on the pitch. These are complicated matches and having conceded very little is important.
Lazarus he did well, he was on his way back and knows he can do much more. For him, physical condition is fundamental, his injury took 30 days, after 25 he played As. He and the medical staff were good, today I forced him and for me he did well but we have to give him time to regain the condition he had before.
We can’t always score 3-4 goals, but there were the conditions to score late on. Today there was a lot of desire, look at the beautiful attitude of Guendo when he came out, he was angry and I told him that I like players who always want to be on the pitch“.
