Sarri: "At Juventus a strange and difficult experience, but it is a closed chapter. Too many sackings? The fault of newspapers and directors"
Team selection, his past at Juventus, his relationship with Spalletti and the fans. The pre-Juventus v Atalanta press conference of the Inter manager.
Juventus-Atalanta has been anything but a simple, straightforward fixture in recent years. This season, there is extra weight to the game because of one familiar face: Maurizio Sarri, Serie A title winner with Juventus and now Atalanta manager.
In his press conference, Sarri looked ahead to the match, stressing that his Juventus chapter is firmly behind him before offering a few technical and tactical pointers on his choices involving Raspadori, Kessi and others. Here are his words.
Problems in defence
"Defence" is a word I do not particularly like: in the defensive phase, up to the last match, we had dropped too deep and played too passively, that was fairly evident. In the last match there were different signs: not good reading of the game, but at least the team's centre of gravity and the pressing line were much higher. With Kossounou there is nothing to manage, and Kristensen plays
Juve chapter closed
"What stands out most from the memory of the season at Juve? Neither pride nor regret. It was a strange, difficult experience, also for reasons outside football, as you know very well. It ended with a victory that had been taken for granted and absolutely was not. But that was that, so for me it is a closed chapter".
Too many sackings?
"Too many hasty sackings at the first sign of trouble in Serie A? You tell me what you think, you form the opinion, not me: I do the matches. If this kind of mentality has been created, I see two major responsibilities: you (journalists, ed.) and the club directors. I don't see any other kind of responsibility. There is an interview with Klopp in which he says that before a certain amount of time working with a coach, you cannot see anything: let alone in the first month"
Spalletti
"I see tomorrow's match as a tough one, but not for Spalletti: for those who go out on to the pitch. We managers, unfortunately, are very closely tied to the lads who go out there: it's not as if we have joysticks and have everything under control, it's impossible to do that and it wouldn't even be right. We are all tied to the type of players we have at that moment and to the type of football we can play with certain players. I have a good relationship with him, especially from the years when I was at Empoli: it seems to me he had come back from Russia and for a period I saw him at least once or twice a week. The relationship is good, then on the pitch, clearly, tomorrow everyone will be thinking about their own team"
Raspadori from the bench
"“Giacomo is a footballer who has had some difficulties over the last two months, but also in light of the last match, where he did well, I consider him a player who is improving. Back in his Napoli days, I remember him having a big impact on matches even when coming off the bench”
Gaetano and Kessie together?
"Gaetano and Kessié can certainly play together. Both Gaetano and Kessié can operate in different positions on the pitch, but despite that I see Gaetano's future more as a deep-lying playmaker".
