Sarri: Atalanta’s training retreat is meant to ‘bring us closer’

Maurizio Sarri hopes the training retreat will bring Atalanta players ‘closer’ but insists ‘tactics weren’t the problem’ in a 3-0 loss against Parma.

Sarri ordered the team into a training retreat on Monday night, after a 3-0 home loss against struggling Parma.

“The training retreat is meant to bring us closer together and help us build stronger-than-usual relationships, even when we’re not talking about football, so we can strengthen our personal bonds and overcome the problems we’re facing,” Sarri said at a press conference on Wednesday on the eve of a Conference League match against Kairat Almaty (via ANSA).

“This isn’t a new situation for me,” he continued.

“I’ve come through it by staying true to my principles; sometimes I haven’t come through it at all. With experience, you learn to accept and handle certain things better.

“I’m happy with the team. In the first half against Parma, I saw what I wanted to see, apart from some defensive carelessness. I’m not happy with our composure or our reactions. We stopped believing after conceding the first goal, and the second followed logically. You can’t work on that out on the pitch. We need to reflect on why a single negative event on Monday evening knocked us off course.

“Twelve chances to three: those are the numbers, the facts. At times, we seem to lack enough aggression in both penalty areas. Tactics weren’t the problem,” Sarri added.

“The match [against Kairat] is difficult because of the challenges we’re facing, but over the past year, and especially the past six months, our opponents have lost 2–1 to Inter in Milan and 3–2 to Arsenal in London.

Lastly, Sarri confirmed that Italy international Gianluca Scamacca might be available tomorrow, as the striker is “trying to return.”