Vincenzo Montella acknowledged that his Fiorentina team leave Parma with a bitter taste in the month after Atalanta battled back from 2-0 down to snatch a last-gasp draw and leave the Viola still searching for their first win of the season.
“We’re disappointed because we produced a very good performance against a top side,” said Montella after the game. “That’s football. Results can be decided by details and Atalanta did well. We were a little naïve at the end but we were tired too. All three of my changes were forced changes and I couldn’t make any more. I wasn’t able to intervene in the areas we were suffering in the last 15 minutes.”
Montella pointed to Atalanta’s quality and experience as the reasons why Fiorentina were unable to close out the match.
“It’s a bit of everything,” he said. “They forced the game, which is something they’re good at. They’re a consolidated team that’s been working under the same coach for a long time, so they’re good at reading the situations, knowing when to take risks and forcing the game. They also have two very good players in the attacking third that caused us problems and preventing us from pressing their central midfielders.”
The Viola boss also defended his decision to take off Franck Ribery and Federico Chiesa at the Stadio Tardini.
“I think Ribery played 70 minutes the other night and 65 minutes tonight,” he said. “He’s 36 years old. We have another game coming up. I thought he was looking a bit tired, though he is still able to make a difference when he’s tired. Federico asked to come off because he was struggling, same with Dalbert. They were all enforced changes which meant I couldn’t take action in midfield, where we definitely needed attention.”
The result leaves Fiorentina rooted to the bottom of Serie A – but Montella insisted there was no cause for concern.
“I really don’t look at the table,” he said. “We’ve produced three top-level performances against three great sides, and all three results are harsh on us for one reason or another. That shows that we’re doing good work and that we must keep this up. We need to start beatings teams that are more within reach for us because on paper those three teams aren’t. But we stood up well and matched them and then some.”
Published: Sun, 22 Sep 2019 22:22:00 +0200
Source: Fiorentina Official website en.violachannel.tv