Vincenzo Montella has called for his Fiorentina team to keep working hard and believing in what they’re doing as they look to get a first Serie A win of the season against Sampdoria at the Franchi on Wednesday night.
“We need to keep working and maintain our belief and maybe be a bit more clinical,” said Montella, speaking at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “Of course we can improve and show a bit more focus at the end of moves, but you learn that as you go on. Our players have the necessary experience. We need to play our game and show our identity. I don’t think it’s going to be a spectacular game so we’ll been to be clinical when we get a chance.”
Montella also acknowledged that he will need to assess the physical conditioning of the players before deciding on the starting eleven to face Sampdoria.
“I don’t know at the moment,” he said. “We still need to train today. We’re 48 hours on from the game and this is usually the time that the tiredness bites the hardest. I might have a think about the line-up today but it will be decided tomorrow.”
How is Federico Chiesa?
“Chiesa was better yesterday. He asked to come off and no coach would keep a player like that on and risk him picking up a serious injury and being out for two months. I read a few things – some were funny and some annoyed me. When ex-players say things that don’t make sense… You can’t really explain why somebody would say that they would have kept him on when he was feeling an injury and had asked to be taken off in the 77th minute.”
Is the fact that you haven’t won in so long a worry?
“Not for me. Last season was a different season and a different team. We should have a few more points given the way we’ve played, so we know that we’re doing good work. Obviously it’s not nice to lose and frankly we’ve deserved better, but we need to relax and recognise that we’re on the right track.”
Is it difficult to see Fiorentina at the bottom of the table?
“I don’t look at the table because there are plenty of examples of good sides that have struggled early on. We’re not struggling in terms of our play – in my opinion, in everyone’s opinion, in the opinion of my club. Regardless of the results, which really hurt, I think the team has exceeded expectations and some great sides.”
How is Dalbert after the events of Sunday evening?
“He’s calm. A few people said a few things and we need to identify them and make sure they can’t come back to the stadium. There have been more serious incidents. He’s OK. I don’t know how he’s recovered physically, but we’ll look at that today and tomorrow.”
What kind of relationship do you have with Eusebio Di Francesco?
“Eusebio is a friend, a brother almost. We’re friends from our time at Empoli, when I was 14 or 15 and he was a couple of years older. We linked back up at Roma and became firm friends. I wish him all the best – starting on Thursday.”
Were you expecting Pedro to struggle with his fitness early on?
“We were expecting it. The club made a significant investment with the future in mind. We knew he was going to be a little bit behind but he has great quality and plenty of time to improve and show that he’s a good player.”
Published: Tue, 24 Sep 2019 16:52:00 +0200
Source: Fiorentina Official website en.violachannel.tv