Fiorentina: Vanoli apologises to fans over penalty in presser | OneFootball

At the end of the match between Sassuolo and Fiorentina, which marked yet another misstep for the Viola this season, coach Paolo Vanoli spoke at the press conference.

Fiorentina, Vanoli: “We apologize to our fans! Gudmundsson didn't want to take the penalty”

Fiorentina falls at the Mapei against Sassuolo for the eighth time this championship, continuing the rough patch the Tuscan club is going through. Here are the words of coach Paolo Vanoli, who spoke after the defeat:

On the difficult moment

“We must apologize to our fans. I told the players that in these situations, we don't need players, we need men, even if we have to become them because this match was emblematic, no more excuses, we need courage. What are you afraid of when you go ahead 1-0? It doesn't get better than this! Fear should disappear. It's not about the formation, it's about playing for each other, and I haven't seen this since I arrived. You can have many ideas, but if you stop a ball and don't play quickly, now they are excuses.”

On the penalty

“The penalty taker was Gudmundsson, but he didn't want to take it, the second was Mandragora, and Kean, as a forward who hasn't been scoring, wanted to take it, but that's not the problem. The problem is that after 5 minutes you score and have the crowd pushing you. The problem is that now the excuses are over. What's the excuse now? The formation? Enough, we need to go on the field and play for each other, understand that every ball in any situation is crucial, both in attack and defense. I haven't found the key to get into these guys' heads yet.”

What to do to recover

“What to do to save the situation? It's not up to Paolo Vanoli, the players have to do it, the man has to do it too. In my opinion, there are men in this team, they need to become men. There are moments when things happen, and you have to grow, you have to grow quickly. The veterans today must help the young ones to become strong and support them on the field. We've done this with ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs, now time is up. My thought today is to find solutions, find those players who can fight for this. You can't say 'this one is good', 'this one should play here', then it's normal that there are important players like Gosens out, but tonight we started well, we took the lead, but you can't concede these absurd goals.”

On individual errors

“Is De Gea a topic to address? Today focusing on individuals is useless. Today there's no individual, there's Fiorentina. Today I have to fight for my teammate, I don't see anyone making a sacrificial run, a life or death run backward, as I don't see it forward, that's what a team must do to save itself. Great teams do it. We now have to save ourselves, when you have to defend, unfortunately, you have to do it all together with a knife between your teeth, play the ball first, cross, then mistakes happen, but the player's attitude matters.”

On the injured players

“Fazzini didn't return, I thought I'd have Gosens back, Fortini had a fever, I can't invent who knows what, sometimes I think it's right to continue to provide guarantees, but I think the start of the match was clear, the problem today is to get rid of these fear excuses. Fear of what? Today this is the situation. The most important thing is to apologize to our fans. The second is to be men. You can also change the formation, then what happens if you lose? There was confusion. It's an excuse! Let's try to do internally what the coach asked me, I want to do it well, with enthusiasm, with determination, then change the formation? But that's fine. I've shown it in my career, I don't coach to make people happy who say play with four, with three, I have to look at what I have in hand, today in my opinion that's an excuse, because on a corner it's not the defense with four or three, you concede a goal. I don't play set-pieces with four, I don't play with four!”

On Gudmundsson

“Can I play Gud on the wing? Yes, I can. Last night at 4 am I went to watch the matches when he played as a right winger for the national team. You know what happened? After a half, they put him back to play as a forward. There's Fiorentina, there's salvation, you have to pull out the knife, wherever I play.”

On the attitude

When they arrive, they say 'to play, I would even be the goalkeeper', so be the goalkeeper. It's also time to say things. Last year there was a midfielder like Bove who could play that role, and he did it very well, there was Cataldi who came from important places, it's not the same team as last year. I'm happy, these players here can do it, but now everything is over, no more half excuses. The fans have been very good with us, including tonight. Guys, tonight it felt like playing at home! I would run the wing 110 times with these people, then I'd substitute you because I can't do it anymore.

Otherwise, it's a problem of the coach, of this, no, roll up your sleeves because we've hit rock bottom! When I arrived, it was said the team is strong, etc., but there are ups and downs, everyone needs to grow. Today a champion like Kean must be the champion. A step back and guys, I'll help you. If we look at all the problems individually, I have to be a psychologist and go home. Are you afraid to play football? Yes, it can be because when you win morale, everything becomes easier, now what's the fear? You have to do something to win, you have to do it with reason, with determination, clarity, and desire: these are the battles. I came here, I know very well, I even gave up some money to come here, but because I believe in it, because I believe in it, strongly. No one has ever given me anything. I take the criticism, I will take it.”

Raffaele Morra

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.