Bologna suffered a setback at home on Sunday, falling 2-1 to Hellas Verona in a Serie A contest. Following the match, Bologna manager Vincenzo Italiano addressed the media, offering a candid assessment of the performance.
Disappointing Home Result – “The main problem is the lack of clinical finishing in front of goal; it complicates everything,” Italiano stated. “Every time we make even a small mistake, we have to try and fix it, as we’ve done in recent games with saves from the goalkeeper and defensive plays. Today, we weren’t able to be decisive in attack and we conceded two avoidable goals, especially the second, where we could have committed a tactical foul to stop the counterattack. Credit to Verona for capitalizing on our errors, and uncertainties. It’s a shame because we wanted to win this game and add three more points to our tally.”
No Easy Games – “People here now seem to think every game is simple for Bologna. I read predictions of six certain points from Pisa and Verona, but that’s not the case. They are tough teams to face, just like Napoli won at the 96th minute at Bentegodi. Nothing is easy or guaranteed. There are difficulties in every match, and you have to manage them as best as possible, which didn’t happen today despite taking the lead. Again, we were not clinical in attack and not solid defensively: Castro, for example, could have easily scored four goals and didn’t, and in defense, we conceded more than in recent matches, leading to the defeat.”
Lacking Intensity – “This sport drives me crazy because out of 19 total shots, if we had been more clinical, we could be talking about something else despite conceding two goals. I told the players to make some tactical fouls and earn yellow cards away from our area to stop potential counterattacks, but we didn’t manage to do that. On a day where a player like ‘Santi,’ capable of scoring difficult goals like the one against Torino, could have scored four easy ones, he wasted simple chances. Defensively, we had regained great compactness and made the right reads on all dangerous situations, but today we made gross errors and contributed to our downfall.”
European Tie Looms – “We will approach the return match against Roma as we always do, learning from this and moving forward. This season has been like that; we’ve bounced back from many setbacks, and we’ll do so again ahead of Thursday’s game. Today, we didn’t have the attitude of a team that wanted to win at all costs, but we won’t give up. We’ll adjust things and prepare to face a very strong opponent. It will be a game to be interpreted in the best way.”
Photo: Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images (via OneFootball)
