SSC Napoli head coach, Gennaro Gattuso, wants Victor Osimhen and his teammates to avoid repeating the mistakes made in their Europa League 1-0 home defeat to AZ Alkmaar on Thursday when they face Benevento in the Serie A on Sunday, Completesports.com reports.
Against the Dutch side, Gattuso’s team failed to reproduce the kind of spark with which they mauled Atalanta 4-1 in their last Serie A game. The coach looked for the vital grit to no avail as he made made five substitutions, thus – Hysaj (Mario Rui 58), Lozano (Insigne 58), Lobotka (Demme 66), Osimhen (Petagna 66) and Politano (Bakayoko 83).
Gattuso says his players had good ball possession against Alkmaar, but couldn’t hurt the opponents with it, and he warns there should be no more such mistakes.
“We should not have lost a game like this. Possession is fine, but not when it’s sterile, as we tickled the opposition rather than hurt them,” Gattuso told Sky Sport Italia after the 1-0 defeat to AZ Alkmaar, as quoted by Football Italia.
“There were some good things in the first half, but after the break we were making too many predictable passes to feet, never a give and go.
“We need more resilience and hunger, as today we didn’t do enough off the ball.”
The Partenopei are now at the bottom of the Europa League Group F with Rijeka following the home loss. Real Sociedad and Alkmaar are the top two. Gattuso’s team, currently fourth in the Serie A, will face newly promoted side Benevento Calcio at the Stadio Ciro Vigorito, Benevento, on Sunday.
“It complicates matters and now we cannot afford any more mistakes, Gattuso said. “Perhaps we received too much praise after the last game with Atalanta, I don’t know.
“AZ also had extra motivation, as they lost so many players due to COVID and it fired them up. I’ve never seen them defend with as much determination as they did today. We allowed them just one shot on goal and they scored. That’s what happens in Europe and it should serve as a lesson for us.”
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