The words of the Torino coach: “We knew we were facing a wounded team that could start strong, you can’t be so passive, you need more personality.”

Paolo Vanoli spoke to Dazn at the end of the match against Roma. Here are his words:

“You tried to steer the game with the changes, but the team struggled tonight. “I’m livid, you can’t afford to lose time and play with such little assertiveness. We knew we were facing a wounded team that could come on strong, you can’t be so passive, more character is needed.” “We must rediscover the desire to be the protagonist without being passive. In the second half, I made some changes to be aggressive, but we can’t always wait for the slap to react.” What was not working? What was asked of Vlasic? “More depth. In the first half, we were disorganized, losing our positions, and we never played with the forwards. “We barely dipped into depth. With Karamoh and Vlasic, that’s what I was aiming for and we executed it better.” “If we hadn’t gifted them that goal, we could have done something more with a quick flick”.

What will he focus on to improve? “We need to regain the desire to go and score, to attack. “As at Como, it could have been an excuse, but tonight’s goal was handed on a silver platter. We need to find solutions, starting with me.” Without Zapata, can you envision a different system?” “I believe so. Sometimes to make a change, you need to wait for the right moment, it’s an opportunity, you can even play with 4 and it could be a solution. “Beyond the numbers, it is attitude and personality that matter.”

VANOLI IN PRESS CONFERENCE

“I am mainly upset about the approaches to timings.” Tonight, we encountered a wounded team, and in such situations, the first 25 minutes are critical. However, you cannot afford to be passive. We need to rediscover the desire and determination to play football; one cannot be afraid to make a move. Then consider that the goal was practically gifted by us… We can’t always wait for a slap to react, we need to reclaim the desire to be on the offensive. “True, we lost Zapata, but we can’t dwell on that.”

Could Njie’s energy be something to hold on to?

“We shouldn’t put pressure on a young player, we are lucky to have him, we didn’t have traits like his before.” “With the short depth we have with him, we need to show more personality when playing the ball. He’s got the legs in the long run, but he’s a young one.”

Roma dominated without any significant opportunities. Would you consider this your worst match? “Yes, I believe so. There were no prior indications. After a tough match with Como, the three points could have given us peace. In fact, I am very angered by this. We didn’t have the personality to overcome the first 25 minutes. “If we hadn’t gifted them the goal, we would’ve still been well organized, but overly passive on the way back up.”

More worried about defense or offense?

“Roma had the possession, but I don’t focus on that, I look at the opportunities and the advances up field.” “And we have been lacking so many things; the midfielders have not sufficiently attacked the depth, thus struggling to find space to attack, the forwards to turn the game around. We need to understand if we have to change something or continue down this path.”

The rankings are still okay, what goals does this Torino team set for themselves? “Now we have to look at ourselves. Right now, I’m not interested in the rankings, but the two poor approaches and performances. “Performance leads you to results, in these two games, there was a lack of order, I demand more character from everyone”.