Aurelio Andreazzoli gave credit to Venezia after his Empoli suffered a shock home defeat. ‘They were more productive, whereas we made a meal of our build-up.’
It was a remarkable change of fortunes for the Tuscans, who shocked Juventus in Turin before the break for international duty only to lose 2-1 on home turf to minnows Venezia.
“I don’t think we were distracted, but rather in the first half Venezia’s approach caused us problems,” the coach told DAZN.
“I must admit, Venezia deserved to take the lead. After that, we weren’t as sharp as other games, so it was more a lack of ideas than a lack of determination. When we went 2-0 down, it was an uphill struggle.”
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The second goal was an extraordinary run from his own half by substitute David Okereke, who had only been on the pitch for 70 seconds.
“Sometimes games don’t come out the way you thought they would. Venezia kept it simple, but were more productive, whereas we made a meal of our build-up.”
Andreazzoli had said before this match that it was easier to prepare his team following a defeat than a victory, so did he see this setback coming?
“I don’t have a group of players who need to be motivated, if anything, they are very eager to learn. It’s just that it takes time. Perhaps we did more than we expected to against Juve, as I too was surprised by the level of that performance.
“I must praise Venezia for their performance, because it wasn’t just Empoli’s fault that we lost, they deserve credit for winning too.”