Fabio Liverani claims attack is the best form of defence for Lecce after they held on to beat Torino 2-1.
Lecce overcame a penalty appeal deep in stoppage time on Monday evening to register their first Serie A win of the season, and Liverani was delighted with the resilience his players showed against Toro.
Fabio Liverani claims attack is the best form of defence for Lecce after they held on to beat Torino 2-1.
Lecce overcame a penalty appeal deep in stoppage time on Monday evening to register their first Serie A win of the season, and Liverani was delighted with the resilience his players showed against Toro.
“Our first two games were in fits and spurts. I think we paid a heavy price for the tension of the home debut against Verona, so the break for international duty helped us get sharper,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“There are still several players who cannot handle 90 minutes yet. Our quality is in attack, so the only way we can defend ourselves is by attacking.
“We need to improve on corners and also get accustomed to VAR, as the type of marking has changed in this new era.
“I am glad the team kept their heads after the equaliser, because that could’ve been a heavy psychological blow, but we remained a team.”
VAR is new to the Salentini, given they have spent the last couple of seasons in Serie B and Serie C.
“It was the adrenaline of the situation, the striker was clearly a little sneaky and the defender was naïve,” added the Coach.
“The fact the ball didn’t reach them was perhaps the decisive factor, but then the first penalty was quite ‘generous’ and I didn’t see much contact.
“Paradoxically, I thought the Zaza penalty incident was more generous than the Belotti one…
“I would’ve given the second more than the first, because on the first Zaza just went down the moment he felt pressure.
“As I’ve said before, we will always accept VAR, positive or negative, because that is the approach we have taken this season.”
“At this moment, Shakov has more quality in the final ball, while Mancosu can run from the back more.
“At that moment, Torino were pushing with a lot of players, so I needed someone with more vision to unite Babacar with Falco.
“If Babacar had been at even 50 per cent fitness, he would've finished the game with that chance.”