Napoli Coach Rafa Benitez has spoken of his desire to win silverware with the club ahead of their Coppa Italia semi-final second leg with Roma.
The Spaniard added that he was pleased to have the continued backing of club President Aurelio De Laurentiis despite some indifferent recent performances.
Napoli Coach Rafa Benitez has spoken of his desire to win silverware with the club ahead of their Coppa Italia semi-final second leg with Roma.
The Spaniard added that he was pleased to have the continued backing of club President Aurelio De Laurentiis despite some indifferent recent performances.
“To hear the President say those things was very positive,” Benitez told his pre-match Press conference today.
“I have a good relationship with him, the sporting director and everyone else.
“I’m happy and I want to win, that’s always my approach.
“This is a chance to do that and to get to the final would be prefect. Roma are a tough obstacle though.”
Benitez commented on what it would take for his side to get through.
“Score one more goal they do,” he joked.
“We will play a very intense game. We have already lost twice to them this season despite playing very well, but this time we’re at home.
“I would be happy winning 1-0 but I want to do it playing attacking football.
“The fans were perfect for us against Milan. We need them too if we want to go far.
“I want to win for all the fans who do so much, for the people here who are developing the club, for the players who are giving everything every week.
“Higuain is a quality player and experience, we all expect so much of him, but the others have done well too.
“I have faith in my team, I don’t think about Roma.
“They have quality players too and are doing well, but I only think about my players and giving them confidence.”
The former Inter boss also discussed his midfield options and his rotation policy.
“Jorginho has quality and great vision and we are more balanced because of him,” he said.
“At the moment we have five midfield options playing for two places and it is important to rotate them.
“We have lots of games, we need to make decisions but we have had four days of rest and everyone will be in perfect condition.”
Benitez was then asked about Napoli as a long term project.
“[Walter] Mazzarri did a great job here in his four years,” he said.
“Napoli has grown over the last 10 years, it has won things with Maradona but in more recent times it fell away.
“Now we are on a great journey. This year we had the Champions League, now we have the Coppa Italia.
“There have been a lot of changes and we are where we needed to be.
“We could have done more recently but Roma and Juve are both doing very well.”