Fabrizio Castori insists Salernitana ‘deserved better luck’ in their defeat to Atalanta, but this is still a turning point for their season. ‘We’ve got the team back.’
The Stadio Arechi crowd was left disappointed by their fourth defeat out of four this season, but the team did considerably better this evening, with Franck Ribery in the starting XI.
Serie A | Salernitana 0-1 Atalanta: Duvan Zapata ruins Ribery’s night
“Ribery has just arrived, but has given the team more confidence with his experience and charisma, not to mention his quality on the ball,” the coach told DAZN.
They rattled the woodwork and forced a desperate save out of Juan Musso, beaten only by Duvan Zapata’s late goal on a Josip Ilicic assist.
Although it was a vast improvement on recent 4-0 defeats to Roma and Torino, the Granata did concede their 12th goal in just four Serie A games, scoring only two.
“It was in my view a totally undeserved defeat, because we had 11 shots on goal, we pinned Atalanta back with courage and intensity. We deserved better luck tonight, but if on the one hand I am disappointed to lose, on the other I am reassured, because I have seen my team again.
“I had lost sight of the squad, but they had the right mentality and intensity this evening. We’ve got the team back, which means we are on the right track. Safety will be earned in the head-to-head battles.
“We cannot ‘defend’ last place, so we need to be aggressive and attack anyone we face, no matter who they are. The important thing tonight is that I found my team again.”
Salernitana sit rock bottom with zero points after four rounds, but they have a relegation dogfight coming up on Wednesday evening against Hellas Verona.
Their next opponents lost all three games so far this season and sacked coach Eusebio Di Francesco to bring in Igor Tudor.
Castori vede il bicchiere mezzo pieno: “Sconfitta immeritata, ma ho rivisto la mia Salernitana” https://t.co/5uKjjOFi49
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) September 18, 2021