Sassuolo coach Roberto De Zerbi said he will treat the match against Fiorentina on Wednesday as if the Neroverdi ‘were playing the League leaders’.
The Neroverdi are fifth in Serie A, trailing League leaders Milan by five points, but De Zerbi has been worried about his players form in recent games.
Sassuolo coach Roberto De Zerbi said he will treat the match against Fiorentina on Wednesday as if the Neroverdi ‘were playing the League leaders’.
The Neroverdi are fifth in Serie A, trailing League leaders Milan by five points, but De Zerbi has been worried about his players form in recent games.
After two wins in their last five League games, De Zerbi said his players are suffering after the 1-0 win against Benevento last Friday and hopes to rediscover the ‘game that distinguished’ the Neroverdi.
“I’m not so focused on the points we scored but on everyone returning in their best shape,” De Zerbi said at a press conference.
“Which we aren’t. We must recover the injured and find the game that distinguished us.
“This is my obsession. I’m satisfied with the table, with the level of maturity of the team in many situations, but we aren’t completely satisfied.
“We must go back to being the right ones. Those who play, who create many opportunities, who get many players behind the lines, looking for the one-on-ones.
“We must look for it even more today, because the table is smiling at us and we can’t get distracted by anything else.”
But he admitted his team are developing and stressed they will get the right results if they start playing like they used to.
“We are doing better, sure. Players are returning from injuries and whose who weren’t brilliant are returning to being their real selves.
“This comes from the will of everyone, their desire. The results are easier to get by playing. We can’t just think about winning, but winning through our DNA.”
Sassuolo have kept five clean sheets in six games.
“All the lads have grown in the sense of not wanting to concede. I don’t think there are any differences.
“In these five clean sheets we could have conceded goals, as in others we conceded goals at the first opportunity.
“They weren’t perfect matches, now we want more strength in not conceding goals, but the organisation and concepts haven’t changed.
“The desire to go further has, to fix a mistake made by a teammate, and until the ball goes into the goal, we are convinced to not concede any goals.”
Fiorentina are 17th ahead of the match on Wednesday and De Zerbi believes Cesare Prandelli’s men will react.
“It’s the most difficult game at the moment, if we thought the opposite, we would lose tomorrow.
“I have already told the team and I will say it again. The conditions have been created to expect a reaction from Fiorentina, who have strong players.
“We must know this, and we must prepare as if we were playing the first in the table, otherwise they will be big trouble. We will already have problems and we must not increase them because we take something away.
“This is another step of maturity for the team. Sometimes you have the mental change and sometimes you have a setback. In order to not go back, we must prepare for the match as if we were playing against the League leaders.”