Roberto De Zerbi wants criticism to ‘fire up’ Sassuolo ahead of their meeting with a revitalised Genoa. ‘I want to see a reaction.’
It kicks off on Wednesday at 14.00 GMT.
The Neroverdi have gone off the boil recently, winning only two of their last seven Serie A games, losing to Inter, Milan and Atalanta.
Roberto De Zerbi wants criticism to ‘fire up’ Sassuolo ahead of their meeting with a revitalised Genoa. ‘I want to see a reaction.’
It kicks off on Wednesday at 14.00 GMT.
The Neroverdi have gone off the boil recently, winning only two of their last seven Serie A games, losing to Inter, Milan and Atalanta.
“Those were the only three games when we weren’t able to express ourselves the way we wanted to, but we’ve got to draw a line under those performances and focus on Genoa,” said the coach in his press conference.
“Teams who defend deep can cause us problems and we must work to improve those issues. We also struggled physically against Atalanta, but the choice we made was to pursue a certain type of football and at times that can be a weakness.
“The criticism of Sassuolo’s recent results goes to show just how high expectations are for us. It’s also evident that there’s little balance in these debates, as one bad result and everything is turned on its head.
“We ought to be fired up by criticism and use it to fuel our response. We’ve been working here for three years and there have always been highs and lows. I said that a few weeks ago when we were winning regularly. It’s part of football and we must accept tricky moments with a smile.”
Genoa have overcome their crisis by sacking coach Rolando Maran and bringing back Davide Ballardini, who so far managed a win and a draw.
“They are a quality team and it’s going to be difficult, as they all are in a very balanced Serie A season,” continued De Zerbi.
“I am not interested in a victory at all costs mentality. I want to see a reaction, for Sassuolo to get back on our feet straight away after we stumble, because that will be a sign of real growth.”
Filip Djuricic was dropped last week following a training ground incident, but he apologised and has been welcomed back into the fold.
“He will start tomorrow. There’s no controversy, we had a good laugh reading the newspaper headlines…