Alessio Dionisi highlighted his team’s fatigue following Sassuolo’s tough draw with Roma today.
The Giallorossi took the lead in the first half thanks to Nicolo Zaniolo, but the momentum shifted in the second half, with the Neroverdi entering the final few minutes 2-1 up. The Emilian side wobbled at the end, allowing Bryan Cristante to score a last minute equaliser.
Speaking to DAZN after the game, Dionisi first reacted to Sassuolo’s draw with Roma.
“We were struggling a bit, I put Ceide in at the end, he’s not a striker, we gave everything and I have to congratulate the team.”
He touched on a number of individual moments in the match, including how Marash Kumbulla should have been booked sooner.
“I think Kumbulla should have been booked earlier, we got a few bookings straight away. It’s not nice to play a game with ten men, Roma played on Tuesday and we played on Thursday, we’re a small team.
“It wasn’t easy to get it back, we were lucky at 1-1 then it was a shame because 11 against 11 we probably would have won it, we thought we could have done it even with 10 men.”
The Italian coach spoke about how he deals with a number of his players being endlessly linked to other clubs in the transfer market.
“I have to help them grow, young people have to be supported and managed. We’re giving them confidence, some of the youngsters should be rested but they’ve done well, we have to support them because they have quality.
“People talk too much about the future and too much is too much, as they say. What counts is what they have shown, not what they will show, on average I consider myself lucky because they are youngsters of good maturity.”
Dionisi commented on Sassuolo’s quality and their growth this season.
“Are you referring to Mourinho’s words? He has the intellectual honesty to recognise that. We have quality players but we’re lacking in other areas, maybe we lack physicality and we risk more than others when we play against physical teams. We have to take the game to the level of the game, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t. It’s part of our growth.”
The Sassuolo coach discussed how the team have conceded a number of late goals this campaign.
“We arrive a bit tired, we’ve been affected by Thursday’s game. I substituted Berardi because he was cramped up, because we’re not physical and we spend a lot of time at the end and we lose focus.
“We also scored in the last few minutes, then as far as the attitude of the team is concerned I say that the team must accept the duel, defend as a team, the quality is there and I don’t have to stimulate them so much, we must improve on other aspects that we neglect.
“You can’t win games only with quality, you have to improve the offensive pressure and you have to accept this, we refuse it and we go in trouble. I hope to convey to the guys that technical quality must go hand in hand with character.”
Finally, Dionisi discussed Hamed Traore, who scored against Roma this evening.
“He should thank me. If I hadn’t taken him off in Turin, I should have taken him off because he would have asked for a change today like other teammates. He has to play close to the game, without isolating himself even if he’s a winger.
“He has to understand that to improve he has to have a continuous attitude in the game and accept not only the technical play. He’s short and has a short leg. If he switches off and on during the game it means he stops and starts again and players with more leg can’t catch them.
“We need him for the whole game. In the first few months he didn’t deserve to play so much. He thought I had to give him consistent minutes, but this has to be earnt.”
#Dionisi: "#Kumbulla doveva essere ammonito prima. 11 contro 11 l'avremmo vinta" #ASRoma #SassuoloRoma https://t.co/u4pGG5gWT3
— Pagineromaniste.com (@PagineRomaniste) February 13, 2022