Marco Giampaolo wants Sampdoria to “shake off the cobwebs” against Inter and warns they can’t be so reliant on Fabio Quagliarella.
It kicks off on Sunday at 17.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“Criticism is fair and should be accepted, especially after a defeat we really weren’t expecting and that was painful,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Marco Giampaolo wants Sampdoria to “shake off the cobwebs” against Inter and warns they can’t be so reliant on Fabio Quagliarella.
It kicks off on Sunday at 17.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“Criticism is fair and should be accepted, especially after a defeat we really weren’t expecting and that was painful,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
While Inter might be struggling with off the field issues and the Mauro Icardi controversy, Samp are fresh from a surprise 1-0 home defeat to relegation contenders Frosinone.
“We must rediscover our enthusiasm and accept criticism the same way we do praise. It’s part of the job of being a player or a Coach. It mustn’t affect your self-esteem or affect your performance, that is part of what makes you a mature professional.
“I am expecting us to play with the right attitude against Inter. The Nerazzurri are a strong squad and a very physical one, although at times they might take a few liberties, but the team was built to compete on several fronts.
“However, Samp must put in a good performance and try to get a result, because we got it wrong last week against Frosinone and need to prove we’ve learned those lessons.
“The team looked really rough in training for a few days and the defeat was weighing on them, but I am starting to see the old Sampdoria and they seemed back to normal yesterday. I expect to see a sprightly approach, without cobwebs. We will play our game regardless of the opposition.”
Samp came very close to picking up points against Inter earlier this season, only to be defeated deep into stoppages.
“We put in a great performance and lost to a really impressive Inter side. We don’t want to make up for that game, as it was four months ago. We need to make up for more recent issues first.”
Quagliarella matched Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 11 consecutive Serie A games on target, but has now fired blanks in his last two.
“We need a little more balance in evaluating situations. We can’t just live or die on whether Quagliarella scores. If Fabio doesn’t find the net, someone else will.
“We will release the squad list in the late afternoon, as there are quite a few players we need to evaluate, including Edgar Barreto and Omar Colley.”
Tomorrow will be Giampaolo’s 100th Serie A match on the Sampdoria bench.
“I guess that means I’m due a pension!”