Hellas Verona coach Ivan Juric warns they are ‘a long, long way off’ the level he wants, even after the 1-0 win over Udinese.
Andrea Favilli scored the only goal and technically Hellas are on full points after two games, as Roma lost the opening fixture 3-0 by default for irregularly fielding Amadou Diawara.
Hellas Verona coach Ivan Juric warns they are ‘a long, long way off’ the level he wants, even after the 1-0 win over Udinese.
Andrea Favilli scored the only goal and technically Hellas are on full points after two games, as Roma lost the opening fixture 3-0 by default for irregularly fielding Amadou Diawara.
“I think we’re a long, long way off the level we played at last season. I appreciated the spirit, we did a bit better today in terms of passing, but we’re still a long way off what we want to do,” Juric told Sky Sport Italia.
“The fighting spirit brought home the three points, but there are many areas where we need to improve. There’s a big problem in midfield, as Marco Benassi arrived with an injury, we won’t have him for a while and there’s only Adrien Tameze.
“We’re also short-staffed in attack and have many injuries in defence, so we need two or three players who are ready to play and can raise the level of experience and quality.
“I am not involved, it’s (director Luca) Toni and the President who are working on the transfer market, they know the characteristics we want and I hope they choose the most suitable ones.
“There are some things I won’t do without, so I only want players who press hard and are energetic, but then I am at a club where you can’t just order them to buy certain players. I have to make the team work with the players that I am given, and that’s fine.”
Juric is famously a protégé of Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, but he revealed some more inspirational figures.
“As soon as the game was ended, I went to check the Leeds score. Marcelo Bielsa has this great attacking approach to football and I like to see him doing well.”