Moreno Longo admits Torino made too many mistakes against Napoli and a sixth loss on the bounce shows “we are lacking courage and the right mentality.”
The Granata suffered six consecutive Serie A defeats, a club record previously set in 1999-00 (the year of their relegation) and 2006-07.
Walter Mazzarri was in charge for half of those, but Longo becomes the first Torino coach to lose his opening three games since Lido Vieri in 1995-96.
Moreno Longo admits Torino made too many mistakes against Napoli and a sixth loss on the bounce shows “we are lacking courage and the right mentality.”
The Granata suffered six consecutive Serie A defeats, a club record previously set in 1999-00 (the year of their relegation) and 2006-07.
Walter Mazzarri was in charge for half of those, but Longo becomes the first Torino coach to lose his opening three games since Lido Vieri in 1995-96.
“The sensation was that we made many mistakes when we won the ball back, so you cannot keep gifting a side like Napoli the ball over and over again,” the coach told DAZN following the 2-1 loss.
“We needed more courage in creating space, running off the ball and trying to control the game. It was a positive start and we lost our way, which is inexplicable from a side that has such quality.
“Naturally, there is great disappointment and anger. Since I arrived, I kept everyone’s feet firmly on the ground and accepting the reality we are hovering just above the relegation zone, so we have to fight it out for every single point.
“It’s down to me now to drill that mentality into the players, because they are not accustomed to being in this situation at Torino. It’s obvious that our mentality is an issue, because we took a very strong initial approach and then lost our way after going a goal down.
“After going 2-0 down, we then played very well for 10 minutes, but that’s because we felt that we had nothing left to lose. That tells us we are lacking courage and need to change that.”
Simone Zaza partnered Andrea Belotti rather than Alex Berenguer or Simone Verdi, but they created precious few scoring opportunities.
“There was a disconnect between attack and midfield, which allowed Napoli to pass the ball pretty much constantly. We’re working with the strikers, they know that they need to do more in tracking back. If they don’t do that, we cannot afford to use two forwards.
“I think it would be an exaggeration to say we’re scrapping the tactic now, but if we are to play with two centre-forwards, we need to play differently.”