Cagliari coach Walter Mazzarri felt ‘the handbrake’ was on in the 2-0 defeat to Empoli on Wednesday. ‘A team in difficulty, it was not the same side we saw against Lazio’.
The Rossoblu coach, who replaced Leonardo Semplici after only three games, oversaw an impressive performance against Lazio last time, but was not as happy with the performance against newly promoted Empoli.
It ended in a 2-0 defeat at the Sardegna Arena and the coach stressed they will prepare to do better against Napoli.
“It felt like we had the handbrake on, we were slow,” Mazzarri told DAZN. “This is also due to Empoli, a team that plays well and also achieved a result against Juve.
“The day started badly with the death of Romano Fogli, who was my coach and a sort of father, and it ended worse.
“I’m sorry for the fans, the team was heartbroken and tomorrow we will meet to prepare a better match against Napoli.”
Mazzarri admitted the 2-2 draw against Lazio drained the team and admitted he must ‘cheer them up’ after the loss tonight.
“The lads spent a lot against Lazio, we were pressing with another leg. I was convinced the team would continue, but I also saw individual players being poor.
“The only positive thing is that they were upset too, and I will try to cheer them up. We hope there’s a little more time to do things on the pitch, playing every three days is difficult.”
Mazzarri revealed he might change the formation and change to a back-three in the future.
“You have to be a chameleon, even during the game. At the moment, seeing that we weren’t brilliant with a three-man defence, I decided to put them back in a 4-4-2.
“It was too bad that we conceded twice, because we hit the post before that. Football also depends on situations and it took a bit of luck to make it 1-1. However, Empoli seemed to have twice the speed today.
“I must understand better, because the same players who performed against Lazio, didn’t do as well today.”-