Walter Mazzarri admits Napoli “were superficial” and contributed to their disastrous 3-0 home defeat against Viktoria Plzen.
“We started badly,” confessed the Coach to Sky Sport Italia after their Europa League Round of 32 first leg hammering.
Walter Mazzarri admits Napoli “were superficial” and contributed to their disastrous 3-0 home defeat against Viktoria Plzen.
“We started badly,” confessed the Coach to Sky Sport Italia after their Europa League Round of 32 first leg hammering.
“The soporific climate probably didn’t help, as we lost concentration. The same thing happened against Lazio and we have got to reflect on this situation.
“Having said that, in the second half we created seven clear goal-scoring opportunities. Viktoria, however, scored two goals with two and a half chances. It was written we had to be embarrassed like this.
“We hope to get straight back on track in two days against Sampdoria, even if today we contributed to the performance. We were superficial.”
Having lost the first leg 3-0 at home, it looks as if Napoli’s Europa League adventure is already over.
“I want to remember what happened with us against Chelsea last season in the Champions League, as they seemed done for too.
“Today it didn’t matter whether we were using three or four at the back, as we simply didn’t get on the ball with the right attitude. Some players didn’t step on to the field the right way. We need to get out there with another approach.
“You could see we didn’t have the right mentality. It seemed almost as if Viktoria were here for a kick-about and wouldn’t have bothered us. We cannot step on to the pitch like that.
“Did some players choose to focus more on Serie A? If they did, then they didn’t tell us! My players have always followed my orders, but tomorrow I will have to speak to the lads and hear from the horse’s mouth what went wrong.”
There was also a change of plan, as Lorenzo Insigne had been expected to start tonight, but pulled out with flu symptoms.
“I cannot weep for his absence and we didn’t lose tonight because Lorenzo wasn’t on the field,” insisted Mazzarri.
“It was so similar to the first half performance against Lazio, so clearly that lesson was not enough for us.”