Rudi Garcia won’t reply to Mario Rui’s agent ‘crying’ over his client’s playing time but insists the Portugal defender does not agree with his representative.
Mario Rui’s agent Mario Giuffredi had blamed Garcia for lack of playing time for his client Mario Rui and the French coach firmly replied during a press conference on Friday.
“If I had to reply every time an agent cries, I’d spend all the time doing this,” he said, as quoted by TMW.
“The important thing is the player. I spend time and talk to him, not his agent. He came to me and clarified. Mario disagrees with what his agent said so we have an honest relationship. Obviously, he’d like to play more, but I like that he’s motivated to get more playing time. He is an important player for us.”
The Partenopei meet Fiorentina at the Stadio Maradona on Saturday after a 3-2 Champions League loss to Real Madrid on Tuesday.
“The most important game is always the next one, we are level on points and we want to cement third place,” said Garcia.
“The target is to beat Fiorentina, a team that has started well and with good quality.
“We played on par with one of the best teams in the world in the Champions League, which confirms we are strong. Now we must remain at this level, I trust my lads.
“At the moment, everyone seems fit. Gollini and Juan Jesus could return next week, gradually. Rrahmani partially trained with the team today, we’ll see tomorrow,” continued Garcia.
“Fiorentina are strong on aerial duels and are similar to use when it comes to recovering the ball in the attacking half. However, we are Napoli and we want to win. A third successive victory would improve our table massively.”
Garcia also explained why Jesper Lindstrøm is not getting regular playing time so far.
“He arrived late, like Natan, so it’s not easy to settle in,” said the coach.
“We play differently from Eintracht who used to sit back and counter-attack. He is getting accustomed to our tactics, he can play on the wing or behind a centre forward, but he must do more when he is involved. He needs time to work and I do all I can to help him.”