Igor Tudor felt that Hellas Verona deserved the victory in tonight’s 1-1 draw with Fiorentina.
The Gialloblu took the lead in the 17th minute thanks to Kevin Lasagna, but their evening turned sour following an 81st minute equaliser from Gaetano Castrovilli.
Speaking to gathered reporters in a press conference after the match, Tudor first analysed the draw with Fiorentina, saying ‘when there are only a few minutes left it’s always disappointing. If there is a team that deserved to win it was us, against a serious team, with one of the strongest centre forwards in the world.
‘I’m even more pleased with the performance of the three centre-backs, considering that we had several absences.’
He gave his thoughts on Hellas Verona’s first 19 games of this Serie A season heading into the Christmas break. ‘Maybe we deserved three more points. We had good games against Atalanta and Torino and we didn’t collect anything, today we deserved more.
‘But I’m happy, there’s great potential here, there’s a group of players who can give more. I’m happy, but with more work we can grow even more. I think we made few mistakes. Maybe one time with Sampdoria, then there were many good wins against Juve, Roma, Lazio… The game I liked the most, though, was the one against Empoli.’
The 43-year-old Croatian coach expected some reinforcements in next month’s transfer window, detailing how ‘we’re talking, something will happen. There’s always room for improvement, if you don’t improve, others will and they’ll overtake you. Dawidowicz’s injury is a problem, he’s a regular starter.’
Finally, Tudor noted the strengths and qualities of Fiorentina star Dusan Vlahovic. ‘In Italy you say his name in the wrong way, you say Vlahovic, with an aspirated h. If I had to mark him I would grab my thigh and say I can’t do it!
‘I would mark him like Casale. He is one of the best in the world, he has everything. It’s everything between the two ears, the hunger, that makes the difference.’ He concluded.
Tudor took over from Eusebio Di Francesco back in September and has impressed during his time in charge of the Gialloblu, overseeing important wins against teams like Juventus, Lazio and Roma.
Hellas Verona close out their 2021 in 12th place, sitting on 24 points. The Veneto side have only won one of their last five games, so they’ll be hoping to rest and recuperate during this Christmas break, ahead of their next game against Spezia on January 6.
Igor Tudor: « Abbiamo fatto una bella gara, peccato aver preso gol alla fine » https://t.co/yNVQwbDY4d
— TuttoHellasVerona.it (@TuttoHellasVer1) December 22, 2021