Walter Zenga says there is “no bitterness” after his Sampdoria sacking, but defends his training methods.
The former goalkeeper was dismissed by the Blucerchiati last month, with Vincenzo Montella replacing him on the Marassi bench.
“Sampdoria? There’s no bitterness,” Zenga explained to Radio Sportiva.
“When you begin a journey together, with a year on the contract, things can go well or not work. From day one there was no feeling with [President Massimo] Ferrero.
Walter Zenga says there is “no bitterness” after his Sampdoria sacking, but defends his training methods.
The former goalkeeper was dismissed by the Blucerchiati last month, with Vincenzo Montella replacing him on the Marassi bench.
“Sampdoria? There’s no bitterness,” Zenga explained to Radio Sportiva.
“When you begin a journey together, with a year on the contract, things can go well or not work. From day one there was no feeling with [President Massimo] Ferrero.
“I played for two years at Samp, I remembered a beautiful place. The protests were civil, made by real fans who love the team, but things change.
“The President has made a choice, life goes on. I’ve read unpleasant things, you can’t cast up people’s professionalism.
“Complaints about my training don’t make sense, I tried to adapt to the characteristics of the squad and the needs of the club. I never looked for excuses.
“Europe? We played in July, there were players out of form. It was an uphill struggle, from a human standpoint too.
“I’ve had differing experiences in Italy. At Catania it was my mistake to leave. At Sampdoria I did what I was asked to do, which was to play the young players and help them grow.
“I was just asked to have one more point at this stage of the season…”
There were rumours that Zenga did not get on with Antonio Cassano in his time at Samp, and while he defends the professionalism of the striker, the Coach insists the Italian international wasn’t ready to start matches.
“Why does everyone keep talking about him as if he were a demon? I saw him in training, and I didn’t consider him ready to play consistently. Maybe I was wrong.
“He’s fine, he can make the difference, and with me he always trained with the utmost professionalism.”