Maurizio Sarri was back in front of the press today to discuss few topics ahead of the Bologna game. He started off by assessing the form of Douglas Costa and the other injured players: “I do not know where the news about his return came from because he has always been practicing on his own so far. The question about the scheme will be relevant at a later time. Danilo, Aaron Ramsey and Mattia De Sciglio all re-joined the group in the last few days.”
On the tactics: “The squad has to be ready for both solutions (4-3-1-2 and 4-3-3). The formation is not that simple but we are pulling it off, we are doing the defensive phase not perfectly but pretty well, so kudos to the players that have provided a proper interpretation in a limited time. It will be a week-to-week proposition, we will utilize them both.”
On Sinisa Mihajlovic: “Bologna is one of the teams that I have liked the most so far personally. The numbers bear that since out they have the most recuperations, they shot the most and concede the least shots. They have great stats and they are very dangerous. I hope he will be on the bench because it would be very nice to see him again.”
On the strikers: “Both Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala are apt for this match-up.”
On Daniele Rugani: “We have decided to have continuity in the defence because that is the only way to improve and better the organization. Once we will have found that, I will try to re-integrate him. I know him very well, he has great upside.”
On the win over Inter and the positive impact on his reputation: “I have been living with scepticism for many years, so it does not impact me much. We are not interested in looking at the table right now, we must be focused on performing well, because then the results would be a logical consequence of that. It was an important match, we got the three points, but it is in the past. We must shift our focus to a difficult fixture due to the reasons I mentioned before. It is never easy to play after the break. The players do not automatically get the rhythm back. I have yet to seen Rodrigo Bentancur, for instance. Some played on Tuesday. Merih Demiral was the same as usual, considering the relationships within the roster and his attitude, the other problems belong to the Turkish federation. We will wait for the UEFA decisions and react accordingly.”
On the players that have never been used so far: “Marko Pjaca is unavailable right now, he had a small new knee injury and he practiced very little. Mario Mandzukic is not training with us due to a decision by the management, if that changes I am open to everybody.”
On Blaise Matuidi: “I did not have any prejudice about him beforehand. That kind of player is always useful, he puts himself at the disposal of the team and so he has become important.”
On Juan Cuadrado: “I will continue to use him as right back, he is making big strides. He can be helpful in that role.”
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