Napoli boss Francesco Calzona says his side were in a ‘disastrous mental situation’ when he arrived at the club. The Partenopei dropped yet another lead in the dying moments when 1-0 up against Udinese, tying the match 1-1, and leaving them in doubt of European football next season. Speaking post-match, Calzona shared his thoughts on the performance:
“We’re not built for war in the box (referring to Success’ goal), we’re not well-prepared in this aspect. Under my management, it’s the third time it’s happened.
“I never expected Udinese to be in this position in the standings. Sometimes seasons take a peculiar turn, and I think they still have the chance to turn it around.
“It’s been a season with many problems. A month of games every three days didn’t help us. We started from afar. The team had many things to improve, and some got worse. Chasing the result all the time doesn’t help us, add the thought of next season. When you’re forced to chase the full result, you come up short, you don’t have a clear mind. It’s been a tough season, mentally the team was in a disastrous situation. It’s not an excuse, it would have taken more time and fewer games to play, especially at the beginning. Let’s try to finish in style and give satisfaction to our fans.”
“If we had reached September, it would have been spectacular because we would have had 40 days of retreat. Instead, we had 7 games in 20 days, then we lost ten days for the international break. It’s not easy to make an impact to win.”
