Hellas Verona manager Paolo Zanetti expressed his frustration with his team’s performance and the referee’s decisions following their defeat against Como. Zanetti acknowledged his team’s poor first-half display but felt the match turned on a controversial red card.
“In the first half, the fault was ours. We prepared to be aggressive, but we failed to do so. We were always late and blocked, never aggressive. We had the wrong attitude,” Zanetti said. He noted the team improved after halftime: “What we wanted to do, we did in the second half, which was to fight for every ball. Until the sending off, we were in control and had reacted well. Down to ten men, the match went in a different direction.”
When asked about concerns over Verona’s third straight loss, Zanetti replied: “The defeats weigh on us. There are things we need to improve quickly. We must always be aggressive. The first half was horrible, in the second we were different. I need to understand why this difference, something happens in the head, I have to find the solution.”
Regarding the controversial red card shown to Tomas Suslov, Zanetti was critical of the referee’s decision: “I admit we didn’t play well, I don’t want to cling to this. There was an error, if there was a foul it wasn’t his. The referee was hasty, in my opinion he made a mistake. It’s a shame about this.”
Zanetti also addressed Verona’s defensive issues: “Yes, it’s true we’ve conceded many goals. We need to be more solid, maybe we have a lack of aggression. In the second half we did better and raised our attention. Even with ten men we conceded avoidable goals. It’s never the fault of just one player – we need to improve our team attitude. I need to find tactical and individual solutions.”
