De Rossi urges focus despite first Genoa win: ‘We need to do better in the first half’

Daniele De Rossi picked up his first win as Genoa head coach today, with an impressive 2-1 comeback against Verona.

The result sees the Rossoblu side climb temporarily to 15th in Serie A, pending the rest of the weekend’s results.

Despite the victory, De Rossi underlined the need for his side to improve, especially in the first half: “This victory is important, even if it doesn’t change anything. We know we didn’t have a good first half, but these guys always put in a good response.”

Goals from Lorenzo Colombo and Morten Thorsby separated the two sides, after Rafik Belghali put the visitors up in the first half.

De Rossi has been impressed so far by his teams level of dedication, with three games played so far and the Rossoblu yet to lose a match under their new coach.

“The attitude both in training and in the match is fantastic, but in the first half we need to do better, ” he declared in his press conference, with quotes via TuttoSport.

The coach also spoke of his team’s need to convert possession into chances, something they have struggled with so far this season.

“We had a lot of possession, but we need to understand what to do with the ball. We were slow and unwilling to look for space. We’re enjoying this victory and the joy. In the second half, we played much better, even if we dropped back a lot in the final minutes.

De Rossi also offered advice to two of his strongest offensive players, encouraging them to work on their chemistry as a duo to best help create positive outcomes for the team.

“Vitinha and Colombo? I think they need to look for each other more. In the first half, the pair were a bit static, even if they then pulled us out of a difficult moment. These players need to provide assists and goals to get their affection from the fans.

“I care a lot about my job, the staff, the team, and the fans. The coach’s job is to prepare the match well. If we didn’t do well in the first half, it’s my fault. Part of the job is also to analyse what was happening. For me, it wasn’t really a tactical thing, but rather a matter of interpretation in moving the ball around. When there’s a level of balance, you have to give a little extra.

Finally, De Rossi looked ahead to Wednesday’s trip to Bergamo, where Genoa take on Atalanta in Coppa Italia. When asked if he’ll make changes for the cup match, the coach said:

“Coppa Italia? We only wanted to prepare for today’s match. I’m thinking about it a lot; to give everyone room, I’d like to change ten players, but when you change so many, you don’t give them the conditions to perform.

“There will be room to see who I haven’t seen on the pitch yet but I don’t want to make the mistake of starting eleven just to give them a thumbs up. Coppa Italia is an important competition that I don’t want to ignore.”

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