Rudi Garcia spoke to the media after Napoli’s 2-2 draw against Genoa on Saturday. Forza Napoli Press provides a complete transcript of the press conference in English.
Napoli were really poor, to be honest, especially in the first half. Were the two goals from the set piece a wake-up call to worry about?
Garcia: No, there’s no need to worry. We know that, for all teams, playing a league game before the Champions League is always complicated. Look at Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich this weekend. But I warned that we needed to be 100% focused on the league, but obviously we were not consistent, but inconsistent. Even in the defensive phase for 45 minutes, an hour, and in my opinion the defensive set pieces were an indication of the level of determination. Luckily we woke up and played well in the final 30 minutes, we flipped the switch. Those who came off the the bench helped us a lot. It is what it is. But we didn’t gain a point by drawing after going two goals down. We lost two points tonight and we have only ourselves to blame, even if the episodes were not in our favour, obviously referring to the foul on Zambo on the first, but this is not what determined the outcome. Rather, it was that fact that we didn’t play for an hour, we created little and we were not solid defensively.
You said that the light came from the bench, what did you like most about the last 20 minutes and what did you like least about the 70 minutes, when that light had not yet arrived?
Garcia: The fact that we changed formation, having a player like Giacomo Raspadori, for instance, behind Osimhen because he gave us more of a presence in the area. I’m happy he scored. He had a goal canceled for a millimeter against Frosinone and a missed penalty kick against Sassuolo, so it could have been two goals from two. So I’m happy that he was the one who scored the third goal of the match because the third goal is always decisive. At 2-1, we were hoping to win it but that’s not how it went. So now we can only think about the Champions League, but that is a lesion m we must remember for the Championship and the match against Bologna this coming weekend.
It was a match that seemed to be almost over, however with the entry of Cajuste, Politano and Raspadori, it changed considerably. Could the midfield change again in the coming matches? Also, on the first goal, which unfortunately was spoiled by that foul which we all saw yet the VAR did not, were any questions asked about this because it is very worrying?
Garcia: As I said, it’s not because of these episodes that we didn’t win. It had more to do with two of my men being in slightly wrong positions in the area. On the first corner, Victor and Zielu obviously had to do better, however the player who got to the ball was the one who fouled Zambo. But I repeat myself, if we played from the start of the first half like the last half hour, then we wouldn’t be looking at an episode or a goal conceded that was not in our favour. So I don’t want to go back to this. And then to your first question, yes, it’s important that the group is focused for every match. We have six matches to play now in 18 days, which means we won’t start and end every match with the same XI. Tonight, important messages were sent to Elmas, who has worked very well since the beginning of the season, also Zerbin came in because he has been working very well since the beginning of the season, and then the group is important. Tonight you saw Amir Rrahmani wasn’t there because we didn’t want to risk it. We have six games and I couldn’t risk losing him for all of them by taking a chance. So we used Ostigard, who has real determination, he has an interesting quality. So there are positive things about the group, but once again, we have to do much better.
Are you satisfied with the defense in light of the goals that Napoli conceded tonight? How is it possible that the team that last year, more or less, the starters and stature remained the same, plays so badly for 70 minutes without making a single shot on target? Can you explain it, what explanation can you give us?
Garcia: Yes, don’t worry, I can explain it. As I said, we played badly for an hour and we should have done much better, but when you leave the opposing team with more determination to win the duels and then you lack movement, then it happens that you are not at the level that we hoped for.
What happened against Lazio also happened tonight, it’s not exactly a positive sign to me
Garcia: Let’s see if we are able to change this for the next match. However, given that it will be the Champions League, at least I’m sure that I won’t need to use the word ‘motivation’ before the match, unlike what I did today. I knew it was a trap here because it’s not just a newly promoted club. Genoa is a great club. [The Ferraris] is a difficult stadium to come to and play at, with fans who push their players. It took us a little time to have a positive relationship. I do want to spend a little bit of time to give a positive reaction to at least a great play because the third goal was truly a marvel. No, the second goal, sorry, I wanted to score the third but we didn’t, the second goal by Matteo Politano.
