David Pizarro says it’s time for Fiorentina” data-scaytid=”2″>Fiorentina to stop being smart and start getting their hands dirty against PAOK tomorrow night.
David Pizarro says it’s time for Fiorentina to stop being smart and start getting their hands dirty against PAOK tomorrow night.
The Chilean playmaker was at fault for the third goal in defeat to Sampdoria” data-scaytid=”5″>Sampdoria at the weekend, and faced the media today ahead of the Viola’s Europa League test.
The Tuscans have the chance to qualify for the Last 32 if they beat PAOK, but Pizarro has urged his teammates to take a hard look at themselves.
“We really need to find some balance because we are aware of the difficulties we have encountered so far in the League and this means that giving 100 per cent is not enough anymore,” the veteran began in his pre-match Press conference today.
“This means that it’s time to take off the tuxedo and start pedalling on the bike. By saying this, I mean that we must wake up.
“We really don’t like to be in this situation especially because of what was expected at the beginning of the season.
“Unfortunately we have dropped some important points along the way, and we know that in Serie A it’s difficult to win them back.
“So we must take a look at ourselves and start to give much more because, even looking at my teammates during training, I can see that the potential is there.
“Especially because we alternate great performances with others that are well below-par like the one in Genoa last weekend.
“After losing the game against Sampdoria, the whole team was quiet on the bus for the three-hour trip back to Florence – it felt like a funeral.
“This means that the team was really hurt because we didn’t think we would come up with such a bad performance.
“It’s difficult but we know that we are going to have another chance against Napoli. We are aware that the League this year is very balanced as there were some surprise results, but we must go step by step.
“We shouldn’t look at the table until we don’t chalk up a series of positive results. Obviously, the fact that we are still competing in the Europa League and then we’ll also have the Coppa Italia to think about, it means that we’ll have to be more focused in certain games.
“And this has been our main problem so far – lack of concentration has been our most dangerous opponent.
“I believe that if we manage to stay focused for the full 90 minutes, then we can beat anyone. If we are not always on it, we risk giving a bad impression. If we go around and say that we can achieve a third place finish and then we have such a performance, it means that there’s something wrong there.
“But I don’t want to point the finger towards anyone because I am sure that there will be a turning point.
“We have the obligation, but also the squad and the qualities to pick ourselves up and to make it.
“I like to play football, but when it comes to talking about football, I’ll leave it to the media.”