Coach Luigi Delneri admits 'Napoli won with merit', but recriminates about some refereeing decisions against Hellas Verona.
The visiting side had all odds stacked against them as they played without their star strikers Luca Toni and Giampaolo Pazzini, and they ended up losing by a sound 3-0.
“I wanted to surprise Napoli with counters,” Delneri told the Press. “I tried to make the best decisions and I don't think the first half hour was bad.
Coach Luigi Delneri admits 'Napoli won with merit', but recriminates about some refereeing decisions against Hellas Verona.
The visiting side had all odds stacked against them as they played without their star strikers Luca Toni and Giampaolo Pazzini, and they ended up losing by a sound 3-0.
“I wanted to surprise Napoli with counters,” Delneri told the Press. “I tried to make the best decisions and I don't think the first half hour was bad.
“To earn points against Napoli you have to wait until they make a mistake. The foul influenced the first goal we conceded.
“In football you need a touch of luck. I can guarantee that Verona will fight to the end, they want to take their chances and take as many points as possible.
“Let's take things one Sunday at a time. We must enter the pitch with confidence so that we can step out of it with dignity.”
Delneri then discussed briefly the refereeing of the match.
“When you play a game, you can't give credit only to the winners. Napoli deserved to win, but there have been some questionable decisions. If Juventus win the championship then they earned it. There are decisions that help out Juve, Napoli and even Verona. It happens to everyone.
“The players today did their jobs for half an hour and this is the right attitude to start again. They have everything that is required to enjoy a positive week and face the game against Frosinone properly. That's going to be an important game to show we're more than what was seen today.
“The red card? If it had been 11 versus 11, the team could have given Napoli some headaches. I liked our attitude on dead balls.
“Our performance wasn't as solid as it was against Bologna, but Napoli did a very good job.
“[Artur] Ionita is an international player, he has excellent qualities but he still has to get used to Italian football.
“He's among Verona's most interesting players. With the right spirit of sacrifice he can have a good future in football.
“[Pierluigi] Gollini linked to Napoli? You'd have to ask that to my sporting director. He's showing his qualities even in this difficult tournament.”