Marco Giampaolo says that while Gregoire Defrel ‘did damage to Sampdoria’s image’, the striker will get the chance to ‘respond on the field’.
Defrel was caught drink-driving last weekend, throwing his future with Samp into doubt, but the Roma loanee has been called up for Saturday’s trip to Sassuolo in Serie A.
“It’s to do with his private life,” Giampaolo said at a Press conference.
Marco Giampaolo says that while Gregoire Defrel ‘did damage to Sampdoria’s image’, the striker will get the chance to ‘respond on the field’.
Defrel was caught drink-driving last weekend, throwing his future with Samp into doubt, but the Roma loanee has been called up for Saturday’s trip to Sassuolo in Serie A.
“It’s to do with his private life,” Giampaolo said at a Press conference.
“I am not the players’ guardian. I think it did damage to his image and that of the club he represents, but then things came out exaggerated.
“He was stopped [by police] because he was involved in an accident. After that, it was the player who suffered, like it was reported.
“Now he has to respond on the field. He trained very well: he did well and he’s motivated, but I don’t run after my players. I don’t know what they do in their private lives.
“He hasn’t brought any of the rubbish on to the field and he’s left me with no doubts whatsoever.
“Gasperini’s one-match ban? It probably isn’t fair, but the decision changes little for us: he certainly wasn’t in the calmest state of mind.”
The Blucerchiati’s run of back-to-back victories were ended against Atalanta last weekend, but they have a chance to get back to winning ways at an out-of-sorts Sassuolo.
“We need to try and acquire the self-belief Atalanta have developed after their achievements in recent seasons and this game against Sassuolo is the perfect opportunity for us to do so,” added the Coach to his club’s official website.
“Having said that, we don’t necessarily have to win tomorrow but we must get our approach right.
“It will be a tough, tricky game between two sides who both try to play good football and stick to their playing principles.
“Sassuolo are a very good side with some excellent players who are very comfortable on the ball.
“They play an ambitious style of football and they’ve picked up some great results this season.
“I rate [Roberto] De Zerbi very highly. He’s just 40 and has a great career ahead of him.
“We have four points less than we did at this stage in the first half of the season but if we look at our upcoming opponents we only got two points from them in the reverse fixtures.
“There are 33 points still to play for so there’s time to make up the lost ground. However, if we want to stay on the tail of the sides above us we need to play every game with confidence and belief.”