Claudio Ranieri believes Sampdoria ‘deserved more in the second half’ of the Derby della Lanterna draw with Genoa.
Jakub Jankto had put the Blucerchiati in front, it was cancelled out by Gianluca Scamacca, and Keita Balde Diao hit the upright late on.
“I always ask the lads to give their all and we did well tonight, but not as well as we could’ve done,” Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.
Claudio Ranieri believes Sampdoria ‘deserved more in the second half’ of the Derby della Lanterna draw with Genoa.
Jakub Jankto had put the Blucerchiati in front, it was cancelled out by Gianluca Scamacca, and Keita Balde Diao hit the upright late on.
“I always ask the lads to give their all and we did well tonight, but not as well as we could’ve done,” Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.
“Genoa closed up well, they were passing it better than we did through the centre. It was an even first half, but we deserved more in the second half.
“In any case, when you cannot win, it’s at least good not to lose. Keita hasn’t been training with us for long, so he’ll slowly be able to play the 90 minutes, and the idea then is to play him with Fabio Quagliarella, or with Keita out wide.”
Samp had won three consecutive Serie A matches before this stalemate, but remain comfortably mid-table on 10 points from six rounds.
“Even if I did see the potential for something, I would never tell you,” smiled Ranieri.
“Last season we were struggling to stay afloat, in fact we were drowning for much of the campaign and after the lockdown managed to drag ourselves out. Therefore, our objective is to achieve 40 points and safety as soon as possible.”
The only defeat suffered by the Blucerchiati this season was the first game, 3-0 away to Juventus.
“I think it’s an issue of mentality, because I didn’t expect such a horrible performance in Turin and I saw fear in the squad. That is not in my philosophy. It was so awful that it sparked a reaction.”