Paulo Fonseca concedes Roma ‘didn’t show courage and did not do anywhere near enough’ in their 4-0 defeat to Napoli. ‘We couldn’t string three passes together.’
The Giallorossi had won five in a row between Serie A and the Europa League, but were entirely anonymous in tonight’s 4-0 defeat at the Stadio San Paolo.
Paulo Fonseca concedes Roma ‘didn’t show courage and did not do anywhere near enough’ in their 4-0 defeat to Napoli. ‘We couldn’t string three passes together.’
The Giallorossi had won five in a row between Serie A and the Europa League, but were entirely anonymous in tonight’s 4-0 defeat at the Stadio San Paolo.
Lorenzo Insigne opened the coring with a free kick, before Fabian Ruiz, Dries Mertens and Matteo Politano rounded out the scoreline.
“Quite simply, we didn’t show enough courage and did not do anywhere near enough to earn a result against Napoli,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“We weren’t the best team in the world before this game and we are not the worst now. Every match is a test for this team, not just against the biggest opponents.
“It certainly wasn’t a good performance, as we lacked aggression, lacked courage, so we need to learn from this and correct our mistakes next time.
“We didn’t close the lines, we weren’t tight or aggressive enough, so we made it easier for Napoli. The strange thing is, we started really brightly, but then after that we couldn’t string three passes together.
“Napoli are a great team, but we made defensive errors that gave them confidence and we were always struggling from then on. When we did have the ball, we gave it away again almost immediately and that allowed Napoli to go on the counter.
“Our defence became a back five and sat too deep. We invited Napoli to go wide and then our defence wouldn’t be aggressive enough. We had a lot of problems especially down the right channel. The five at the back remained in their zones, their positions and that can’t be right.
“Edin Dzeko was out for a while, he played a little bit in Romania on Thursday, but was not in the best condition.”
There was a special atmosphere at the Stadio San Paolo, as Napoli honoured icon Diego Armando Maradona.
“All those who love football and saw Maradona play felt this was a different day, but once the game began, we focused on that. I don’t think that influenced the result.”