Vincenzo Montella has no intention of snubbing the Coppa Italia game with Juve Stabia despite their fine Serie A form. “It’s an important stepping stone for Europe.”
Vincenzo Montella has no intention of snubbing the Coppa Italia game with Juve Stabia despite their fine Serie A form. “It’s an important stepping stone for Europe.”
Most of the top flight clubs are fielding second string sides in the Fourth Round this week, but Montella won’t stand for a drop in concentration levels.
“This is a competition we care about and it could be useful in the future as an important stepping stone for Europe. We want to win tomorrow in order to progress.
“I will make my choices based on what I think is best for this individual game. Squad rotation is no bad thing, as those who don’t play as often can be more motivated in these matches.
“We mustn’t look too far ahead and instead focus only on getting past this round. Nothing changes between Serie A and the Coppa Italia, as I want the same psychological approach. Don’t forget this game is also a test of the consistency of a player or indeed Coach.”
Alberto Aquilani, Stevan Jovetic and Luca Toni are all injured and big risks for the weekend against Sampdoria too.
The first two have muscular problems, while Toni spent Sunday night in hospital under observation after a clash of heads with Torino defender Kamil Glik.
Fiorentina are in joint third place in Serie A, taking advantage of defeats to Juventus and Inter in order to close the gap on the leaders.
“We must not look at the results of other teams and I mean that sincerely. If we want to have ambitions, then we need to understand what those are and not hope other sides start hobbling. We have to focus on ourselves.
“Others are starting to fear us and see us as a big team. I don’t think Fiorentina have been particularly lucky this season, as we showed great mental strength to fight back. That is a virtue and not a fluke.
“The higher we go up the standings, the more responsibility there is on our shoulders. We need to adapt to this and if we’re up there it’s because we have players who earned it.”