Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri on reaching the UEFA Champions League last 16 with win over Braga
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00:00 - Good evening. - Good evening, Corriere della Sera.
00:04 Good evening, Corriere della Sera.
00:06 Good evening, coach. I'm here.
00:09 You asked for a win without conceding a goal. You did it. You came back home successful.
00:14 Especially in the first half, yesterday you were pushing hard not to leave any space between the lines.
00:21 With Anghisello's work, Botka, in front of the defence, different from the last games.
00:26 What work are you doing to grow in this regard?
00:29 As you said, I've tried to stay short, not to leave any space between the lines.
00:35 But above all, a team that's so fast and good at starting,
00:40 I think they've worked hard to try not to make these fierce starts when we attack and lose the ball.
00:49 We managed to do that.
00:51 - I'll do it quickly, otherwise... - No, no, of course.
00:54 We won't make it difficult for you.
00:57 First question.
00:59 Yesterday, the coach said he wanted to win without the opposing team conceding a goal.
01:07 That's what happened tonight and Napoli finally won at home.
01:13 What have changed in this case?
01:18 Well, the answer is that we tried to play a very short game
01:24 and we tried to avoid a decisive counter-attack from the opposing team.
01:30 That's it.
01:31 Gazzetta dello Sporto, then Repubblica.
01:34 Good evening, coach.
01:38 The round of 16 will be played in exactly two months.
01:42 After these first games, you said it was a phase of study for you.
01:47 What do you expect to see in the next two months, perhaps something different or even better than your first games?
01:57 I expect to see the Italian side on Saturday with the Cagliari in the league.
02:03 We must not forget that the heart of a team is the Italian league.
02:08 We must focus on that from tomorrow.
02:11 We know the difficulties of this new game.
02:14 In recent years, as you saw here and before I arrived, there's nothing to be taken for granted.
02:21 The smaller teams play a more aggressive game.
02:25 If you make a mistake, you can go up against bad players.
02:29 We must focus on that.
02:31 Depending on how we do in the next two months,
02:35 I think we'll be more balanced and more forging, as we've seen today.
02:43 The next phase of the season will be in exactly two months.
02:49 What kind of analysis will you do in these two months and what will change?
02:56 First of all, I'm only thinking about the game against Cagliari in the national league.
03:03 As we know, the national league is the heart of each team.
03:07 I'm only thinking about this next game.
03:12 In recent years, we've seen how football always confirms that there can be small teams that can also hurt our team.
03:24 In the next few months, we'll be looking for a balance and we'll continue in this phase,
03:32 which we've shown tonight.
03:38 Repubblica, then Roma.
03:40 Good evening, here I am.
03:42 I'd like to ask you how much this win can mean from a moral point of view.
03:48 You said the team was accusing the opposition,
03:52 but then there was a quick one, when you took away Juan Jesus because he got injured.
03:56 I started at the end and he asked me to change players and I had to take him out.
04:02 I should have done less because he's the one who played the least number of games.
04:07 I hoped he'd play me because I wanted to make Lorenzo, who always plays, rest.
04:12 I wanted to put Zanoli in and I couldn't because he asked me to change players.
04:16 I think it's a tough effort, nothing complicated.
04:21 You think that a team that won the Scudetto, which was praised by everyone,
04:30 is in this situation.
04:32 It's normal that it's not easy when you don't get results,
04:36 even with performances similar to the ones from the previous season.
04:39 I think that, since I arrived,
04:45 we've all been good at trying to make the lads understand
04:50 that if we want to return to last season, we have to do certain things.
04:55 I think that, for the moment, they've been good at that.
05:02 For the time I've been here.
05:04 How important is tonight's win for the team's morale?
05:12 Second question, why did Juan Jesus leave the game?
05:20 Maybe he got hurt?
05:22 The answer is that he asked to leave because he played a lot and was just tired.
05:28 I also wanted to play Zanoli, but I couldn't because Juan Jesus asked to leave.
05:35 So that didn't allow it.
05:37 Of course, it's not easy to continue without getting results.
05:43 But we're all trying to change that and return to the form of Napoli,
05:50 which was last season.
05:52 I think that, in that sense, we're on the right track.
05:56 We've done that and we've shown it tonight.
05:59 Roma is closing the season with Napoli.
06:02 Here I am, coach.
06:07 Good evening.
06:08 It was your first game without a goal after six games.
06:12 But it struck me that you didn't want to concede,
06:15 even though you had a good qualification.
06:18 Did you make that mental step that you've been asking for a while?
06:25 That's what I was asking the lads.
06:32 We knew we could lose 1-0 to get through the season.
06:35 What I was interested in, and I said it before the game,
06:38 was the solidity.
06:40 To be solid again with a team that, I don't want to tell you,
06:45 but for example, with Real Madrid, this team, Bernabeu,
06:51 could have gone into the lead.
06:53 They missed the penalty on the 0-0.
06:55 It's not a team to underestimate.
06:57 It was a difficult team to face.
06:59 The lads, in my opinion,
07:01 especially until the game was over for us,
07:05 were almost perfect compared to the past.
07:08 I've seen a lot of good things, but we didn't concede anything.
07:11 That was the most important thing.
07:14 If we want to continue,
07:16 if we want to be the same as we were last season,
07:20 at least in part,
07:22 we have to be solid.
07:24 We can't concede every time we start again.
07:26 We have to be short.
07:28 We have to be compact.
07:30 We have to do certain things.
07:32 We have to face the danger.
07:34 Lately, it seemed that they started again,
07:37 my team-mate thought about it,
07:39 and then we conceded.
07:41 The team was long.
07:42 It was bad to see each other in certain cases.
07:44 I'm very pleased.
07:46 I'll collect the data on Saturday against Cagliari
07:51 because I want to see a continuity of performances
07:54 to be able to say that we're back to being close to those who won the Scudetto.
07:59 Question.
08:04 Problems?
08:10 Absolutely not.
08:12 It's too long.
08:14 The question is...
08:26 It's very interesting that Napoli scored again after six games.
08:33 Do you think that the mental and strategy steps are being done well
08:39 or is there something else to change?
08:41 The answer is that...
08:43 However, we knew that we could lose 0-0.
08:48 I asked the same question to our team.
08:52 Do you want to be the Napoli of last year?
08:55 To do that, we need to be a solid team.
08:58 For example, Braga almost won Real Madrid in the other game.
09:05 So we can't think that it's an easy team to win.
09:10 I saw good things from my team tonight.
09:15 We didn't allow many chances to Braga.
09:18 And I repeat, if we want to be the Napoli of last year,
09:22 we need to be a solid team.
09:24 A team that doesn't allow counter-attacks.
09:26 A compact team.
09:27 We need to be aware of any danger.
09:30 Napoli was playing badly.
09:33 Napoli's game was ugly.
09:35 But tonight we can say that we're satisfied.
09:39 I want to see continuity.
09:41 Tonight is not enough.
09:43 We need more.
09:44 Go.
09:45 Good evening.
09:47 I want to talk about two important players for the future of the team.
09:54 Ossimen came back and scored.
09:57 He missed it since October 13.
09:59 It's clear that he didn't score,
10:01 but he's improving in terms of performance and engine speed.
10:06 How important is it for you to find the right balance
10:12 and find the right Napoli team for the next two days?
10:17 It's fundamental.
10:19 It's very important.
10:22 I'm happy because I've seen these improvements.
10:26 I've seen it in the past with the Italian teams we've faced.
10:32 The team was starting to be short,
10:36 but we've done a lot of good things.
10:39 We did well in Turin,
10:42 we won a game and we're at the top of the table.
10:46 That's why I'm happy today.
10:50 I've seen a series of improvements since I joined.
10:54 I haven't counted the games I've played,
10:57 but I've seen a progression of improvement in many areas.
11:01 I'm confident because I think when I have more time
11:04 and I work with the team,
11:07 I'll be able to see some really important things for us.
11:12 The question is about two important players.
11:19 Ossimen scored tonight,
11:21 but he hadn't scored since October 13.
11:24 We saw that Kvaratskelia is playing much better.
11:27 How important is it for these two players to play well
11:31 so that the team can find a balance?
11:34 I think it's very important.
11:36 I'm happy because I've seen progress in the team.
11:40 We've been playing well in the last few games.
11:43 I'm thinking about the last game against Turin.
11:46 We had some good moves and counterattacks.
11:49 I'm happy because I've seen the team playing better.
11:55 It's not just today, but it's been a long time
11:58 and we've been playing better in some games.
12:01 Now I want to focus on what we think is important in the next few days.
12:08 Thank you.
12:09 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
12:11 Not even a chance.