19 November 2017
“At times in the last few months we’ve shown the wrong approach to matches. However, today we lost a game that we controlled for at least 70 minutes and that’s something we need to think about first and foremost,” said Giorgio Chiellini after Juventus' loss at Sampdoria.
Chiellini, as ever, was not shying away. “We were all probably lacking that extra 1% that allows you to take home the points when the standard of a match or the opposition increases.”
“We need to be compact, get tight, fight for every last inch and scrap for every ball,” stressed the defender. “We turned things around last season when we switched formation in January but we were solid at the back. This year we have to figure what we’re missing to overcome any issues as soon as they arise. We played well for long periods in the matches we’ve drawn and lost and that was the case again today. It makes me laugh when I think that a fixture we controlled for the entirety of the first period and part of the second – where we should have led 2-0 – saw us trailing 3-0 after 90 minutes.”
Despite some misfortune, Chiellini was not looking to deflect the blame. “We didn’t get the rub of the green today but it’s a one-off. People that cling to excuses are weak – they’re not winners.”
