Following the match against UC Sampdoria, Coach Ashley Cole went to the press room at Orogel Stadium-Dino Manuzzi to discuss the Bianconeri’s performance with the journalists present.

“Today’s first half didn’t reflect who we are. I’ve been talking all week about our attempt to realize a dream, to take a leap forward, and today it seemed to me that in the first half, instead, we showed no intensity, nor any desire to close in on our opponents, and at that point we struggled. The second half went better, but we can’t start matches the way we did if we want to realize the dream we’re chasing. It’s impossible to achieve it that way.”

“Struggling to score in recent matches? That’s not enough; I’ve said this in at least three press conferences now: if you don’t put the ball in the net, you can’t win matches. If you can’t create chances or come up with ideas in the penalty area—whether it’s a quick combination to set up a teammate or changing the angle of a cross to send it into the box—you won’t win matches. And today, once again, we did things halfway: getting in front of the goal, having good chances to finish our attacks—none of that happened today. So yes, again, I’ll say the same thing: we’ll keep training and pushing the players to improve in front of the goal. Something, however, has to click because in training the guys convert their chances, and in recent matches we’ve had countless opportunities to score goals, yet we can’t do it, and that’s a problem. If you can’t put the ball in the net, you won’t win matches, and we have to find a way to score goals.”

“Tonight it was really important to respect Jonathan’s situation. No one would ever want an injury or a similar situation to happen again. And as I’ve already said, he’s part of the group, part of the team, and very important in the locker room. But Siano did really well today, considering he hadn’t played in practically two years. I think he played with character and courage, and he didn’t seem nervous at all to me. He had the confidence to come out and collect the ball and made good decisions on whether to play long or short. We need to keep this up; we need to ensure that when players are fit and ready, they make an impact on this group and the same goes for Castrovilli, who made an impact on the group when he came on. That’s what I told the players: I need twenty-two players who make my job as difficult as possible, because I need to have a headache when choosing the starting lineup. Some players, however, aren’t making things that difficult for me right now, and it’s up to them to prove their true worth to earn a spot on the team.”

“A team that wants to have more possession can’t be an excuse. Soccer is always the same: whatever the structure, whatever the formation, it’s always the same. The idea is the same. Have the ball, draw out the opposing players and teams, play deep, and play fast to put the ball in the net. It’s simple and can’t be an excuse for the situation we’re in.”

The full press conference is available on Cesena FC’s YouTube channel: