Ranieri: We're going through a tough moment

Did the team give up too easily or was there a lack of consistency? Is this team uncoachable?

“We’re doing everything. We’re going through a period where we concede from the first attack in the first half. We were able to equalise – I don’t know how – but then they scored the second goal from their first attack after the break. It’s hard – you try to help the group, but the other team runs more. It’s difficult to help them, it is difficult, but we’re not giving up. It’s hard but we’re doing our best.”

Why is the play so slow?

“Because they haven’t trained much and there have been lots of injuries. The players have played when they should have been recovering. They’ve been injured a lot and now this is the physical condition we have. I try to make them work, but I can’t do too much because of the way we are. [Nicolo] Zaniolo is an important player at the moment but on Friday night he had a bad stomach and asked me not to play. Obviously one player wouldn’t have changed the game, but we could have done better. Napoli play good football – they’re confident and they move the ball well. Their players swap positions a lot.”

Were you expecting to take over such a fragile group?

“When you look at the team from the outside, you understand certain things. When you’re on the inside, you understand them better and try to put things right and help the lads. It’s a bit of everything: the physical level, the mental level and the injuries. Technically the team has quality, it’s just that when it suffers defeats it’s unable to pick itself up. I have to thank the players because they’re playing even though they’re not at 100% - [Kostas] Manolas, [Daniele] De Rossi, [Edin] Dzeko and [Aleksandar] Kolarov. Unfortunately, that’s the situation.

“The players have come together. When you have players that aren’t at 100% wanting to play, it shows that they want to step up. That’s really important for me. It means that we’re all in the same boat. Now let’s try to bring it in to shore as best we can.”

Why does the team lack dynamism?

“The other team gets to the ball first and runs more. Our technical quality means we’re able to do something, but it’s not backed up by the physical side of things. Do I regret accepting the offer? Never. How could I regret Roma?”

How will you deal with the criticism? Will you isolate the group from the opinions of the city?

“We need to isolate ourselves and focus on the fact that we play Fiorentina in two days’ time, then we have another game after that. I hope the matches can serve as training for us.”