Fonseca: Confidence is returning

Building on the midweek win against Parma, the Giallorossi romped to a 3-0 triumph at the Stadio Mario Rigamonti - with Federico Fazio, Nikola Kalinic and Nicolo Zaniolo all on the scoresheet in the second half.

“This evening we could have scored more goals, especially in the first half, but the team put in a good performance,” Fonseca said.

You always stayed calm, what did you tell your players throughout this tough period to get their confidence back?

“By making the players see that they can’t change the past, so they have to focus on the future. This side did a lot of good things during the first half of the season, so clearly that’s what they are capable of.

"Today I told them that, if they didn’t win today, then Wednesday’s win would have been worthless. They knew how important it was to get the three points. We showed ambition, quality and we fully deserved the win.”

Does this formation give you more security?

“Yes, we are playing well like this. Both wins have given the players confidence. The last game was important, not just because we won but because we played well and regained some momentum for the rest of the season. Now we’ve won again – but we need to think about the next game, against Verona, which will be tough.”

Roger Ibanez played in the middle of the three in defence tonight. What was your thinking there?

“For two reasons: because he’s the quickest of the defenders and because he is comfortable passing the ball out from the back.”

Will you watch Napoli and Milan tomorrow?

“I don’t think about the other teams too much, I think it’s more important to focus on our games. But we’ll see what happens.”

The team also seemed to finish this game strongly. Are they improving physically as well?

“Yes, and as I’ve said wins always bring confidence. Not changing things a lot is also important at the moment, but I have to say the team did well tonight in every aspect.”

How important was it to be so in control tonight, allowing you to use your subs?

“It’s very important to be able to do it like that. Pellegrini played the last two games, Veretout has played all of them. It was important that Dzeko got a rest and I have to say that Kalinic played really well. I have confidence in all my players and that allows me to manage them better.”

Why didn’t Pau Lopez play tonight?

“We talked, he was out for a while through injury. He played in the last two games and we decided to go with Antonio [Mirante] for this one, who did well as he always does.”