The Viola sporting director after the defeat against Milan: “If VAR has to call the referee back for a serious mistake, this is a huge mistake by VAR… Is the coach at risk? If there’s anyone who deserves to be kicked out, maybe it’s me”
Daniele Pradè doesn’t fit. After the match came the frontal attack on the refereeing: “Marinelli didn’t have the courage to support his decision, we’re risking our lives and we have to understand that you can’t do something like that. It’s scandalous. Gimenez was on the ground for 20 minutes and wasn’t even touched. Shortly before there had been a foul on Ranieri which could have been red, but instead he was given a yellow. We conceded goals with 10 men. We’re sorry. Fiorentina played with heart and not he deserved to lose so horribly. We are defeated in a painful way, our ranking is deficient, we didn’t expect it. Three points after 7 games: this is not who we are.” The sporting director then indulged in a brutal self-criticism, defending the Viola coach: “If there is one person who can get us out of these situations it is only Stefano Pioli, the rest is my fault. The protest in Florence should only be on me: I had over 90 million to build the team. If there is a culprit, it is me. What happens on the pitch is the result of moments. We have a stadium in pitiful conditions and we started with three away games. But we can do a lot, we have two cups to honor. I’m very sorry for the fans.” Pradè then once again reiterated his support for the coach: “If there is one person who has faith, it is Pioli. If there is someone who needs to be kicked out, it is me”.
Pegs
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Stefano Pioli also focused on refereeing: “The first rule they told us about VAR is that it intervenes if there is a clear and obvious error by the referee. But is the one that led to Milan’s penalty? If we do this, we invite the players to simulate. Just put your hands in your face at the first contact and everyone will whistle.” During the ritual questions after the match, there was also a heated exchange between the coach and Luca Toni. Pioli responds piquedly to a question, denying the existence of tensions in the locker room, the former champion: “I never said that”. And the technician: “I heard you before, let’s move on.”