Sampdoria vs Napoli preview - Boss demands Sampdoria make amends
Posted Sunday, November 30, 2014 by PA
Sampdoria head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has criticised his side's performance at Cesena and demanded a drastic improvement in Monday's home game against Napoli.
The Blucerchiati salvaged a point in last Sunday's 1-1 draw at Cesena thanks to an own goal from opposition defender Constantin Nica, and Mihajlovic was unimpressed with the team's display.
"We need to take a good look at ourselves because we create a lot of chances and we throw them away," Mihajlovic told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We need to understand why at Cesena we went onto the pitch without the fighting spirit that characterises this team.
"We scored with an own goal and this is not a good sign.
"We need to be more clinical in attack, I think it's a case of my players being too anxious to score.
"When playing away from home we lack personality and we need to improve on this.
"I expect my team to make amends on Monday."
Sampdoria are unbeaten at the Luigi Ferraris stadium and have won five games overall while losing just once in Serie A.
Victory on Monday would see the Genoa outfit leapfrog Napoli into third place.
Sampdoria are one place and one point adrift of Napoli, who hold the last Champions League qualifying spot.
"We respect Napoli but I think we have chances to win this game," Mihajlovic said.
Napoli head into the encounter in Genoa on the back of Thursday's goalless draw against Sparta Prague.
The point in the Czech Republic was sufficient to see Rafael Benitez's side progress to the last 32 of the Europa League.
"The important thing was to progress and we achieved this with a game to spare," Benitez said. "Now we must concentrate on the domestic front."
Napoli have collected seven points from a possible nine in their last three league games.
The Naples outfit are without Spanish striker Michu, who underwent right ankle surgery this week and is expected to be sidelined for two months.
They welcome back Belgian winger Dries Mertens, who missed last weekend's 3-3 draw to Cagliari with a head injury.
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