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Torino coach Paolo Vanoli spoke at the end of the match against Empoli, valid for the twenty-ninth round of Serie A.

A goal by Nikola Vlasic in the 70th minute of play allows Torino to beat Empoli and climb to 38 points in the standings, 2 points behind Udinese who lost unexpectedly to Hellas Verona. On the other hand, it’s a crisis for the Tuscans, who have not won since the 1-4 at Bentegodi on December 8: since then, they have only earned 3 points in the following 14 Serie A matches, with the only satisfaction of eliminating Juventus in the Coppa Italia. The blues remain third from bottom, 3 points away from safety and risk being caught by Venezia.

Torino-Empoli 1-0: Vanoli’s post-match words

At the end of the match, Torino coach Paolo Vanoli was intercepted by DAZN microphones. Here are his words.

Celebrating at the final whistle
“It’s my passion, my desire to lead the boys to do something important. 10 points in the last 4 games is not few: today’s match was the most difficult, they were coming from negative results but were always in the game. We need to become better against those who play man-to-man all over the field. If we have tonight’s mentality, the individual quality emerges. And we saw that of Vlasic. We were good at suffering. In the first half, we didn’t start with the right attention, maybe because in the 4-3-3 Vlasic wide was struggling, he likes to be in the center of the game. I asked Gineitis to sacrifice himself on Pezzella, I chose him to make the first plays towards Adams. We got three important points, suffering: I like it, it reflects the DNA of the Granata jersey.”

The Granata fans
“I always try to understand the history and want to transfer it to the players. It’s important to understand where you work and find players for Toro. Every place must find its own players. We had a good January transfer window for this reason, because we got functional elements with that mentality. It’s an important step to build. I didn’t like saying we didn’t have goals, tonight we showed that we want to fight until the end and always try to win. The 10 points in the last 4 matches are also thanks to the fans. I encouraged them because it was a moment of suffering, I wanted them to push the team together with me. Maybe it’s a dream, but slowly I’m putting a piece at a time… I had goosebumps in Monza and in Parma, it felt like playing at home. I’ve always said that our fans are too important: we’ve lost stupid points, but if these people come, they understand that we’re going 200%.”

Walukiewicz substitution
“He had a resentment of the problem he had during the week. We spoke with Lazaro, he made himself available but didn’t have 90 minutes. And on Sanabria, the doctor stopped him, there was some doubt after the MRI and he told me not to risk it. I want this spirit: Walukiewicz gave everything, even Lazaro wanted to be there. And also Sanabria, it was only the doctor who stopped him but he wanted to be there. It’s a small, but significant step forward.”

PAOLO VANOLI’S ANGRY OUTBURST (PHOTO BY SALVATORE FORNELLI)

These are the statements that the coach made to DAZN microphones.

Match analysis
“I’d say well, the boys despite the difficulties managed to stay in the game and understand the moments of the match. We knew we would face a lively team that also showed it tonight. We started with a bit of fear but when they play man-to-man against you, you have to be quicker in moving the ball. I must say that the boys showed they want to do something important.”

Honoring the jersey
“When I start working at a club, I look at the history. And this is a club with an important history and we must always honor it. I always tell my boys that we have to carry the fans with us, but I must say that the fans are giving us a big hand too. We must always have the DNA of Torino inside us, because great results don’t come if you don’t know the history. Sometimes we’ve thrown away points but this team in the second half of the season is running. Tonight we stayed in the game against a dangerous opponent.”

The standings and objectives
“From the second half of the season, we’ve stepped up, earning 10 points in the last 4 games. We’re having continuity even though we’ve also lost points from winning positions against Parma or Bologna. I don’t look at the standings. For me, from here on there will be 12 finals and we must always have a winning mentality. Every match will be against teams with different motivations, after the break there will be Lazio who wants to go to Europe. We must always be up to the challenge.”

What has changed since January
“The turning point was abandoning the past and switching to a back four. We left a three-year process behind and completely changed, starting a new path.”