Pioli criticises error - strewn display

CROTONE - Following a second straight league defeat for the Nerazzurri, coach Stefano Pioli made no attempt to look for excuses.

"Our approach was all wrong. We made too many mistakes and it cost us a game where we should have shown a different mentality," he said following the game in Crotone.

"We tried to come back but there were too many errors in our display, especially in the first 20 minutes. In terms of attitude, this is not what we should be seeing. That means we didn’t work hard enough and that’s everyone’s fault. We needed more focus and precision."

The coach turned attentions to Saturday’s derby clash with Milan, an opportunity to bounce back.

"Luckily, we now have a huge game, the derby, and we need to show that we’re not the team that was out there today. In the last two games, we’ve made mistakes that are hard to explain from a technical perspective – serious errors given the quality that we have. We had, and still have, the chance to do a good job.

"Clearly this is a painful defeat. Making excuses is worthless – we need a reaction. There is no better time for that than the derby – that provides big motivation. We  all need to take responsibility and show our desire to move up the table. Since I’ve been here, this is the first time in six months I’ve seen such big mistakes.

"We clearly needed to go on a great run to keep chase. We’ve spent a lot too. Either way, we absolutely have to end the season as well as we can, and show that we can be the team we know we can.

"In football, consistency is the key to success and to staying at the top level. We had that for around four to five months but now we’ve had two unexpected defeats. Clearly we’ve been unable to keep up our level of focus.

"The overall assessment comes at the end of the season, however, and there’s time to show we’re not the team that was on show today."