Giampaolo urges focus: “We must shed blood to beat SPAL”

Marco Giampaolo’s message was clear when he spoke to the press on Saturday lunchtime ahead of Monday’s clash against SPAL: Sampdoria underestimate the visitors at their peril.

“SPAL are above us in the table, albeit with not many games played,” began the Doria coach. “They’re ahead by a point – although you can’t read too much into the table at this point – and have started well, despite their two recent defeats. They’re a well-organised side, they’ve strengthened and they have some good players, particularly in attack with the likes of Antenucci, Petagna and Paloschi.”

Giampaolo urged his team to ensure their concentration levels are as high as possible on Monday night.

“The biggest mistake we could make is to think that the name of the club will do it for us,” he said. “It used to be a foregone conclusion for the big teams against the smaller teams, but you can’t take anything for granted nowadays – you see that every week. We have to shed blood to win. It’s going to be a difficult match, like they all are.”

The Doria coach also praised his team for the way they have applied themselves during a gruelling run of fixtures.

“I’m changing the way I feel about this run of games,” he said. “You don’t have time to spend time thinking about a game because you instantly have another one. It’s a new experience for us and it’s demanding both physically and mentally, but I think the lads are looking good and have managed it well. Once the next two games are out of the way, we’ll draw our first conclusions on the season.”

Giampaolo revealed just how intensive the last two weeks have been for his squad.

“We’ve stayed together as a team twice after matches in this spell, so it’s been a big effort for the players because they’ve not been able to go home,” he said. “We’ve looked after their diet, had breakfast together in the morning then gone to training together. We’ve tried to make sure the details are right. It requires a lot of buy-in from the players because they’ve probably spent half of the last fortnight staying together, but that’s part of our job.”

Despite the demanding spell, Giampaolo reiterated his desire for the players to enjoy their football.

“It’s less of a slog for the players if they’re having fun,” he said. “It’s like that in every walk of life – if you’re not enjoying it, it’s a lot harder. If you go to work and don’t like what you’re doing, you find it three times as hard.”