Montella answered questions with national football player Ozan Kabak at the press conference held at the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium, where they will face Italy in the UEFA Nations A League Group 1.
Stating that they want to win the Italy match, Montella said, "This is not the picture we want for sure, we want to win. Even though we are competing at this level for the first time, we want to win. As a country, we are not used to this level, we continue by gaining experience, we try to work harder every time to get the result we want at this level, we want to achieve this as of tomorrow. I hope we can get what we want." he said.
The Italian coach answered the question of whether there will be significant changes in the squad in the absence of Arda Güler: "Unfortunately, Arda is not there, he played the first three matches very well. At the same time, Kenan and Hakan are not there either. Hakan is a very important name for us, someone who endures everything for us. Barış, Orkun and Mert are also missing. They are all very important football players for us. We can use this as an opportunity to see new faces. We can help them gain experience. While we gain this experience, we will be on the field with self-confidence, confident that we will get a good result tomorrow." "I'm hopeful." he replied.
Vincenzo Montella stated that he is a person open to criticism and said:
"I am fully aware of the dynamics of football, I am always open to criticism. I do not only listen to irrational criticism. I am a person who likes to listen when it is constructive. We are competing in the A League for the first time in our history. We achieved this together. We are struggling with very important shortcomings. The fight we gave against France was very important, the fight we gave in the second half of the Italy match was important and there was also a fight in the match in Belgium, but as a result, we do not want to lose, there is no doubt about it. The main thing of football is to score goals, we could not achieve this in these matches. Some of our players are out of position. "They are playing, we couldn't score a goal despite entering the penalty area 42 times in the Belgium match. This happens sometimes. I feel sad when there are heavy, unfair criticisms against our players. We are at such a different point that they told me about a 31-year-old striker playing in the 3rd League and asked me to buy it. It is necessary to make balanced criticisms without forgetting that the players are human beings like us."
Montella asked an Italian journalist, "Is the Turkish National Team still in shock from the World Cup?" "It may be a valid question, I know the atmosphere around us is still sad. We were very sad, too. At that time, the World Cup started when three of our important football players returned from injury. One of them was Arda, it was a game where his legs opened up in the third game and we got the result we wanted, but the World Cup did not go as we wanted. We tried until the end, but it did not work. Of course, we may still be under the influence, but when we talk to my players, we say that experience should take us forward. We know that we can do better every time." made his assessment.
Italian coach: "If the Italy match was your last game as the head of the Turkish National Team, what would you be sad about not being able to do?" "Frankly, as a professional person, I am someone who keeps my desire to win and my desire to work alive. I can say that my heart is clean, I do not talk about my future, I always focus on the present. I spend all my energy on my team to see how I can do better every time. I cannot think of anything else. There is only the national team in my mind." he replied.
Ozan Kabak: “We want to leave here with a good game and score tomorrow”
National football player Ozan Kabak said that they wanted to leave the field with a good game and score in the Italy match.
Stating that the first three matches in the group did not go as they wanted, Ozan said, "We are aware of the expectations from us, there are high expectations, but we also need to be realistic. We played against three tough opponents, we made mistakes, but the important thing is to learn from here and move on. Tomorrow, we want to fight well and return to our country with a good performance. We are good players, we worked really well. We want to show a reaction against Italy, we are aware of their strength. In the match against them in our country, especially the first half did not go as we wanted, but I believe that this time it will be different, tomorrow will be good." "We want to leave here with a game and a score." he said.
Underlining that there is a very good unity within the team, Ozan Kabak said, "Our greatest strength is our friendship, our togetherness, our family atmosphere. It was like this when things were going well, things are going bad, but we continue to be united. I am sure that we will come out of where we fell as a unit, we all believe in it wholeheartedly. Coming to the goal problem, we concede too many goals as a defense, but we are working on it, we have worked tactically accordingly in training. One of the ways to win is not to concede goals, to concede fewer goals, I hope we are on this path as well." "We will take better steps." made his assessment.
