Read Paolo Vanoli’s post-match comments following Fiorentina’s 1-2 loss to Fabio Pisacane’s Cagliari.

Would you say that this defeat has been eye opening?

“This match has been another lesson for us and we have to learn it fast. I am angry about the goals we conceded. The first goal was the result of a rather scrappy play and once we were down by one goal, Cagliari started sitting deep, and we know that when they do that, they can be dangerous.

“However, what bothered me the most was the second goal we conceded. You always have to keep fighting and stay in the game. We didn’t take that play by Cagliari seriously and we conceded another goal.

“Another thing is that in the first half we were slow when we had to find our wingers in man-on-man situations, when we were on the attack and when we reached the opponent’s box. In the second half, we were able to attack the box better. We were able to pull one back, but we failed to score the equalizer.

“We need to realize that we haven’t been able to pick up any points against the teams that are behind us. We must understand that such points in the second half of the season are extremely precious. Even though we are Fiorentina, we must be careful with counter-attacks and we must be sharper.

What can you tell us about Fiorentina’s defensive phase tonight? In particular about Pietro Comuzzo, who wasn’t maybe as sharp as usual.

“I like to talk about our defense overall. Apart from the first goal we conceded, there were both individual and team mistakes throughout the game. The play by Cagliari was not well thought out and we didn’t read it as we should’ve. Pietro [Comuzzo] didn’t stay with his man and lost him. The second goal in particular was a very serious mistake. There were four of us against two of them, but they still scored.

“We need to realise that the teams that are lower down the table are a challenge for us and we need to be much more careful when they hit us on the counter-attack, and that’s exactly what Cagliari did. I believe we played a good second half and deserved a bit more, but unfortunately, we weren’t as sharp as we should’ve been in the box.”