After being announced as Fiorentina's new head coach and taking his first training session on Friday, Paolo Vanoli shared his initial thoughts and impressions on Buonasera Viola Park.

The former Viola player was keen to stress that time is of the essence as the team prepare to face Genoa away on Sunday afternoon. 

“I want to start by thanking the president, [Rocco] Commisso – who I hope to meet in person soon – [Alessandro] Ferrari and the new sporting director [Roberto] Goretti for giving me this opportunity to return to the club I used to play for. I'm very happy but I know we need to work very quickly as we have a very difficult and important match to play.

“When you're brought into a club this quickly, there's no time to think. You just focus immediately on the upcoming game. The players must be aware of the situation we're in. We have to hit the reset button and become the team we need to be to pick up points when you're down the bottom. That's the most important thing right now.”

When Vanoli was reminded of the Coppa Italia he won during his previous spell at the club, between 2000 and 2002, he admitted that it was indeed a fond memory of his but then he immediately brought the focus back to the here and now.

“It's nice to remember that you achieved something important. It was a special moment, a fantastic moment. I was lucky enough to have played my part in that success but we won the trophy as a team. We had a group of players with talent but we also had water carriers. It was a very gratifying result.

“However, right now we must focus on the imminent match we have to play and the battle we must face. We're in a tight spot and I want everyone – especially my players – to understand that. We must look within and get ourselves out of this rut. That's our primary goal right now.”

Genoa have themselves just appointed a new coach, Daniele De Rossi, and Vanoli expects Sunday's game to be all the more difficult for it.

“It's going to be very tough because our opponents got a huge win last time out against a direct rival, Sassuolo, away from home, with a 90th-minute winner and that will have given them a massive confidence boost. They've got a new coach and I know him so I know he'll instill belief in them, even if he's not physically on the bench. 

“We must be ready for the fight and understand that there are games within the game. Take the Europa League match: you can't concede a goal in the 90^th minute. It would have been an important point and given us a bit more breathing space in Europe. Our mentality must be – even more so now in our situation – that if we can't win we mustn't lose. We must roll up our sleeves and shut out all the noise on the outside. A lot of money was spent in the summer but this is where we are now. We must take one small step at a time. We're lucky to have fans who – as we saw in Mainz – are still getting behind us. We have to take the criticism on the chin when things don't go well, because it comes with the territory. We must find the desire and the enthusiasm we need to get ourselves out of this.”