It's been such a difficult week with losing Gian Piero. How proud are you of the players for the focus they managed to show today?
I have to be honest. It was really, really difficult for us to be focused on the game because what happened in the last three days was incredible, was incredible. I knew that the situation was really problematic after the game against Frankfurt. But no one would expect this situation because no one knew something about his illness. It was an illness but under control. And then… it is very difficult because this situation hit me a lot on the emotional aspect.
When this happens, it is very different to cover your feelings with the players, with the people that work in Tottenham. At the same time, I have seen a lot of solidarity, the players were really devastated by the pain, and the whole Tottenham environment, the feeling was really, really bad because, in only ten months, I think Gian Piero went through the heart of everybody. They appreciated it because we are talking about a really big worker, for me, my opinion in his job he is a scientist.
I spoke with him last week on Thursday, the last time when I arrived at the training ground he wanted to speak with me. And to ask to stay at home because he had a bit of a fever. And it was incredible because he was really, really worried about missing training. And I said: Gian Piero, we are talking about your health. And that moment, he told me about his illness. And I said: this is your health, you have to try to have the right checks, and don't worry. His first problem was about missing training!
For this reason, I think he was in the heart of every single player. My players were really devastated by the pain. But in life, sometimes, many situations happen, not only to us but to many people. Life sometimes is not good. At the same time, you have to try to cope with this situation in the best possible way, and it has to be so for his family, for his wife Cinzia, his son Ivan and daughter Martina, and then I'm sure that Gian Piero will stay with us forever, forever, I'm sure about this.
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Was it difficult to try to prepare the team?
It was really difficult because when it happened when we knew the morning that he died, I communicated the bad news to my players. It was really, really difficult for everybody. We didn't have the training session. We didn't have the training session because we were too emotionally involved on Thursday. Then, we prepared for the game on Friday, but for sure, it was a tough time.
Tomorrow there is the funeral in Naples, we are going with the staff. I want to stay with his family and to give big hearts to them and to tell them, especially his daughter and his son and his wife have to be strong because Gian Piero was a really strong person.
He was a person with a strong character, and he doesn't want to see us not happy. It's difficult to make him happy because we are devastated by the pain, but at the same time, we know he will stay with us for the future, with me for sure.
How proud are you of the players for their focus and also for adapting to the new formation?
I'm really proud of my players because I said to them I know that before having good players, I have really good persons. Many times I repeated this concept. I think in these circumstances, they showed to be really important persons because I know I tried not to push them to play this game.
Many times we tried to find the motivation to push these players and to, create a situation and to increase the tension. Today honestly, I did nothing under this aspect. I left them to face the situation, and they showed me to be really good people, top men. I said to them just now that I'm proud to be the coach of this team because, first of all, we have top men and really good players.
You've known Gian Piero for so long. Can you sum up what an impact he had on your career at Juventus as a player and then as a coach at Siena?
He worked with me also in my first experience in Bari when we got promotion and then also in Atalanta. I lived a lot of time with him because we worked together for ten years at Juventus when I was a player, and believe me, it was really, really tough as a player to work with him.
For us, he showed us a way to work, a different way to work. I remember that he put a big bell in the gym and said to us, 'if someone is not good or wants to give up, they have to go there and sound the bell'.
This is an example to show that we are talking about a person that brought me to overcome my real possibility. He pushed me to go over my possibility. I think for this reason, in only ten months, the people at Tottenham appreciated him a lot because they are understood that we are talking about a really top man, a top worker. In my opinion, I don't think there is one who is better in his job.
For me, he's not a physical coach but a scientist. A person that in every moment wanted to continue to study, to have more knowledge, he always wanted to develop his knowledge. I will keep his teachings in my heart and in my head.
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