Fonseca: I was pleased with the attitude of the lads

Jordan Veretout and Edin Dzeko scored the goals for the Giallorossi, as they made it three wins from their last three games heading into the weekend clash with Inter Milan.

It’s not easy to win against a side as determined as Verona…

“It’s always tough to play against sides like Verona, but I think today we won and we played well. We could have killed the game off sooner, we had six or seven chances to score goals.

“Defensively we were pretty much always high up the pitch and Pau Lopez did not have to do much, although it wasn’t straightforward.

"None of the other big sides have been able to dictate the play against them this season, but we were never really at great risk and we found a lot of space behind their defence.”

The intensity we saw today was because of the opposition you were facing, or is it because your players are feeling increasingly good physically?

“I really liked the attitude of pretty much all the players tonight. The side is getting better physically and has a bit more strength to pressure the opposition and really impose themselves. You can’t press high in every single game, but I think the side is getting better from that point of view too.”

Could you have taken more advantage of the spaces in the second half?

“We created a lot of clear openings to score a third or a fourth goal after the break. It’s not easy against a side that plays man-to-man and puts such pressure on you, but we were able to build the play really well – we just lacked a finishing touch at times.”

Gianluca Mancini had a go at Nicolo Zaniolo in the closing stages for not tracking back – is that a sign of the growing spirit and accountability in the group?

“Gianluca has a great attitude and in that case he was doing what he should, because Zaniolo needed to help the side a bit more and he didn’t do that.”

What should Zaniolo have been doing?

“When you come on, first of all you need to make sure you work hard for your teammates – that’s something I always say. Today I didn’t like it because he didn’t assist his teammates.”

Edin Dzeko seemed a bit irate after the goal…

“I didn’t see that, I just saw that when the team was struggling a bit he really helped out.”

Kolarov did well in the three-man defence, is it an experiment you could repeat?

“He played well, it’s something we could do again in future. I really liked the performance he put in from that position.”