Claudio Ranieri reacts to draw with Bologna

Here’s what the coach had to say:

When Artem Dovbyk stepped up, you encouraged him. Did you want to be physically present with the player?
 “No, I just wanted to make sure he was the one taking the penalty because [Nicola] Zalewski had grabbed the ball and I wanted Dovbyk to step up to the spot.”

Did you feel that he was going to score?
 “No, but he’s one of our three penalty takers: [Paulo] Dybala, [Leandro] Paredes and him. With the other two unavailable, it was natural for him to take on the responsibility.”

It was a hard-fought point. Overall, are you satisfied with this team or does the lack of away wins still bother you?
 “No, I think it bothers you all more than it does me. I understand the criticism, but we still have time until 25 April. We had a good first half, creating more chances than Bologna. They complained about the last-minute penalty, which I don’t understand. They got a penalty because one of our players barely touched the ball with his hand and their player also used his arm. No one is mentioning the potential penalty on [Alexis] Saelemaekers in the first half. Perhaps he was slightly hit, and if VAR didn’t intervene, it’s because the referee’s judgement prevailed.

“As for the match, we were pressing for a second goal, but it slipped away from us. Bologna did very well, creating two or three dangerous counter-attacks. At that point, the game changed. I brought on fresh players because we needed to recover and while I’m happy we equalised at the last second, I’m also pleased with the determination shown by those who came on.”

Are you not a bit frustrated? Does the team lack the maturity to read games better and avoid counter-attacks like the one where Nicolas Dominguez bypassed two players?
 “You’re right. Paredes tried to foul him, but Dominguez got away from him, so credit to him. It’s a shame because while pushing for a second goal is fine, we can’t afford such counter-attacks. We managed to avoid them against Lazio, but today we ended up making the same mistake. It’s an area where we need to improve.”

How do you work to fix this issue?
 “We need to be more focused on our defensive positioning. When we attack, we commit too many players forward, leaving ourselves exposed. The right players need to be in place to prevent counter-attacks. Despite discussing and working on this in training, we forget in the heat of the moment. Improvement can only come through hard work.”

Before facing Napoli, you play Genoa and Udinese. Are these the games where points can be recovered?
 “We aim to recover points in every match. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don’t. We started at a disadvantage, but the team is there, the desire to do well is there and that gives me a lot of confidence and determination, which I try to pass on to my players.”