Gianluca, what do think Bologna is worth after this defeat at home from Sampdoria?
“We played badly; Sampdoria was a lot better than us. For an hour we did not have a shot on goal, and that says a lot. They deserved to win. With a little bit of luck, we could have seized a draw in the second half, but luck also has to be deserved, and we’re not playing well. We’ve certainly had a lot of bad luck recently; today, too, the goal that decided the game came from a bounce off the wall. Besides our deficiencies, we have been unlucky.”

We have seen you get quite agitated in some situations; why?
“I saw that they were rather slow on the field, probably because they were afraid. The younger kids feel the pressure of the moment, and if they are booed at the first mistake, it certainly does not help them. The boos can make even thick-skinned old hands nervous, imagine what the young players feel.”

The public is showing its disapproval clearly.
“We realize that we are not playing well and that we have problems. But let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot; if we do that, things will get even worse. Our goal is to reach the 40 points that will protect us from relegation, and we must put all our effort into it.”

Is there a possibility for improvement in the future?
“There are certainly signs of improvement. Already in Rome against Lazio we played a decent game, as well as in Milan and Turin. Maybe in away games with strong teams we come on the field with the right mindset to bridge the gap in quality between us and the opponents. We have more difficulty at home against opponents who are our equals, which is a sign that we are unsettled at the moment.”

Have you ever had to fight to avoid relegation in your career?
“The first year that I played at Bologna, the year of Buso and Guidolin. But we always stayed 5 or 6 points above the relegation zone; we were never right in the middle of it all.”