“I’m disappointed for the result, and I’m sorry for the fans, for the environment, because after two defeats, maybe somebody can think it’s the same story, the same as the last two seasons. I have no doubt it’s not like this. I think I can’t change my opinion after two defeats.
“I have a big, big confidence in the qualities of my players. At the end, when we become a team, when we improve the connection between the players, when we improve the quality of the play, when we improve the defensive space, the distances between the attackers, defenders, midfielders, when we create a team, this group, with me or with another coach, nothing changes, because they are too good players.
“I’m sorry for the club, because they are building a great squad, but maybe now we are not ready yet, for many, many reasons. We are not ready yet, for many reasons, but today, I think, until the first goal, we played better than Newcastle. Newcastle is a good team, good coach, good player, good at everything, but we created more chances to score, we shot more times, we had the control of the ball more than Newcastle.
“We suffered too much in two or three situations in the first half, because the distance between the attackers and defenders was too big, too much space, and then after the goal we conceded, I think we lost the confidence. The reaction was not good enough, not the reaction I want to see on the pitch, and I said immediately after the end of the game, the players, because when you are building something new, it’s tough, there are problems, the difference is how you want to find the solution of these problems, and the solution is not to put down the head, but to react, because we had 20 minutes again to score one, two or maybe three goals.”