Guglielmo Vicario: “We have to stay together and believe in our football”

Guglielmo Vicario feels the team can use the pain of a derby defeat to kick on as our 2024/25 calendar begins to kick in over the next few weeks.

We step into Carabao Cup and UEFA Europa League action over the course of the next 10 days, beginning with our Carabao Cup third round tie against Coventry City on Wednesday evening (8pm). After returning to Premier League action and Brentford at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday (3pm) it’s back into Europe and the start of our UEL campaign against Qarabag on Thursday 26 September (8pm). The month then ends with a trip to Old Trafford to face United on Sunday 29 September (4.30pm, all times UK).

Vicario represented the disappointment of the dressing room when he spoke to us after Sunday’s narrow derby loss, where, again, we played well - 64% possession, 15-7 efforts at goal - but came away with nothing to show for our efforts.

“Yes, it hurts a lot,” said ‘Vic’, speaking to us on The Review Show. “Everyone in the dressing room... we prepared the best for this game, so it was important for us, like every game is important, but this is special for our crowd, and we know this.

“So, now we have just to take that pain and the disappointment, but we know football always gives you another opportunity and we just have to move forward looking forward to the next games we have to face.”

It was put to Vic if that pain could work to drive us forward. “We have to stick together, to believe in our football, and just carry on like that. We have a great, brilliant coach, brilliant staff who can help us, so we just have to stay together and to believe in our football, because we played such good games until now. Today is a big defeat, we take the responsibility for that and now we just have to prepare our best level for the next games.”