Naturally, Maresca was also asked about the frequent red cards in his post-match press conference, and he decided to put a positive spin on this issue. Although he admitted that suspensions are avoidable, he made sure to emphasise that he is delighted with his players’ commitment.
“It’s something that we can do better [with], but I’m not concerned,” he insisted. “I know that there are some of you that say, ‘why is he not concerned?’ I’m not concerned because I like to analyse.
“We can avoid that, yes, for sure we can avoid that. But also for me, the desire of the players is important. Today, with 3-0, 90 minutes, the game is finished, Malo [Gusto] can avoid that because it’s useless to make a second foul on a yellow card, for sure.
“But also the good part is, Malo is showing that he doesn’t want to concede anything. They don’t want to concede a goal, they are playing for a clean sheet. It’s the balance, [but] we can avoid that for sure.”