Spalletti Slams His Players After Genoa Defeat: 'Our Level of Fight Is Unacceptable'

Luciano Spalletti said the defeat to Genoa was "hard to accept", questioning the attitude of some of his players and their desire to "fight for the ball".

Juventus were beaten 2-0 at the Luigi Ferraris, with Kingsley Ehizibue and Tommaso Baldanzi scoring in the first half.

The result means Juventus have lost three of their first nine Serie A matches for only the third time since three points for a win was introduced in 1994-95, after the 1995-96 and 2015-16 seasons.

With Juventus already 11 points behind leaders Inter, the pressure is mounting on Spalletti, who has struggled this season to carry over the momentum built last term.

Speaking after the match, Spalletti put the responsibility on his players:

"First and foremost, we have to apologise to our fans for this performance. Anything we say right now could be misinterpreted, so we need time to get a clear understanding of the situation.

"It is hard to talk about Baldanzi finding space behind our defence, because we never managed to find the right balance against him on the pitch. We bore a considerable share of the blame for both of Genoa's goals; on the other hand, we also had a few clear chances that we failed to convert.

"Our level of running and our aggression in individual duels are very hard to accept. We lost duels in attack, in defence, all over the pitch. Sooner or later we have to understand what is happening and raise our physical level and our desire to fight for the ball."

The fixtures are not getting any easier for Juventus. Spalletti's former club Napoli visit the Allianz Stadium this Sunday. Both sides have made inconsistent starts to the Serie A season and sit on 14 points, though Massimiliano Allegri's team are one place higher on goal difference.

Asked about facing Napoli, Spalletti said: "As always, I will feel a great deal of emotion. I feel a deep human affection and bond with the people of Naples; it is a city that is impossible not to love once you are inside it. And if you have managed to win the Scudetto there, that feeling is multiplied a thousand times."

In contrast to their Serie A form, Juventus are cutting a better figure in Europe, having taken seven points from their first three Europa League matches. Spalletti, however, remains concerned at this stage of the season:

"What worries me is that I am struggling to explain to the players that football has changed. Above all, you have to win these duels and cope with the pressure you face all over the pitch, because that is how football is played now. When we try to replicate this in training, we find it difficult to get the players up to that level. One reason is that we currently have no time to train and very few alternatives, which leads to fatigue building up. That worries me a little. We have to take one step forward each time and try something different, but we need time to make it stick."