Vieira: ‘Genoa had to be aggressive , but disappointing goal to concede’ in 1-0 loss

MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 22: Patrick Vieira, Head Coach of Genoa looks on prior to the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Genoa at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 22, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Patrick Vieira knew Genoa had to be ‘aggressive’ against Inter, but has regrets over the Lautaro Martinez goal and explains where his team ‘shifted our mentality.’

The Grifone made it a surprisingly even encounter at San Siro against the reigning Champions of Italy, testing Josep Martinez with Caleb Ekuban and rescued by the woodwork against Nicolò Barella’s scorcher.

The game was ultimately decided by a stroke of luck, as Lautaro Martinez’s header on a Hakan Calhanoglu corner ricocheted in off the chest of Genoa defender Patrizio Masini.

“It was a great game against a quality opponent, so it was important to be organised, concentrated and also aggressive. We did that, but it is disappointing to concede a goal on a set play,” Vieira told Sky Sport Italia.

“I am nonetheless very happy, because we showed that we have character and are on the right track.”

Vieira changed Genoa mentality

Vitinha, Milan Badelj, Morten Thorsby, Honest Ahanor and Lior Kassa were out injured, with Mario Balotelli still frozen out, so Vieira looked to 18-year-old Lorenzo Venturino off the bench.

“These young players represent the future of the club and we must believe in them. Young players need to play in order to grow. Venturino has been training with us for a few weeks, and we have faith in him.”

While Genoa are now very solid, they are still struggling to score goals, finding the net only 24 times in 26 Serie A games.

“We are a team who cause a lot of problems for other Serie A sides, but when we win the ball back, we must create more scoring opportunities. We have quality, we need to believe more in our opportunities and this is where we must do better,” agreed Vieira.

“I think the potential has always been here in this team, but we changed our way of playing a little bit and what really shifted our mentality was recognising we had to raise the level of behaviour, both on and off the field.”

Vieira called San Siro home both as a Milan and Inter player, so looking back at some of the crunching tackles that were his bread and butter, does he agree with Gian Piero Gasperini that modern football has become too soft?

“I think football changed with VAR, there is less freedom for players to go into tackles. There are many more cameras and some behaviour you can no longer get away with, but the sport remains the same and you need to enjoy it. We forget that football is a game, at times the pressure is too negative and we forget to enjoy ourselves.”

Vieira’s former Milan teammate Alessandro ‘Billy’ Costacurta was in the Sky Sport Italia studio and the Frenchman joked about their different disciplinary records.

“Billy was smarter at not being seen!”