Carlos Cuesta isn’t shying away from the spotlight after the loss in Como and sets the record straight

Speaking at a press conference about Parma’s 2-1 loss to Como—in one of Monday’s three late Serie A matches—Gialloblù coach Carlos Cuesta refused to settle for what was nonetheless a solid performance against one of the league’s hottest teams at the moment: “In soccer, the goal is to get a result,” he said. “I can’t be happy with a loss.”

“In the first half, we got off to a good start and finished strong, but for 30–35 minutes, they were the better team. We couldn’t break out of our own half, and that put us in trouble,” added Cuesta, whose only win this season came in the Coppa Italia on the eve of Ferragosto, a 2-0 victory over Catania.

The Majorcan coach did, however, see a good reaction from his team in the second half: “In the second half, the match was much more balanced. Both teams had chances; they managed to capitalize before we did. We created chances and had some promising opportunities, but we couldn’t finish them off. We still need time in attack—maybe a few different approaches. We did, however, create more chances than usual; we need to keep working to be more precise and to finish better.”

Cuesta also singled out a few players: “Bernabé and Romero raised the level of play, partly because in the first half we struggled to get out of our own half when they pressed very high up the field. Our build-up play didn’t work as we wanted, and that’s an area we need to improve.”