Parma 0-2 Cremonese – Cuesta accepts blame after his side ‘didn’t live up to expectations’

Carlos Cuesta made no attempt to deflect responsibility after Parma’s damaging home defeat to Cremonese, accepting personal blame and acknowledging that his side produced a performance well below the standards that had made them one of Serie A’s more compelling stories in recent months.

The result is a serious blow to Parma’s survival hopes.

Having gone five games unbeaten and given genuine cause for optimism, back-to-back defeats to Torino and now Cremonese have left Cuesta’s side looking over their shoulder with eight fixtures remaining and the gap closing in.

The Spanish coach was forthright in his assessment.

“We have not yet spoken in the dressing room, but the feeling is clear, we did not live up to expectations,” he said, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb. “We need to analyse and work to get back to the dynamic we had until two weeks ago.”

Parma 0-2 Cremonese – Cuesta accepts blame for disappointing loss

He was equally direct when identifying where things went wrong, pointing to a lack of sharpness in pressing and duels rather than any issue with attitude.

“The first person responsible is me, I need to look at myself carefully to help the players in the best possible way.”

Cuesta also highlighted a structural problem that has lingered throughout the season, the difficulty in connecting play through the midfield to the forwards.

“If you cannot involve the midfielders and progress the ball forward, everything becomes harder,” he said. “Even when we win the ball back, we need to be more precise in exploiting the spaces before the opposition reorganises.”

With the international break now arriving, Cuesta was clear about the priority.

“Above all we need clarity, the objective has not been reached and we know how difficult the remaining calendar is,” he said. “We must focus on ourselves, improve in every area, and concentrate on the most important points to get a result against Lazio.”