Fulham coach Claudio Ranieri has revealed that he literally “kill” his players whenever they fail to follow instructions.
The Italian was reacting to an earlier threat to kill Aboubakar Kamara who went against orders to take a penalty at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Kamara said sorry after defying Ranieri’s instructions – missing the spot kick against Huddersfield – but the Fulham boss said the matter is all in the past.
Aleksandar Mitrovic was meant to be taking the kick and Kamara’s effort was saved by Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. After the game, Ranieri said he wanted to “kill” the player.
But today, Ranieri made a joke about his previous comments after the 4-1 defeat to Arsenal. He told reporters: “For me it’s finished. I hold no grudge. I killed him, but softly!
“He apologised immediately, to me, his team-mates and the club. It’s finished there. I need all my players. I kill [them], but after I give the oxygen to them.”
“It was a strange match. When you come to Arsenal you know the quality of the players is different, because we are in the relegation zone and they are in a position higher up [the table]. But I was so pleased with my players. For the first 30 minutes we played so well, pressed higher and created two great chances.
“The Arsenal fans were not happy with their team. But, when they created the first chance, we made a mistake because it came through the heart of the box and we were too wide.
“In the second half, again, we made mistakes and they scored. We re-opened the match at 2-1, and we created another two chances to draw level, but after we were tired and the skill of the Arsenal players is amazing. At the end, 4-1, you have to shut up and say well done to them.”
