Roma manager Daniele De Rossi spoke to the media ahead of the team’s trip to Monza for their next Serie A fixture.
During his press conference, De Rossi touched upon the positive streak the team are on and the challenges that await them.
“Everyone is fine except Karsdorp who has a knee problem and will not come with us,” said De Rossi.
“Rotations? The key is to put the best lineup knowing that if someone is tired you can change them without lowering the level of the team. Dybala is fine. We are happy with his condition, it is a psycho-physical issue as well as a physical one. He’s happy, he’s fine and when you score a hat-trick every ailment seems less annoying.”
“Monza? Two weeks ago I would have told you that they play with a 3-4-2-1, in the last few games they have changed something and we will have to prepare as best as possible. We are ready for everything, we know that we will face a strong team and with a coach that I respect. Both him and I had this thing blow up in our hands, he deserves it. In my opinion, the future is on his side, but tomorrow we will try to beat him.”
“I manage the dressing room in my own way the same way I did when I was captain. When you’re captain you’re everyone’s friend, when you’re a coach you have to send 11-12 players to the bench and someone looks at you with a little annoyance. We’re trying to become a family, that’s the way to experience the locker room. The players must be happy when they step on the pitch – in turn they must do a perfect job. It’s an equal exchange. It’s tiring to work all day, but they are fine and must know that they have family staff, friends, but their work must come otherwise our attitude would necessarily have to change.”
“Lukaku? Everyone ‘s position is uncertain, even Dybala or myself first. Lukaku is a star, when he entered the pitch he ran like crazy, he made assists… I see him at peace and doing well. It’s not surprising, it’s his job, it would be surprising if he didn’t run or if he did sulk. As a player it was what bothered me the most. When you come in you have to play with intensity, especially in the game. And Romelu from this point of view is the perfect player.”
“The ownership and management are all very helpful and stay close to me. I know there are ongoing changes inside the club, but I can’t do anything but focus on work. And thanks to the results you are in a better condition. Having said that, the atmosphere seems positive to me. I don’t think anything is happening that doesn’t happen in many other clubs.”
“Paredes? He is improving the aspects that I ask him to improve. I’m asking him for things that are a little different from what he was used to: I want him to play more head-on, more vertical, faster and he’s understanding it because he’s very intelligent from a football point of view.”
“It was a bit instinctive, as a midfielder he must allow his teammates to recover the ball and focus on other things,” he added.
“A three-and-a-half man defense? Mancini can do a bit of everything, I’m very happy with him, he is very intelligent, he knows when to push. As a central midfielder he played exceptional games with Fonseca. Although this is more of a tactical discourse. We have three very strong right-backs, even Angelino in my opinion can play there with different aptitudes. But Mancini can do this too. Maybe the ideal would be to have a pure winger in front of him, who stays with his feet on the line, and we have more attacking midfielders there like Baldanzi and Dybala.”
“On the other hand, with Stephan [El Shaarawy] it is more feasible to have a central defender playon the left flank. Guardiola has played many games like this, with the centre-backs playing as full-backs, why not. It depends on the match and not because we don’t have good full-backs.”
