Daniele De Rossi wins his first Derby della Capitale as Roma’s head coach earlier this evening as the Giallorossi beat Lazio 1-0.
In his post-match interview with DAZN, De Rossi compared the feeling of winning the derby as manager to when he was a player.
“It’s always a nice feeling, as a coach it’s different. Defeat always suffocates you,” said the club legend. “We hadn’t won a derby in a long time. We felt pressure and incredible anticipation.”
“The coach has more emotional tension. The last few minutes were tough to bear. I asked the fourth official if the board had broken because the time seemed to stand still.”
“We must always play like this, against Lecce I wasn’t able to convey the same energy to the players,” he added.
“Abraham? I needed two attackers up front. Anyone who enters a derby is always excited and after nine months of absence and pain he couldn’t wait to get back. From day one he started telling me ‘I can’t wait’. But it will take some time before we see the real Tammy.”
“This opportunity fell out of the blue for me, a huge opportunity to train strong players. They sometimes sweep my flaws under the rug. There is still something to improve but there is also merit. I don’t want to be treated like a former footballer but like a real coach. I want to be the coach of the present, not the future.”
