The defeat against Real Madrid hurt, terribly. But Roma must take their 80 minutes of dominance over the Blancos and build on that in their upcoming league fixtures.
Tomorrow, Daniele De Rossi’s Genoa arrive at the Olimpico, and the Grugliasco-born coach will have to contend with several absences, most notably the suspended Malen.
Speaking from the press room at the Fulvio Bernardini sports center in Trigoria, Gasperini presented the match against Genoa in this way during his press conference.
An update on Koné and Dybala’s conditions. “The MRI revealed a grade 1 injury for Koné, which isn’t particularly serious. However, it’s clear that time is always needed, and we hope to be able to recover Koné a little before the break. As for Dybala, there are no particular issues. It’s undoubtedly a strain on the calf muscle, and we hope to be able to recover him next week.”
Can Pellegrini be moved back into midfield? Castro? “Well, yes, undoubtedly. Now, given the current emergency, it’s a role Pellegrini can certainly fill. In the meantime, we’ll try to get de Roon and Cristante back, hopefully for the Napoli match, otherwise for the next one. Castro? These last two games, one of which saw us down to ten men, and the other, the other night, the game went like that. But he’s a valuable player, who’s already played a season with us, and done very well. So tomorrow will definitely be a good opportunity for him.”
“This is a team with value and has been proving it for months, because the results achieved are no coincidence. We recently had to play against Inter, Como, and Real Madrid, and in all of these matches we demonstrated our value, even against such strong opponents. Then, over the course of a match, particular situations can arise or there can be absences.”
“It depends: sometimes you arrive at certain matches with a full squad, other times with some absences, and sometimes something unexpected happens, like Malen’s sending off. You might think a defender will be sent off, but Malen’s being sent off is truly difficult to imagine. This is part of the game. However, we come away from these three matches strengthened in the belief that, unless anything unusual happens, we can compete with these teams.”
“This team shouldn’t feel the need to necessarily win the Champions League, the Scudetto, or who knows what. This is a team that has to express itself, period. And if you even concede a goal, you can’t have a morale decline. I call it that because morally you feel lost and say, “I could have won, now I can’t win anymore.” What matters, in my opinion, is always the performance, it’s always how you compare to these teams. We know that matches are decided in the final minutes, but we decided them in our favor in Parma, against Atalanta, while we probably suffered against Inter, Juventus, or Real Madrid. It’s clear that it’s not a question of physical decline, but rather a question of mental strength. In those moments, we can make up for it with organization, which failed at the 3-2, and then with a strong reaction. That probably lacked a bit the other night, at a certain point.”
“Luckily, we play tomorrow, even if we have several absences. We’re facing a team that may not have the champions we faced the other night, but they certainly have superior organization and a superior ability to close down, cover, and occupy space. So it will be a different kind of difficulty. Tomorrow, regardless of who plays, who doesn’t, and absences, we need a strong squad. We need players who feel strong when they’re used, because with this schedule, we won’t be able to always play with the same team, with the same players, and without making substitutions. Substitutions are necessary, because on Sunday in Como we played with ten men for a half. It’s normal for someone to arrive tired towards the end, especially if they have to mark Diomandé, if they have to mark Vinicius and then Endrick comes on. It’s normal when you face these teams. We also need to expand the squad.”
“Those who will play tomorrow, perhaps someone like Castro, Mora, or others who will certainly be used, need to acquire the same confidence and strength, because competitions are played with the squad, they are played with the team. And the team isn’t made up of eleven players, and now it’s not even fifteen or sixteen. The team, in our case, must be made up of at least twenty players. More and more, unfortunately or fortunately, I don’t know, when you play this type of competition and participate in the Champions League, as is also seen with other teams, you need to have a larger number of players. Because injuries happen, there are suspensions, there are injuries that last a month and others that last a week, but in the meantime you play three games. For us tomorrow will be the third game in seven days and Tuesday will be the fourth in ten days.”
“This is football that has changed. So either we adapt, or we suffer. However, going back to the answers I received, I also want to look at the positive things and not just how we conceded goals from corners. Let’s talk about that too, let’s raise everyone’s level a bit. Let’s bring forward these young players we have and who tomorrow perhaps will have to lead us somehow to victory against Genoa. It’s clear that it won’t be an easy match, far from it. Even if we were at full strength, it would be a complicated match. The only thing that worries me a little tomorrow is that we have very few substitutions, so we have to play the whole ninety minutes, in some department, maybe even with some Primavera players who could make their debuts.”
On De Roon and Pellegrini, “De Roon has played much more than four games in ten days. He’s consistent, despite being no longer particularly young for an athlete, but he hasn’t had any difficulties. He’s a healthy athlete and therefore hasn’t had these kinds of problems. I see that this new experience is highly motivating for him too. The goal the other night is certainly also a reward for the choice he made, which wasn’t the easiest. But he’s an absolutely reliable player. Pellegrini is different, because he had surgery and was out for months. He’s a player who’s regaining his fitness; he needs to play to regain some strength and physical condition, because sitting out is different than sitting out due to an injury. But he’s on the right path.”
“We hope he can be available for Napoli. It won’t be easy, but the effort and the hope are there. He’s certainly a warrior, and therefore, in a difficult situation, he’ll do even more. We hope so. However, we don’t want to jeopardize his recovery from an injury that’s progressing well. If he’s not available for Napoli, it’ll be for the next match.”
