Roma’s January signing Ainsley Maitland-Niles made his first appearance for the Giallorossi in an introductory press conference.
Before letting the English international answer any questions, General Manager Tiago Pinto said, “We are here to introduce Maitland-Niles. He is a player who is ready to help the team immediately.”
“The January transfer market is all about players who have to help the team from the get go. He comes from a demanding league like the Premier League.”
“He helped me a lot during negotiations thanks to his desire to join Roma.”
After this brief introduction, Maitland-Niles was in charge of answering reporters’ questions.
On the first minutes played against Juve:
“The ups and downs are part of football. They cost us dearly and there was a drop in concentration. We must work towards this to change our mentality. It can only be achieved by working all together.”
On his impression of Serie A:
“It is a very important and demanding league, more tactical and very technical. Concentration must be kept very high.”
On what him and Sergio Oliveira can bring to the team in terms of mentality:
“I am convinced that both Sergio and I have the opportunity to convey this. We have to win games. If we don’t win we are not happy and we have to do it as soon as possible.”
On whether he had spoken to Abraham and Smalling before joining the Giallorossi:
“I knew Tammy before I came here, Chris not much and I had the pleasure of meeting him here. I understand the language of football, so even if the coach speaks Italian I can follow the instructions.”
On his qualities and areas for improvement:
“I believe I am a versatile player, with good pace, good energy on the pitch, technically skilled and strong.”
“Now I have to put all these qualities into practice to always be at the top. I have to improve the consistency of my performances and I can’t settle for sufficient performances. Every action must be incisive.”
On the first few days in the capital:
“The first day was quite hectic. Then I only had one training session before playing. I wanted to play as soon as I got here.”
“In the meantime, the relationship with the coach and teammates has strengthened. We know each other more and better, even the coach was able to see my qualities better.”
