The Special One addressed the media ahead of tomorrow’s away game against Venezia.
“Calafiori is out with an injury. Pellegrini trained. You know this already, don’t you?”
On whether he is satisfied with the way Roma play:
“If a comparison is made between the number of goals scored and the chances created, there is obviously a contradiction.”
“There are teams that play less in possession and create very little, but are more cynical. Right now we’re struggling to translate all the chances we create into goals.”
“This is true. However, it would be more worrying if we did not have any opportunity or domination of the game. It would be more troubling. If we score everything we create, maybe one day we will have another result. A little patience and tranquility.”
On how he will re-organize the defense in the absence of Calafiori:
“Mancini will definitely play. Then we have these three options: Cristante, Kumbulla or Ibanez. Vina and Calafiori are not there, but maybe I decide to play Ibanez centrally and with Tripi as a full-back. He is not a full-back but he has a tactical understanding and is used to playing in that position in preseason.”
“I’m happy with Cristante: he played a game where he did what was needed. He has made many positional changes, he hasn’t had any problems. Teams that have squads with two players per position have it much easier, we must adapt when problems arise.”
“We need to do some work to complete the puzzle. But even without three left backs, I’m confident we can find a balanced way to build the team for tomorrow.”
On whether it is Tammy Abraham to rise to the occasion:
“Venezia are a balanced team. It is not easy to study them and find weak points.”
“Tammy is not only Tammy: it is all of us. The only three who have scored a balanced number of goals with respect to their position are Ibanez, Pellegrini as well as El Shaarawy without playing starting minutes. Everyone else has potential and ability and talent, the chances of scoring are there every game. The time will come.”
“For me Tammy is the same player who did well in the first few games.”
On Mayoral and Villar:
“I liked them both against Bodo. Borja made two great assists, one for a goal and one for a near goal when he took the first ball on the right. He entered well even though he didn’t play much, helping the team to change the attacking dynamics a bit.”
“Gonzalo as always: I like him with the ball at his feet, I don’t like him without it. He needs to improve, he makes an effort in this direction but Bodo’s second goal shows again that he struggles without the ball.”
“With the ball, however, the team improved with him and he has quality. He likes to have the ball and spice up the game. With him and Veretout the team created more.”
