Roma manager Claudio Ranieri spoke today ahead of this weekend’s match against Sassuolo. These are his words:
It was a different week from the others. The game against Sassuolo is in the background. Can a week like this have a negative or positive consequence on the team?
I believe it should be a positive and proactive stimulus. Players are now used to everything. The fact of all those voices about the coach of the future could have been a negative stimulus, the boys never gave up. I hope instead that this spurs you to do well, there are two games to complete, there is still a small possibility, but we must have the conscience to have done the maximum we could have done.
Zaniolo and Pellegrini?
Everyone physically is fine. Zaniolo’s calf is a little hardened, so he’ll do some individual work. Pellegrini’s problem isn’t serious: it’s the problem he had before, which has got worse, but I think he’ll be available on Saturday. If he isn’t, he surely will be next week.
Yesterday there were some phrases attributed to you. When asked who decides things, you replied, “The grey haired men in London and in Boston”. We wanted to verify this.
I don’t think I used these words. When our fans asked for explanations about the end of Daniele’s time with Roma, I definitely said in London and America. Whoever decides is the president and the person closest to him, who is in England.
Is the anger justified or are you reassured by Pallotta’s future project?
I do not know the future projects of Pallotta, we didn’t discuss it. I end my relationship with Roma after two matches. I believe that at every football club, there are spare parts. We’ve also seen some teams lose great points of reference in Italy. But since De Rossi was our captain, a person in our history, perhaps his departure had to be handled differently so he could think it through better.
Sabatini said it before and De Rossi brought it up again about how there’s a division of power. How is Baldini viewed at Trigoria?
How much does Baldini affect daily work? He does not affect me at all. I don’t know what kind of relationship he has with the president, here – regarding my work – he doesn’t affect anything. In general, I don’t know what he does.
