The words of the Roma coach at the Aniene Rowing Club. “I didn’t replace Mourinho, I continued his work”
After the coach of the women’s team, too Daniele De Rossi he spoke at the USSI awards commenting on his arrival in place of Mourinho, the future of Roma and Paulo Dybala. These are his words:
The Roma shirt is a second skin. Your dream was to coach Roma, we suffer from the Friedkin call. “Sorry for my voice but the day after the match it’s always weak. They didn’t call me but sent a message on Whatsapp and I was told the place and time of the meeting. I went with enthusiasm and a hint of fear. The situation wasn’t the simplest. We are at the end of the first part of the journey. I am honored to have coached my favorite team, but we are at the beginning of the whole journey and of what we are going to do in the coming years, hoping it will be increasingly positive.”.
You have collected an important legacy. “When things aren’t going well they treat me as it should be. I didn’t replace Mourinho but I continued his work by bringing my ideas. We shouldn’t make comparisons but I’m trying to do my best. The last month leaves a bad taste in our mouth because we have not achieved that dream that seemed within reach. However, the opinion of these months has been positive. I’m already thinking about the future. It’s not Atalanta’s result that didn’t take us to the Champions League but ours. We were very far away when we arrived. We were off to a great start then I missed something. We are working but we don’t start today. Already in recent weeks we had started planning to bring Roma back to where it has always been. He was higher in the rankings and we need to find that position in the higher areas again.”.
They wish you Capello’s career. “He launched me so I would like to launch an 18-year-old like he did to me. He toured a lot and won a lot. It’s a pleasant wish. It’s the second time I’ve taken this award, 10 years have passed. A girl from 2007 was awarded and I feel old. My daughter was born in 2005, this second job gives me the opportunity to transform from an old footballer to a young coach. I have great desire and enthusiasm. Let’s think about repeating my career as a footballer which was of a very high level. It’s difficult to do it all again in the same club as you quickly get bored of the coaches, I would like to enrich it with trophies, by still staying at Roma I deprived myself of some trophies. With a good project we can go back to lifting some cups”.
On Dybala. “You always have to be ready. They told me that she often had physical problems. When I arrived he was always the first to go fast in training. We asked him to go and chase some players and he was very helpful and I am satisfied with the relationship with him. I’m holding on to all my players. Now we won’t say anything to you. But it’s time to do, not say. In football, plans are made that are upset by the decisions of the player or the agent. To say this remains today is a boomerang. We must also be good from a communication point of view.”
When you finish sixth the balance is sufficient because it wasn’t disastrous but it could have been done better. “We wanted to bring Roma back to the Champions League and to the final. I think things have been done correctly and we need to do them correctly now to move up the level.”.
You took over from Mourinho. How far is this Rome from your ideas?“It’s not about me or another coach. When someone takes over and finds a team created by other people, by force of circumstances it is far from my idea. There are no coaches who have the same ideas but what I like is that I have the same ideas as the club last night we discussed, I have the same idea as the sporting director. I spoke with Lina and we have ideas that coincide. They are not always easy to complete but we have plans A,B,C,D,E. I am confident even if we have to go into the merits of what will be”.
About yesterday’s match. “We had prepared a lot from a mental point of view because there are matches that don’t count for anything for the ranking but you have to see how the players behave to respect the competition and the fans. I saw players who respected the game and in some ways it can even be worrying. We played a fair game a little below with some similarities with other games played”.
You asked for running and hunger. “I’m the one who has to give him the tools to score. I also want to put them in the best conditions. At one point everything seemed perfect but there were some problems that were covered up with the results. Many years ago I scored two goals in the last matches and a colleague of mine told me ‘you did well’ because it’s better to score them in the last ones than in the first ones because people remember the last ones. We too are left with this bittersweet taste of this championship finale. Yesterday we lost due to a goal from a player who should have been sent off two minutes earlier and I’m sorry. We have finished with empty batteries and we must ensure that this team reaches the end of all competitions. Atalanta is the example to follow. I had no doubts that Atalanta would get the points they needed to get because I saw them before the Italian Cup final. They’re built that way and they know they have to do that stuff and they do it well. Then they also lost points but I had few doubts about it. We didn’t have to expect anything, we had to get the points earlier throughout the year.”
What did you and Friedkin say to each other?“We talked about our opinions which are private. From today we must start planning materially again”.
What is the budget?“We will talk about it with the club. They are not said publicly and are managed in Trigoria”.
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