Di Francesco: The squad is improving, I'm not judging things based on the result

The Giallorossi fell to their first loss of this pre-season campaign at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, as the hosts claimed the ninth edition of the Antonio Puerta Trophy thanks to goals from Sergio Escudero and Nolito.

Edin Dzeko grabbed a late goal for Roma.

Despite the defeat, Di Francesco insisted he saw enough to convince him the side is on the right track ahead of the start of the Serie A campaign.

“We're definitely moving the ball around better now and I saw us putting into practice the things we've been working on over the last few days," Di Francesco said. "Except for the first 15 minutes, we held up really well. Until they scored it was very evenly balanced.

"We rushed things in front of goal at times. We could have finished off our moves better: we tried to be a bit too flashy when we should have gone more for substance. Generally the lads held up well, though: there was that counter-attack when we were caught out but overall the lads did a good job of closing our opponents down.”

The boss suggested that the tactical balance of the side is still being worked on.

“When you're up against an aggressive side like Sevilla, if you get the chance to go past your man the team inevitably ends up getting a bit stretched," he said. "But we need to play as a team. We came here intent on going for it, but I think we're a touch behind Sevilla in terms of our fitness levels, as you'd expect [Sevilla are in Champions League action in less than a week].

"We have to get to the point where we're building moves all together as a team. That's one thing we need to work on – we must be a bit bolder. We hit the woodwork and carved out a number of dangerous openings. Overall my team played well.”

How's Nainggolan doing in his new central midfield role?

“I liked the way he put himself about today. He grew into the game and won a number of decisive balls for us. Don't forget that my central midfielder becomes a trequartista at times, a position he's played in lately. Now he's starting to track back more. Radja is a midfielder and as such he needs to both attack and defend. I've always been taught that if you want to be a complete midfielder you have to get forward and cover back. Radja has shown he's willing to do both.”

Is Hector Moreno the best central defensive partner for Kostas Manolas?

“It's wrong to talk about who should be first choice as we need to try and have as many great players as possible in our squad. Manolas played well today and I'm happy with his performance. We'll assess whether we need to bring in any more cover at the back before the transfer window shuts.”

Could Gregoire Defrel potentially start the season on the wing?

“Defrel can play on the wing and that's what I'm having him do in training. He's spent more time playing as a striker recently and it's not that easy to make the switch. He's versatile and works hard for the team. We all pushed up together into the opposition half today and showed the right attitude. The lads still need to hone their understanding but it was a decent showing.”

How long will it be before we see the real Roma?

“I'm not going to make any hasty judgements, positive or negative. The team have a new coach and we're trying to give them an identity. Sevilla have a Champions League play-off to play so they've obviously had to get themselves ready more quickly than us. After the first 15 minutes, we came out of our shell and put together several good moves shifting the ball around well. We have another 10 days before the league starts and I hope our fitness levels will improve further. We're not there yet but I'm pleased.

"The lads showed me today that they've improved in a number of areas – I'm not going to assess our performance based on the result alone. We created lots and that's a positive we can take. The team that took their chances better won today. We'll try to make fewer mistakes next time.”

How did Cengiz Under and Federico Fazio fare when they came on?

“Cengiz made a good impression. He's got a spark about him and pace too. He's not used to training the way we do or playing the way Italian teams do so he needs to grow but I'm delighted with the way he performed. Fazio did well too. Moreno hadn't had much game time before today so I left him on for a longer stretch of the match.

"We'll switch things around in Vigo because the idea of these friendlies is to give everyone as much playing time as possible.”