Spalletti's pre-AC Milan press conference in full

With four games left in the season, the Giallorossi travel to the Giuseppe Meazza on Sunday for the game against Vincenzo Montella's side.

See what Spalletti had to say about the game - along with a number of other topics - during the press conference.

Since the derby and building up to the AC Milan game, how have your side looked from a physical and mental perspective?

"I think there’s been the right reaction because the team looked disappointed – the players were gutted. I feel that disappointment too. Obviously, however, the best gauge of the work we’ve done will come at the end of the season. As ever you can lose games but after certain defeats the next match becomes crucial from a professional perspective.

"The league table doesn’t lie at the end of the season and this match is crucial because there’s a very important position on the line. We needed a reaction and I’ve seen one. Now we’ll go and play this difficult match.”

Do you expect this to be a different tactical battle to the reverse fixture?

“You see how good a side is over the long term and I believe AC Milan have just faded a bit since our first meeting. They caused us problems in the first half that day with their ball possession and the way their wide players cut inside. I think they’ve maintained those attributes even though results haven’t gone their way. At times they haven’t been rewarded for the quality they possess.

"All of that doesn’t matter though. We’ll meet a very well-drilled unit with a coach who prepares matches very well. I’ll tell my players that they should expect the same approach as the reverse fixture. They’ve brought in a few players who, while young and inexperienced, have real ability and massive potential. From one moment to the next, sooner or later, they will show everything they have to offer.”

Monchi sang your praises in his press conference. What’s your view on him?

“President Pallotta has shown he means business. Monchi was the best out there and they've brought him in. He's the one that everyone wanted and everyone was looking at. You only need to ask those who have worked with him and done transfer business with him. I liked what he said about us. His view is untainted as an outsider looking in - it hasn't been smeared by what people say around here and he said it with consummate professionalism and sincerity.

"He's come in and said he thinks Roma are doing a good job. Clearly we can improve but that's how we're seen abroad. I'm pleased to be able to work with the best director of football there is and I'll keep what he's said to me to myself."

Would you mind commenting on the effigies?

“I don’t think it has anything to do with Roma or Lazio fans or indeed anyone connected with the sport. It’s the work of nutjobs. Support is about love, celebration and getting behind a team whereas that just struck me as hatred, bitterness and gratuitous spite.”

You’ve said that second place would be important but that you must win all your remaining games otherwise you could be overtaken. Would third spot be considered a failure?

“The word failure is pie in the sky. Let’s ask six to eight other teams whether finishing third would be a failure. My view is that second place is difficult, as it always has been, partly because it provides a direct route into the Champions League group stage behind Juventus. They’ve made sure no one can get close to first place and have taken home the title. However, in the long run, after several months and lots of games, we’re competing with Napoli for automatic qualification, which is like winning the title for the teams challenging Juventus.

"Everyone says Napoli are one of the best sides in Europe and they’re the team that finished as runners-up last season. If you’re threatening them, that means you’ve done a good job, as they finished second last term. When I took over at Roma we were five points behind Inter, ten off Napoli and five behind Fiorentina. That makes it easy for me to compare. Let’s see where we finish and then I’ll say where we’ve improved and where we’ve failed.

"We should have done better in lots of games. It’s not like we went out to a rubbish team in the Europa League or had a failed campaign. There have been crucial games in which we haven’t played our best football. We didn’t harness all of our individual players’ ability as a team playing cohesive football. That’s where we were when we started. Now we’re 19 points clear of Inter. You must always look at every angle. There’s always a job that needs assessing. I’ve always maintained that we have to win. The team have, however, worked the right way and we’ve played well. We’re a strong team who have lost a few matches but we’re not in disarray as people are currently trying to suggest.

"We must bounce back and show our mental strength. The team have to come out after a loss where we didn’t give everything. We must produce a stronger reaction. Everything we didn’t show in our last match must come out in our next game. We have to finish second as that would mean reaching our top target. We’re competing with one of the best sides in Europe too. That’s proof that we haven’t done too badly. On Sunday our opponents shook things up in the table but we’ll go out to compete and show what we can do – I’m sure of that. Finishing second will be like winning the league. If we finish third, there’s a host of numbers to consider. Third place would mean a decent finish, not failure.”

What’s your view on Francesco Totti’s future after Monchi’s comments? Assess him as if you were looking at it from the outside.

“There’s no getting away from it, I work here. I think we need to hold off before judging Monchi because I think he’s just said what he found when he came in. Francesco signed a contract last year and he simply reported that. We had a chat before the start of the season. Given it’s the most important moment of his career and how attached he is to Roma, Totti wanted to wait until the end of the season and keep a low profile to focus on the run-in. I’ve always said that managing Totti is down to me because we also have to consider 20 other players, all of whom want to play too. [Edin] Dzeko is competing to finish top scorer but [Diego] Perotti, [Stephan] El Shaarawy and [Mohamed] Salah all want to get into double figures too.

"There’s no difference there. As I’ve always said, I believe Totti’s legacy should be managed by the president and I think he’s already done so. If Totti wished to, however, he could come out and sort everything. He’s focused on the league now and he’ll say his piece come the end of the campaign. It would be easier if he said it as soon as possible but Monchi hasn’t revealed anything. He simply revealed what he discovered and he reported it based on how he’d manage it.

"I’ve also heard something about his shirt number. Some suggestions have been nonsense. I wouldn’t retire the shirt if I were the club. It’s morbid rather than a celebration. [Giuseppe] Giannini wore it before Totti. It’s an outdated way of thinking. If you want to remember Totti why not write his name in small letters on every number 10 shirt and even inside them? Just because some people have done it, should we retire the number 10 shirt? Shirts mustn’t be retired. What about those striving to wear Totti’s shirt? What about the kid who wants it and earns it with hard graft? Do we really want to take that opportunity away from the youngster?

"Let’s put his name on every shirt and keep the 10 alive – the shirt in which Totti has produced so much magic. I can’t abide people claiming that a shirt should be retired. Maybe they will retire it though as I’ve seen it done all over the place. Anyway, that’s how I see it.”

After the Torino game, you said ‘If Totti doesn’t sign a new deal, I’m off.’ Was that just a communications strategy?

“My future will be clarified come the end of the season. But people have gone overboard here, it’s been blown way out of proportion. 60% of the coaches in Italy don’t know whether they’re staying or not for next season. There are 12 or 13 in that position. Plus some of my comments have been made out to be the end of the world but maybe I was wrong to make them. I simply wanted to dot the I's and cross the T's in saying we need to get to the end of the season.

"The end to the season means a great deal and it’s massive in terms of where we want to finish. We face some tough matches – we’ve got AC Milan and then Juventus straight after. Tomorrow’s match will be very tough against a quick team with lots of power and they’re prepared well because their coach is a man named Vincenzo Montella.”

What’s the latest on Gerson and Clement Grenier? Has Gerson been punished for turning down a potential move?

“The club and I are on the same page and we don’t tread on each other’s toes. I run things and in the dressing room I’m not used to being told to drop someone. When a player is left out for a long time and then there are fewer matches to play and with certain matches coming one after another you end up with a group of 15 or 16 players. If you’re missing someone, you then have to replace him.

"For instance, if [Kevin] Strootman was available tomorrow, we’d have stuck with him. Some players are penalised by the team the coach picks. I’ve penalised Gerson and I haven’t picked Grenier much even though he’s played well when called upon. However, when I go with [Daniele] De Rossi, [Radja] Nainggolan and Strootman, I’m not picking players who have performed terribly.

"There are spells during a league season in which you have to take responsibility. I hold my hands up and maybe I’ve been wrong.”