Spalletti: Our passing was off and we lacked composure

A brace for Dries Mertens was enough for the visitors to claim the three points, with Kevin Strootman's late strike ultimately no more than a consolation.

The result means Napoli closed the gap on the Giallorossi in the Serie A table.

Roma really came alive at the end and had Napoli on the ropes but your team went missing for part of the game. What happened?

“Napoli were quicker and moved the ball about better than us in the first half. We weren't able to find space between the lines or raise the tempo, which would have prevented them from taking up good positions and making it hard for us to regain possession. When your opponents are good at shifting the ball around, you can get bunched together and lack the composure to play the right passes in order to free up a man.

"Napoli deserved their lead in the first half because they were better than us. It was a totally different game in the second half and luck came into it a little too.”

Are your players feeling fatigued with all the matches they're playing at the moment?

“I think it's worse if we start talking about tiredness today so I'd rather not get into that. Towards the end of the match we were playing in a totally different way so I'd gain nothing from saying my players are tired. I don't believe that to be the case anyway and they showed why at the end. We're still in the midst of a run of very important games and we must move forward with the right mindset.”

It seemed you'd found the ideal set-up for your team but after playing so well against Inter you lost badly to Lazio, and then for an hour today Roma weren't their usual selves either. What's happened?

“We didn't lose so badly on Wednesday. We weren't great and our opponents did well to play to their strengths. We lacked the courage to try and play the ball quickly in the first half, to try and pick out a man between the lines. They made it hard for us to win back the ball in the opening 45 minutes. After the break, we attempted more one-on-ones, we played with a different spirit, we were stronger and our play was more fluid.”

Was it a tactical decision to start with Mohamed Salah on the bench?

“Yes, considering that he'd played the last two I opted to go with [Diego] Perotti and [Stephan] El Shaarawy today. It's my fault if it didn't work out. I think they did pretty well, although they didn't get a lot of support because we didn't stay tight as a unit and didn't push up quickly enough. My players did what they were supposed to do. Sometimes they can have a bigger impact than at other times. We didn't get the result we wanted but it wasn't for want of trying.”

Do you think you struggle a little defensively when opponents close you down high up the pitch?

“Yes, [Federico] Fazio, who is a skilful player, had less space to play in today. They come and harry you and bring the whole team up. Their constant pressing meant there were times when we found ourselves bunched up. Our attacking players dropped too deep and didn't get into space between the lines. We struggled and our passing was off. We lacked composure, courage and accuracy. That's definitely something we need to work on.”

Can we say the title is definitely beyond your reach now?

“The title depends on Juventus but it's going to be very hard. When you lose a head-to-head like this it knocks your morale. Juventus are very good, Napoli are very good and so are we. There are lots of tricky games still to be played so we just have to get on with it, maintain the right mentality, understand the situation we're in and deal with any problems professionally and intelligently.”