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With the subjects covered ranging from results on the pitch and in the transfer market, to the issue of barriers at the stadium, and his working relationship with president James Pallotta, Baldissoni went into depth about the direction the club is heading.
“Roma are obliged to win every game they play but to do that the team has to have the right approach," Baldissoni said. "Obviously, there could have been some after-effects off the back of a tough defeat against Juventus, but the maturity of a team lies partly in how it gets over these disappointments and Roma bounced back straight away.
"We can look forward to our upcoming matches with confidence and belief in our maturity.”
See what else he had to say in the transcript below.
Roma have racked up 86 points this calendar year, a tally bettered only by Juventus, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Just how big a club is Roma?
“You’ve listed some huge clubs – certainly the type of club we want to try to go up against. We’re not at that level yet, partly because of our economic and organisational resources, but that’s the benchmark for the immediate future. Roma need to be playing in the Champions League every year to be able to rub shoulders with the best footballing brands around.”
How do you rate league leaders Juventus?
“They’ve done an extraordinary job – congratulations to them. They’ve been on an incredible journey for years now, something that’s coincided with the creation of Juventus Stadium, which has accompanied them through many successes. They’ve won the league every year since the stadium opened, which underlines the importance of us building our own home where we can achieve not only sporting success but added revenue too – it can give us a boost to make us more competitive. We’re working on it. Juventus’ achievements prove the importance of having your own stadium.”
What kind of Serie A are you expecting between now and May?
“There’s still a long way to go so it’s too soon to make predictions. It’s great that Roma have confirmed their status as one of the challengers for the title, even if there’s quite a big gap we need to overhaul at the moment. The most important thing is that we stay focused and remember that we need to keep improving. If Juventus can maintain their rhythm then obviously there’ll be nothing we can do. There are other teams capable of fighting for the title too – Napoli have been very consistent for a few seasons now.”
You have a tough Europa League draw to contend with in a couple of months…
“If you want to go all the way in these competitions, you have to beat the best teams. Villarreal are one of those. It’ll be a big test, but it’s only right that we test ourselves in these matches.”
The transfer window is about to open – what can the fans expect?
“A great Roma side on the field. The club looks to strengthen in every transfer window – our decisions come from recommendations from the coaching staff, then we take the economic side of things into account as well as the impact a particular player might have within the dressing room. We have a competitive team here and a big squad packed with players who want to succeed. It’s not the quality of one player that makes the difference, but how you manage the entire group. Once we’ve weighed all that up, we think about our next move. Something will happen.”
What can you tell us about Luciano Spalletti’s contract extension?
“The coach has always said that we’ll speak about it further down the line and we agree with that. We speak every day and we’ll speak about the future in due course. Of course, we’ll know a few months before the end of the season whether or not we are able to carry on, and we hope that we can because we like Spalletti and because that’ll mean the team has continued to achieve great results. We want to compete right until the end.”
It’s been a year dominated by the issue of the barriers at the Stadio Olimpico. Do you have a message for the fans on this matter?
“All the work we do is for them. We work hard to put on a great spectacle for them, but it’s only complete if the fans are there. Football without fans is incomplete and doesn’t match up to the level of effort the players put in every day. We’re aware of the situation – sadly there were some public order issues and decisions were taken which are out of our hands. There is ongoing dialogue aimed at resolving the issue – there haven’t been problems in the stadium since so we must insist that we go back to the normal situation of a welcoming stadium.
"It’s not just the barrier in the middle of the Curva Sud that’s the problem – it’s the concept of putting barriers in, which is restrictive and takes responsibility away from individual spectators. If people do wrong, they should pay, but everyone else should be able to enjoy a happy experience in freedom. As for the deployment of law enforcement forces and searches, we’re awaiting updates soon because it’s something in the interests of football. Without fans in the stadium, football is a dying sport.”
What will you remember of 2016?
“I’ll remember [Kevin] Strootman’s goal against Lazio, not just because it was the derby but also because it marks the culmination of the player’s recovery. After the amount of suffering he’s had to bear, seeing him celebrate a goal for us was an amazing feeling.”
How are things with president Pallotta?
“It doesn’t feel like he isn't here – we speak every day and he always wants to hear about every little detail. All he’s done is delegate operational management to management personal – we often forget how important it is that big clubs are managed by professionals. It’s a real positive that we have fantastic management personnel here, including one who joined after 23 years at AC Milan [Umberto Gandini].
"The president spends every day working mostly on the global dimension of the club and the new stadium project. He couldn’t be more present – we should adopt that way of working in Italy.”
What are Roma’s objectives for 2017?
“To consolidate the performances and growth we’ve seen in recent years and to continue making progress both on and off the field. It’s an attitude that will see Roma win trophies and establish itself on the international stage. We’re convinced that we’re on the right track and we’re seeing confirmation of that from both Italy and Europe.
"We know there’s still a lot of work to do, but we hope to continue in the same vein.”
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