How are Daniele De Rossi and Seydou Keita?
“First of all I want to wish everyone a happy new year. Keita won't make it because he has a calf problem he hasn't recovered from. We gave Daniele a rest today as he picked up some bruising on Sunday, but we’ll evaluate him tomorrow. He’s in the squad.”
Are you satisfied with the fitness levels within the squad after the break?
“The group has rediscovered its mental and physical freshness and worked hard up until Sunday. They are enthusiastic and happy in training and that’s very important for me.”
How is Francesco Totti’s fitness?
“Totti won’t be in the squad because he’s not yet at 100%. He needs to work on his fitness but he’s nearing a return and that’s good news. There’s no point in risking him if he’s not yet ready. He’s already training and will be fully back with the group soon.”
The squad showed they were behind you after the Genoa match. How do you see your position?
“I just focus on the most important thing for the team and that’s tomorrow’s match. We play every game to win and we will do the same tomorrow. We want to move up the table and stay near the top, that’s why we need to give everything to win tomorrow. I’m calm and ready to fight. The only thing I’m focusing on is winning and building on the Genoa victory.”
Will any players be arriving before the end of January?
“The only thing I can say is that Juan Manuel Iturbe has moved on and I’d like to take this opportunity to say that Manuel always gave his all for Roma and I was always delighted with his attitude. I wish him all the success he deserves. He’s a guy that never gives up – he’ll manage to find his best form in the second half of the season and he’ll come back to us stronger. One thing’s for certain and that’s that we need to replace him now. Walter Sabatini is working on that and doing a great job as always. The transfer window has only just opened and doesn’t close until the end of January, so there’s plenty of time to make changes to the squad and improve some things. But right now tomorrow’s match is all that counts.”
What went wrong with Iturbe?
“There’s no point analysing it now. At this point he just needs to believe in himself. He’s still a young player and his experience at Roma will be useful for his future. As I’ve said, I’ll follow him closely and I wish him all the footballing success he deserves.”
You’ve spoken about a new approach in training. Have things really changed?
“I’m always trying to improve with my squad and the really positive thing is that we’re not going to be playing three matches in the space of a week anymore, so there’ll be more time to work on various things. Last week we worked really hard and after AC Milan we will work hard on the Champions League too. It’s not a revolution but we’re talking about the little details that can make the difference tactically, technically and physically, both for whole areas of the team and for individual players.”
“I want to speak about Chievo. It’s always a tough place to go – they’re a good side in a good position in the table. They have committed more fouls than any other team this season and I’m sure they won’t be gifting us anything. We need to give everything in order to make our quality pay and use the players we have available to win tomorrow – that’s our aim.”
When will Kevin Strootman be back with the group?
“He’s doing very well both mentally and physically. He’s following his rehabilitation programme to return to the field of play. It’ll be a bit more time before we have him in the group again. He has a recovery plan and it’s no secret that in the beginning he’ll play with the Primavera. We need to keep an eye on it, we need to be patient and not push it because it’s been nearly two years since Kevin played regularly. If he comes back at 100% straight away then that’ll be fantastic, but I think he’s going to need more time to get used to playing again. Even having him back training with us will be a positive.”
Do you feel threatened or undermined at all?
“I speak with the directors often and I don’t need them to come out and say something publically. I’m working for the good of Roma to win as that’s the only thing that motivates me. We need to win tomorrow.”
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