Sabatini: We need to be prepared to fight

The club’s director of football couldn’t hide his frustration after watching the team fall to a 2-0 home defeat to Atalanta on Sunday afternoon but is convinced that this group of players are good enough to turn their fortunes around.

“We've already spoken to the players, the head coach and his staff and the management,” revealed Sabatini after the match. “We need to form ranks, be prepared to fight, and take the criticism that we deserve.

"Getting out of this situation won't be easy. We've run out of credit after this match and no one will get off lightly. We need to show responsibility towards the club and the fans.

"The team are perfectly aware of this, you can only get out of these dips by helping each other out, showing loyalty and working even harder than usual. Having an extraordinary appetite for work will help us climb out of this slump."

What did you say to the coach?

"That we're going through a poor run of form and things aren't going as they should be. Coming off the back of the Barcelona game, the team did all the necessary things tonight to get the victory, putting spectacular football aside for a moment. Their goal was unfortunate and then suddenly everything went wrong. The players let their heads drop and so did we and it was difficult to put it right. I don't have a magic wand and nobody has to come out to take the blame. We need to take a look at ourselves, find out where we went wrong and fix it straight away."

What would you say to the fans?

"Not to lose faith and to support the team. Some people might take that sarcastically, but I'm asking it of all of you. This type of thing happens in football, we're aware of that and we know that you solve it by working selflessly and taking responsibility."

Who should take responsibility for this?

"No one can be excused right now. We need to be honest and identify the reasons for this crisis in order to react. We don't live up on the clouds, we're not carefree and we cannot have excuses. But we mustn't lose our cool either. We have to react – that's our job and the duty of every player. They have slipped into a poor run of form and they need to be the ones to change Roma's fortunes. I'm sure they'll come out of it because I know them, they are serious and talented professionals. It might be hard to say that right now, but we're all convinced of it."

What has changed compared to a month ago?

"Today was one of the worst matches I've seen in recent years. It's strange to think that before the international break, there was a completely different spirit about the place. But there are no excuses. We need to take full responsibility and realise that nothing is finished yet. We have to find a response and we'll do that as a united group. There won't be any disturbances and no one will shirk their duty, we're all stuck in this problem and we'll sort it together."