Fonseca: Second half was an improvement

Roma ran out comfortable winners at the Stadio Renato Curi, thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Gianluca Mancini (2).

While acknowledging that there are still plenty of areas to work on, Fonseca was content with many aspects of his side's display.

Read what the Portuguese had to say to the press.

Today you played Nicolo Zaniolo in two positions…

“Nicolo can play a few different positions: he can be a wider attacker or can play as a No. 10. Javier Pastore was supposed to play tonight, but yesterday he had an issue in training and we decided not to risk him. That meant that today we didn’t have another option – to avoid Cengiz Under playing the full game it meant Zaniolo played out wide too in the second half.”

What did you make of Edin Dzeko, considering the transfer rumours?

“He is here with us. I can only say that he has trained well. I have not seen even one sign from him that he isn’t motivated and focused to be here with us. That’s what I ask of all the players.”

Are you pleased with how the preparations of the squad are going?

“It’s natural that I am not totally pleased – but we are just at the beginning. Some things are going well, other things need perfecting. In the first half the players pressed well, but then we would give away the ball easily.

"In the second half the performance was a bit more in line with what I am asking; the players on the pitch made better choices to improve the rhythm of the game. Having just had three weeks together there is a lot of work still to be done, but I’ve seen that the players are willing to do that and that is very positive.”

What do you still need to do to be ready for the season?

“We still need to work on a lot of things, a team is a process that never ends. I would love to spend all night talking about the things that we need to improve – but what we did in the second half is undoubtedly closer to what I want to see from my team.”

Would the squad be complete with a defender or a striker?

“We need a central defender: that’s the priority. As far as strikers go with have Dzeko and Patrik Schick.”

In which position did Zaniolo impress you more?

“As I said before he can play both. Zaniolo needs to improve a few things when it comes to finding the spaces, but it’s a good thing that he can play both positions. From my point of view he is perhaps more a No. 10 than a wide player.”