Press Conference: Tiago Pinto meets the media

The Portuguese director, who joined the Giallorossi from Benfica at the start of the new year, answered questions from journalists for the first time - as he explained his approach to his new role at the club.

"I would love to answer your questions in Italian, but I am still learning the language and working to understand it better," Pinto began by saying.

"So for now I will answer in Portuguese, in order to be as clear as possible."

Here's everything else he had to say...

What are your initial impressions, after your first few days in Rome?

“I am very happy to be here, I am very motivated by this project. I must admit that the first few days have not been easy, as I have been required to work from home [due to Covid testing]; it’s one thing to work via video calls and telephone calls, but it’s another to be at your office.

"Fortunately, however, yesterday I was cleared to be able to come to Trigoria, and so start working cloely with all the staff, the players and the coach. As for initial impressions, those can only be positive at a time like this.”

What was it that convinced you to leave Benfica and choose to join Roma?

“As a lot of you already know – Italian journalists are clearly very good in this respect, they’ve done some great research – I have had a long and lasting love affair with Benfica. So because of that, deciding to leave Benfica was certainly not easy.

"But what convinced me was the conversations I had with Dan and Ryan Friedkin, where they explained their intentions to me, their project and what they want to build here. Those were discussions that really energised me and made me understand that I could become part of the process of putting things into place and turning Roma into a competitive side capable of winning trophies.”

What should Roma fans expect: spending now, in order to make the team capable of winning either now or next season – or a more sustainable project, built on young players that in a few years might grow to have the capability of winning something?

“It’s a good question. I think everyone in Italy already knows the lengths Dan and Ryan have already gone to in order to ensure the long-term sustainability and viability of the club.

"This is a medium and long-term project. The sustainability of a club is important, vital even, if you want to win in the future. No-one in football has the ability to put in place a calendar for success.

"Our ambitions are big, but they are ambitions for the medium and long term that must be worked at on a daily basis: Every day the staff, the coach and everyone involved needs to do better than the day before. Every day the players need to be better than the day before, and with every match too.

"If we are able to do that, then the results and the trophies will come. But it is important to understand that the sustainability of a project is imperative if you want to win in the future, and especially if you want to be in a position to continue to win.”

How are the negotiations going for the players that Paulo Fonseca has asked for – and what about Lorenzo Pellegrini’s contract renewal?

“Above all, with the coach we don’t have any language issues to worry about! As far as the transfer market goes, we are working on a daily basis, all together, to work out what the best options for Roma are. To repeat, this is a medium and long-term project, but we are working with Dan and Ryan every day to make the team more competitive.

“As far as Pellegrini goes, there is no doubt – and you will see with time, I am an open person who is happy to tell you the truth – that Pellegrini embodies our project. He is a young, talented player with a great love for Roma. So soon we will do everything possible to negotiate his renewal.”

Could winning a trophy be something close on the horizon?

“I’ve already answered this question, at least in part. In football, and in sport in general, it is impossible to put a date on when you will win.

"Without going into specific examples, you all already know different stories of clubs in Europe or Italy that have spent heavily to win something that season – but then it hasn’t happened. Because that’s not how football works. So we are working every day to make Roma more competitive and better positioned to be involved at the business end of competitions.

"If we all have that same desire to keep improving – everyone here, everyone on the staff, everyone among the players – then I am sure we will get closer and closer to that objective.”

How will you be able to achieve the twin objectives of winning and keeping a financial balance, without the economic resources clubs like Juventus and Inter Milan have available to them?

“Above all I need to begin by saying that we need to be careful with comparisons - every club and situation is different. What is clear is that this club wants to keep its best players for the longest period possible, because as everyone knows that is the easiest way to achieve you objectives and win trophies.

"But, at the same time, we have to be aware of the world we are currently in, with very different circumstances as a result of the Covid pandemic. Every club is looking to reinvent itself. But we want to develop our players, we want to improve them, secure their futures for as long as possible and become as competitive as possible.”

Can you confirm for us that before the summer the club will need to make some big money sales in order to fit within financial fairplay rules?

“Once more, I don’t want to repeat myself but the world has changed and we all know that. In Italy and in Europe there are financial regulations that need to be respected.

"But we are here, working as a team, to find the best solutions and the right moments, with the clear objective of winning. And to win in the medium and long term. That is true both for the overall operating strategy and for the January transfer market.

"We are all aware of how thing are right now, which have changed dramatically around the world, and football is not free from this – because it is part of the world of entertainment too. And so we all know we have to think differently about the way we do things and that is something we need to be aware of.”

What role will Ryan Friedkin have in the decisions the club makes in the transfer market?

“Once more I want to be clear: we are here to work together as a team. None of us will be a ‘superstar’. That is not how I work, that is not how the ownership work. Clearly the transfer market will be a key part of my daily work, and I know that area and enjoy working on it, but I will be in close contact with Ryan and Dan. Clearly they will have the final say on matters.

"We are working to grow Roma, in synergy with everyone involved with the club, and not with the idea that eventually some will say this is a ‘Tiago Pinto approach’ or a ‘Tiago Pinto signing’. We work as a team."

What sort of organisation do you want to create? Will you appoint a new sporting director, and will you stock the scouting department with men you trust?

“In order to be completely clear, no-one will be approached for that role. As general manager I will oversee all areas, in close contact with the ownership. But I have come here to work with everyone that is already here at Roma.

"In that sense my first job is clear: to meet and get to know all the people working here, to understand the processes they have implemented and to add my own contribution. If not, then my presence here doesn’t make much sense.

"Two other things are clear: I will work with those who are already here and I will be responsible for the sporting area, in conjunction with Dan and Ryan.

“As far as the scouting department goes, I believe that it is important – vital, even – to have a great scouting department. A lot has changed in recent years, even with how players are evaluated. So that’s why we need a strong scouting department.

"That doesn’t mean those already here are not great – but what matters is that it is the club’s scouting department, not mine or anyone else’s. It will be important to expand the base in order to have the best possible bank of data available to us, in order to make the best possible decisions.”

How many deals do you think you will do in January, and will that then have an impact on the summer window?

“I’ll say it again: We are very focused on the transfer market, we are working hard on it every day. There is also a lot of work being done that is perhaps not obvious now, but could reap rewards in the medium and long-term.

"Right now I cannot tell you how many deals we will do, but what I can say is that we are working very hard to make sure we can make the best moves possible.

“In fact, I’ll add a promise – I'll take that risk! From now until the end of the transfer market I will make myself available to answer your questions, on what has happened or hasn’t happened in the transfer market and why. So we can be clear about what our approach is.”

What do you think about Paulo Fonseca’s style of play, and how important in your role is it to share the same footballing principles as the coach?

“It’s true that I have worked with a lot of coaches throughout my career, and I am proud to have worked with men with very different ideas about the game. In the modern game there are great coaches who willingly immerse themselves in other approaches to the game, in order to improve themselves.

"Fonseca will be the fifth coach I’ve worked with, I know his career well from his time in Portugal when we were often on opposite sides. I won’t hide the fact that I share his ideas on football, share his belief in an attacking and dynamic style of play that is built on having the ball. His ideas are those we want to have at our club.”

In your scouting department, will you assign a part of the world to a different scout? And, when it comes to identifying players, what is the dynamic between statistical analysis and the human eye?

“As we often see, especially in life, finding a balance is always important. There are examples of clubs in Europe that have focused heavily, almost exclusively, on statistics, and that’s true in basketball or other sports too where statistics have become very important. But I like to keep a balance on these things.

“Given the current difficulty in travelling and watching games live, and spending time with other people in and around the game, it’s important to put the correct weight into these things. As far as I am concerned, ideologically and philosophically I like to take elements from both approaches – understanding the views and opinions of those who have played the game and understand the game, but also looking at statistics and information that can perhaps inform in us in a different way. But the key thing is to balance the two.”

Along with the ownership, how have you decided to handle the issue of agent commissions in the transfer market?

“I don’t want to talk about the past. I have a lot of respect for those who have had this job in the past, so I don’t want to talk about individual examples. I would just say that agents are part of the transfer market, we will honour all our obligations and devote the right level of attention to this aspect.”

You agreed to join the club without bringing any assistants – have we now moved on from the classic idea of what a sporting director is?

“Great question. In Portugal we have a phrase – “it’s more important to discuss the thing, than the name of the thing”. We want to create a management structure, one I have already explained, where I will oversee the transfer market, but always in conjunction with those already here and those who having already been working on it – and also with Dan and Ryan when the moment comes to take the most important decisions.

“So often we debate, discuss and dispute the qualifications someone has and not the substance of the work they do. I will be the general manager, I will supervise the whole sporting structure, but within that then the model will be the one I have explained to you all.”