De Rossi's comments after Empoli defeat

You took the match very seriously and even had the chance to win it. The fact Empoli needed to win made the difference.

"Many things in football make the difference, don't they? But we don't have to pat ourselves on the back because we played a serious game. We don't have to pick up a medal. We did what we had to do, but there are too many things to improve: in terms of defensive focus, having so much possession but so few shots on goal, and above all because you can't have so many counter-attacks and never get a shot off. It's not like you're getting shots on goal and they're being saved, because you're not even taking a shot. That's something you pay for at this level.

"Obviously, they were lumping the ball forward, trying to score goals. They put a lot of forwards on, as they should have done. But this game should have ended as a straightforward 2-1 win for us, with one of the many counter-attacks we had. It's not normal never to shoot on goal when you have that space on the break."

We saw Roma with three at the back again. The feeling is that you changed every time you couldn't field your ideal side. Will this be the idea for next year, that is, to start from a Roma with a stable playing system that reflects your ideas, or do you prefer to weigh things up game by game?

"There are lots of things for us to evaluate. We shall go back to the drawing board, precisely by evaluating this match. This match should tell us many things. We played with four, as we have often done, and then sometimes, when we were deeper, we defended with three, as we have done in many circumstances.

"Not much changed. The final goal is one that even with a four-man defence you cannot concede: we were sloppy in the aerial duel. You can't concede a goal like that in Serie A. It has to make us reflect, beyond the considerations for building the new team. It really hurts me because I didn't want to end the season like this. It doesn't matter about finishing ahead of Lazio. This isn't me having a go at Empoli. We played the game and you can't lose it like this."

Have you spoken with the new technical director [Florent Ghisolfi]? What sort of profile of attacker would you like?

"Yes, we talked – we spent an afternoon together. We discussed both building the squad and some names. In the first chat there was great harmony. We have a lot of time to talk about this, to assess the opportunities and gauge what's available, which are topics that we have not yet touched upon.

"Tonight, it is still premature, and perhaps disrespectful, to talk about this, because the game I saw tonight… I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but you can't lose it if you want to become a great side."

Would you like to send a message to Eusebio Di Francesco?

"I don't think he wants to hear it. I would have approached the game in this manner if it were against him or Fabio [Cannavaro]. This is our job. But he didn't deserve to be relegated, given what they did as a team and the play they produced, even against us.

"I don't favour one team or the other, because we don't have to answer to anyone, but the fact that this goal conceded in the last minute punishes a coach, a guy I really respect, hurts me even more."