Gasperini’s views ahead of Roma v Torino

Here is what Roma’s coach had to say.

Does Paulo Dybala have the athletic endurance needed and can he be among the starting eleven? About Wesley, what kind of management can we expect?

“Dybala has done a good job over the past two weeks, he feels well and is growing. He played 45 very good minutes against Pisa. I don’t know if he can play for a whole 90 minutes, he never has, but this is certainly a good period for him. Wesley has had this problem, but it turned out to be a minor one. He played his first match for Brazil, he skipped the second match, as he suffered from muscle soreness, but he doesn’t seem to have any muscle injury. He did a normal training session yesterday. We’ll decide what to do today after we’re done training.”

Have you spoken with Lorenzo Pellegrini? What’s his physical condition? Can he play as a defensive midfielder, as we've seen him play?

“Pellegrini has stayed. That’s good for me, it means we have an extra player. In terms of technique, he is certainly a player with great qualities. He started training more intensively, although he doesn’t have the same physical condition as the players who have been here for two months, but he’ll be available. He needs to improve his physical condition, turn up his intensity. Technique-wise he’s perfectly fine, but there are other elements to take into consideration when it comes to football. He will get every chance to be useful to the team throughout the season.”

Both defensive and attacking midfielder?

“To me he’s a midfielder, not a forward. That being said, he can play in a more defensive or a more attacking position, he’s a player with great attributes. Apart from Dybala, in terms of quality on the ball, I think he’s the best or at least among the best. So to me he must play as a midfielder with all the necessary skills to play in that position.”

How do you reconcile the club’s financial requirements and the needs of a team that aim at winning something over the next three years? And what promises did you get from the Friedkin family?

“There are no promises, there’s just work that needs to be done. We need to work well, from every point of view. The situation is rather clear: we must try to improve both the club’s financial and the team. I’ve always believed that the important foundation is the team because if you improve the team, all the rest improves as well. So to me that is always the number one priority. Now I don’t need to talk about transfer windows. The transfer window was in June, July and August; now we must focus on our match tomorrow against Torino. There’s no point in talking about what was and wasn’t done before December/January. We’ve got 25-to-30 matches ahead: that’s what we must focus on. We’ll talk about the transfer window when the time comes.”

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Have you spoken to Artem Dovbyk? What do you expect from him?

“I expect a lot from him, as I do from all the players who have stayed at Roma, meaning Pellegrini, Dovbyk, as well as all the 21 players we’ve got. Roma is what matters, the season we’re going to have is what matters. I can’t talk about individual and personal matters. All players must give it their all. I’ve spoken to Dovbyk, as I have with all the others. I asked him what his best attributes were and he said playing in the box, strength and running in behind. Great, then we’ll start with these three. I have to see all of them and at very high levels. I’m confident he will do well. I’ve never had any doubts about anyone in terms of their commitment, so we must perform well, we must play excellent matches. We must show a great spirit, a great mindset, not only towards ourselves, but towards the whole team, we must deliver and keep pushing. That’s what matters right now, the rest is all just speculation. Our performance on the pitch is what really matters.”

There are some players who haven’t played yet. Is there a backbone of the team?

“Yes, of course. That’s what the backbone is, it’s crucial. The hierarchies can change during the matches and the season. Everyone must be ready, including those who aren’t playing as much or who have just arrived. Some players have trained with the team for the first time this week, while others have been with us for two months. This is completely normal, I don’t have any prejudice against anyone, but I don’t do any favours for anyone either. I have to have 11 players on the pitch, plus the five players who are subbed in during the match, that’s what the rules dictate. We have our training sessions and many cup games where they’ll get a chance to play, but they’ll have to earn it. Those who start off ahead will have to defend their position, that’s what team dynamics are like, it’s what gives you that extra something that makes you feel neither content nor left out. No one gets left out, I’ve always let everyone play, they all got their chance.”

Over the past few seasons, you’ve always struggled against Marco Baroni. Do you know why?

“Those are nice statistics, but at least we’ve always finished ahead in the league. In fact it is hard to explain, but I believe Baroni is an excellent coach. He’s always coached at very high levels. We’ll try to change these stats by winning tomorrow and narrow the gap.”

What do you expect from Torino? Is your goal in the match to take the lead as soon as possible?

“I think we have to play for 90 minutes plus stoppage time. In the beginning, the matches are very balanced and difficult. We must be prepared to play for 95 minutes with the utmost attention and in the best physical condition. The Italian league is always very balanced; this year it’s more balanced than ever before. In our first two matches we saw that although we played two excellent matches, we suffered until the very end. So this is how we must deal with this match.”

Apart from Pierluigi Gollini, you had two Roma players at Atalanta, namely Bryan Cristante and Gianluca Mancini. Have they improved compared to when you coached them? And what’s special about Cristante, since every coach always has him play?

“First of all, they are two players I had a few years ago, who have had an excellent career. They were young when they were signed by Atalanta, but they were growing as players. Throughout these years they have made a major contribution to Roma. I found them in good shape. Mancini is once again playing for the Italian national team, [Bryan] Cristante is very close to playing for Italy. Of course we have an advantage: they know me, they’ve played with me as their coach, but so far everyone has been completely available with me.”

You scolded Daniele Ghilardi a few times in the friendly against Roma City. Is Mario Hermoso playing on the right still an emergency solution? And is Ghilardi ready to play?

“I don’t recall scolding Ghilardi all that much, but there’s nothing unusual about giving some instructions during matches. He’s a new player, instructions must not be mistaken for reprimands. Maybe he’s a young player who needs a bit more guidance. Of course he’s less experienced than a player like Hermoso. He’s a player from the U21 team, he’s played one season for Verona. I think that compared to the players who are playing in the matches, he needs some more time. However, he’s among the young players we hope will grow up well.”

Tomorrow will be your 100th day coaching Roma. What exceeded your expectations at this club and what was below them?

“The club has a Champions League level training ground. It has Champions League level fans. I saw a great team spirit during these past two high-level matches. We can work on the rest together and grow together.”

Who do you picture on the right instead of Wesley? Devyne Rensch or Zeki Celik?

“Those are our possible solutions. It could be [Stephan] El Shaarawy, it could be [Matias] Soule who played in that position last season. We have multiple solutions we can choose from. I’ll think about it tonight after I’ve decided.”

What would winning tomorrow’s match too and making it three out of three like other great coaches of the past mean to you?

“To me it’s important that we replicate what we did in our first two matches. We’d have three extra points, which would be very useful. But we’re at the start of the season. What matters now is how you handle a match, what your attitude is like: you must build your season. Two, three or five matches aren’t enough to set goals. I always say that you need 10 matches, but you have a clear idea of what you need to do at the end of the first half of the season, when you know your team and your opponents better, when you know how much they’ve been reinforced, have grown and got better. Once you’ve played against all of them, you can start setting some goals.”