Gasperini’s comments after the derby

Here are the words of the Giallorossi coach.

How do you feel after this win? Lorenzo Pellegrini was decisive.

“Luckily I have the chance to see the training sessions, the players, how [Lorenzo] Pellegrini has trained over the past few weeks. I had no doubts about putting him in today’s starting line-up. He has great qualities, but he can also be a great athlete. I was very satisfied with the match up until we had a man advantage. After that we risked jeopardising a match we’d played very well.”

Can a player like Pellegrini be an important asset?

“Pellegrini strikes the ball very well and has excellent timing on his runs, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be all he does. He must play as a midfielder and create chances as he did today. There’s room for improvement with our forwards. They work hard. [Evan] Ferguson and [Matias] Soule played a great match, as did [Artem] Dovbyk when he was subbed in. The extent to which they develop will determine whether the level of the team will improve or not. The same applies to the others. We need everyone when we’re attacking.”

How much does Pellegrini’s passion matter for the future?

“I can’t talk about his past, but I have found a very mature player. He’s got a lot of passion, as do [Gianluca] Mancini, [Manu] Kone, [Bryan] Cristante, but I can’t name all of them. He must be a good player, a team player, as must all the others. If he becomes a great athlete, he will reach a much higher level.”

How special is a derby? And how far have the team come now?

“The team are doing well. We had some problems against Torino. We didn’t perform at our best. We didn’t do what we’d done in our previous matches. We didn’t prepare the match very well. I want to see both the team and the individual players improve. For example, [Devyne] Rensch’s performance, as well as that of seven or eight other players. I’m happy with the way the players are training, as I’ve always said. I’ve always praised them.”

How will you celebrate winning your first derby?

“I’m very happy, but towards the end of the match I couldn’t get the message across to my players. The game at that point was far too much in our favour. We could have had space to score a lot more goals. We risked conceding a goal and maybe it would have even been fair considering what we wasted in the final minutes. We’re happy and we know how important this match is, but starting from tonight I must begin thinking about how to improve these 10 final minutes.”