Gasperini’s words after winning against Verona

Coach Gian Piero Gasperini was interviewed by DAZN at the end of the match. Here’s what he had to say.

Another win, a clean sheet, Artem Dovbyk’s goal and first place. But we also saw you get angry a few times throughout the match.

“No, not angry. I realised that several players were struggling today. It’s the first time we’ve played three matches in one week, probably, and not all the players have been able to fully recover. There was some residual fatigue left. We’ll have to examine this. We weren’t expecting this and we’ll have to consider this factor too for our future matches.”

Why was the team so stretched out?

“We certainly had problems that we had never had in previous matches. I believe it’s because some players, who have always been very effective and precise, clearly struggled more. When they attacked, they were able to move the ball and play with greater ease than usual. It’s a pity, because when we hit on counter-attack, we had many chances to be effective, but we struggled a bit more than we should’ve in this match.”

It’s a tough team who don’t want to lose. Mile Svilar was amazing today.

“Roma have these numbers in the defensive phase also thanks to Svilar. He’s often at the centre of it all. And even when he doesn’t make extraordinary saves, he’s a guarantee, he’s a source of confidence when managing the game and helps make it simple. We certainly have a great keeper.”

How does it feel to see Roma top of the table?

“These results are very satisfying, of course, but right now we must make assessments after each match, because the season is very long. We must focus on growing, improving, by playing with players such as [Gianluca] Pellegrini, Dovbyk and [Mario] Hermoso. We’re waiting for some injured players to fully recover. Today [Jan] Ziolkowski, who’s a very promising player, made his debut. There are a few other players who are further behind who can help us out, especially if we struggle to play three matches a week.”