Gasperini speaks ahead of Viktoria Plzen

Read what the coach had to say:

How is the team generally? And when do you think Angelino will be available again?

“There's a medical report for Angelino and they're running tests. It's not something I can talk about. You have to go on what the doctors say. We hope to have him back as soon as possible. Apart from him, fingers crossed, everyone is available at the moment.”

How is Leon Bailey? Could he become a first-choice player?

“I'll repeat what I've said many times before: anyone who plays is a first choice, both the starters and the subs. He could play and anyone who plays is a first choice. Unfortunately only within what the rules allow. The others can't play. In this specific case, he's unlikely to start because he's been out for a long time. The most important thing is he's recovered physically. It will take him a few weeks to get back into peak condition but he's able to contribute during the game.”

How important is tomorrow's match in terms of this competition?

“It's an important match. We need to win to move up the table. It's not the easiest of groups for the competition we're in. We must try to pick up points one game at a time. As I saw last year, with this new format the table is always very tight, with small points differences. It's important for us to remember that and also to get back to winning ways after losing to Lille.”

How do you improve your attacking play to score more goals?

“The match against Inter was reassuring as we had ten shots from inside their area. That's a good sign compared to previous games when we created less. Improving the quality of our shooting goes for everyone: [Paulo] Dybala, Bailey, Matias Soule, [Artem] Dovbyk. Then with [Evan] Ndicka and [Bryan] Cristante we can create dangerous situations from headers, like the chance Zeki [Celik] had. We're getting lots of players into shooting positions and that's the first step. Of course we could be more accurate. We lost our home games because of individual moments, but if the players are creating numerous goal-scoring opportunities, that's a good sign.”

Regarding Dovbyk and Evan Ferguson, when will it be decided who is first choice and who is reserve? Or will the strikers keep rotating all season?

“Nowadays strikers have to rotate at every club in Italy and Europe. Just look at the substitutions made. On Saturday Inter brought on [Francesco Pio] Esposito. With five subs, at least a couple of them are forwards. That's what we've seen since Covid, with the five subs rule. As I said, everyone who plays is a first choice. When you're playing two games a week, you have the chance to use lots of players in the same game, especially up front. You only need to look at the transfer activity of all the clubs and substitutions made in every match. You try to get back into the game or kill it off with your attackers. That's why it's like this.”

Are you confident you can get back into your comfort zone this season with this team and these players?

“I'm already getting back there. I don't think it's much different. The principles are the same, though obviously you have to adapt to the attributes of your players. I don't think much is different in terms of how I train, how I work and how I approach matches. I'm very happy with performances like the one against Inter the other night. Sometimes a defeat can be more useful than a win that leaves you feeling unsatisfied. We know very well that we need to be more clinical, more precise – if we had been the other night, the result would have been different. I try to work on my players' performances regardless of the results.”

Is Bailey a wide player or could he play at centre forward as well?

“In an emergency anything can happen, but I don't think he's centre-forward material. He's definitely an attacking player, a player who should spend most of his time in attack. I think he was used to playing on the wing a lot in England, very wide, more on the right than on the left because he's left-footed. I want to bring him more into the centre, towards the goal, as with Soule and lots of other players. I intend to do the same with him. But he's not a player who's used to playing that way. We'll need to learn together and assess his qualities.”

Did you expect something different from Dybala in the centre-forward role?

“The game was affected by the fact we conceded a very early goal. The plan was to play with a 'light', very technical front three to make it hard for our opponents to keep tabs on us. Partly what happened at the end of the game in Florence. In any case, I'm happy with what we tried to do. It was the right thing at the time. Conceding so early on caused a few problems for us. It was a different game in the second half, partly because of what we did and partly because Inter dropped off. That's why I say that you have to look at the whole 90 minutes because over 90 minutes you might have two or three different games. It was difficult to start the game with the set-up we had at the end. I don't think it was feasible. Games evolve, but the first half was bad. What happened afterwards was partly a result of what happened in the first half. Not for Dybala. I think he's a player who's in good shape, who's getting better, and who can play anywhere in attack. The main thing is he's fit.”

What do you know about Viktoria Plzen? And what improvement have you seen in the team after the Inter game? 

“There are always things you look back at. We weren't clear enough on the goal we conceded. But I think we played really well. Celik and Wesley played really well against two great players. They were excellent. Overall it was a step forward for Roma in terms of the performance. People have said the result was unjust. When we beat Verona it was right to say we were lucky in certain situations. I don't think people should say anything different if the same thing happens against Inter or Lille, otherwise we're always negative. I think the Inter match gave us some good feedback.

“Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to further improve our performance level. But we must be careful because although we're playing a team people don't know much about, Italian clubs have big difficulties. We have big difficulties. And also a little arrogance when we take on teams like this. Those of us who analyse them a bit more know we have to be careful about every single game because every game comes with its own difficulties. The opponents always run very hard and on a technical level they're not that far behind us. In fact, this can be an opportunity to see players who are perhaps less known but who are very good. You must handle every game with caution. This match is one of those where you have everything to lose and nothing to gain. I think we need to keep playing and adding more quality to our play.”

Could Jan Ziolkowski start the game? Were you surprised by his performance?

“No, I wasn't surprised because I see him in training. He's a player with great prospects who's already a Poland international. He's shown his qualities in training. We'll have to see. He has this habit – which is something he needs to work on – of often sliding into tackles. And in Serie A that can be a problem because the first time you make contact you can get booked. That's the only flaw we're trying to work on, but otherwise I'm sure he has an excellent future. I haven't decided for tomorrow yet. The only thing is Cristante and Ndicka will train separately as they haven't had a full week of training for a while. I'll decide today after the final training session whether to use him from the start or from the bench.”

After a good performance on Saturday, what areas do you need to improve? And what sort of approach do you expect from your team?

“I want us to continue like this, trying to win even the difficult games. They're difficult in Italy, and even more so in Europe. We need to start well and if we want to win we must play with the right focus and mentality and try to improve in the final third.”

Tomorrow's referee is the same one you had last year in Bruges. What's your view of the appointment?

“I swear I didn't know that! That tells you how much importance I place on these things... I have to say that decision in Bruges knocked us out. We had that penalty against us in the 93rd minute. And in the first minute of the second leg we conceded another goal. In any case, I have this habit: after a game, I erase everything and focus on the next one”

Inter was your second defeat after an international break. Do you see any similarities between the Torino and Inter games?

“I don't think so. They were two different games. Against Torino we didn't have much energy and we were playing at 12:30 on a very hot day. We weren't very lucky that day either but we didn't do a lot to try and win or at least not lose. Against Inter, we did what we needed to do.”