Gasperini news conference before Sassuolo v Roma

Here's what he had to say...

I'd like to ask about the attack and the ability to get into the area, which seems to be something where the team is coming up short – getting into the box with real determination. Is that something you can train?

“It is something you can train and as such we have to train it. We must play as a unit in attack, just as we do in defence, focusing on our positions, our movement, finding space. We need to get into the box and finish moves. We need to do lots of things. Just as you have a defensive organisation, so too can you have attacking organisation. Especially now. We have to keep working on it. We're getting our players back. We have [Paulo] Dybala back and [Leon] Bailey is getting there. We have all our attacking players and we need to change things for the better in that area.”

I wanted to ask you about something you mentioned on Thursday evening – namely that the forwards should perhaps examine their conscience, that they were a bit limp.

“Did I say that? Did I say 'limp'?"

'Limp' was something Dybala said. I meant the need for players to examine their conscience.

“I don't know if I used the word 'conscience' but in any case, regardless of the words used, what I meant was we need to work technically and tactically on the team and our play. If I said 'conscience' it was the wrong word but it was in reference to working on our movement, escaping our marker, finding and occupying space, running in behind, playing in more dangerous areas, which is not outside the box. It's not that central area outside the box – which is very useful for receiving the ball – but strikers need to be close to the box, inside the box, near the byline. That's where you create opportunities to score or set up team-mates. Everything else is preparation work. That's what I meant, but I never used the word limp.”

Can you work on the team's focus at the start of the game?

“There can be a number of reasons. You get spells like that. There were times where we took the lead. But the stats are there. In Florence we were able to turn it around but in the last two matches we conceded two bad goals. Against Inter we responded the right way but the other night we needed to do more, although there was a response from the team. Like against Inter, we had a good second half. Which shows our fitness levels are good.”

Regardless of the difficulties of the two centre forwards at the moment, I get the impression Roma play better with a target man. When Dybala plays as a false nine the team seems to struggle more. I'd also like to ask about Evan Ferguson. What happened to him? He made such a good start but now he seems to have disappeared.

“Ferguson has played in nine of our ten competitive fixtures this season. The only time he didn't was against Fiorentina. The only thing that matters is what happens on the pitch. Beyond that people can say everything and nothing. On the pitch he's always tried, although at the moment the result is not always good enough. If I have to be honest, for the first time this season yesterday I saw him train the right way. He's 21 and he's come here after a few not exceptional seasons when he didn't play much, so we need to be patient with him. It's a different league, a different country, a different dimension. Youngsters his age can go through spells when they don't perform very well. We have to be willing to have faith in him. If you're asking me for an explanation, you can't always explain everything. We have to wait, work and see the answers on the pitch.“As for playing with a target man, I don't think your centre forward necessarily needs to be tall or big. You can play lots of different ways. What matters is you find a way to be effective. You don't have to play with a big, strong striker. I think other things are important, like technique, pace, link-up play. Then if you have a player up front who can fix problems for you, it makes everything a lot easier.”

It seemed that Dybala's comments on Thursday annoyed you a little. Did you speak to him afterwards?

“Well, when I heard about it, there on the spot, I was a bit annoyed, also because I didn't think it was correct. Speaking to the lads afterwards in the dressing room, those weren't exactly the words. 'Limp' is not a word we use. We don't 'under-estimate the opposition'. This team doesn't deserve that. Paulo didn't mean that. You can say a lot of things about this group of players. We know we have weaknesses and we have to accept them, but conduct-wise this is a solid, healthy group. You can't blame our defeats on our attitude. Our attitude will never be wrong. It can't be, otherwise, yes, it would be a problem.”

Will Dybala play?

“He could play. Physically he's fine. He did well the other night. He's got decent stamina from what I've seen. He's got good endurance, like all top players. The only problem is he needs to stay fit. He too needs to be getting into the box, scoring goals, providing assists – those things are important because that's what he needs to do as a striker. He doesn't need to play in midfield. He can help the team breaking up the opposition's play, but he's essentially a striker. He's a player who shows his worth when he shoots, sets up others and creates danger. He's in good shape now, very good shape, and that gives me reason for optimism.”

What's your view of all the recent changes in defence? We got the impression they created a bit of confusion and led to some individual mistakes.

“I don't agree with that at all. There have been changes but we've had lots of games. Who played in the end? [Jan] Ziolkowski for half an hour the other night? [Zeki] Celik, [Mario] Hermoso, [Gianluca] Mancini and [Evan] Ndicka have always played but we're playing a lot and sometimes other players come on. Wesley played very well on the left, so did Celik on the right. I don't see all these changes. Wesley had two excellent games. The only thing that really matters, that you need to assess, is the performance. As I said, when you play so many games, it's normal to change a few things around, but that's the result of the five subs. We can't be too inflexible. One player comes off and another comes on in his place.” 

You've often said that some selection decisions are made because of emergency situations. Is it really an emergency situation to play Dybala as a false nine and keep starters on the bench?

“Sorry, who are the starters?”

For example the natural replacement on the left, Devyne Rensch.

“What's that got to do with Dybala?”

I'm talking about the changes to the line-up in general. 

“Come on. You talk about Dybala as a false nine in attack, Rensch... Come on, please.”

So do you see the glass as half full or half empty, regarding your team and the results?“

Are you happy?”

I am, yes.

“Well, then you can imagine how I am! We're fighting. This is a tough league. Did you see what happened last night? Top against a newly promoted team? We have to understand that it's not easy to obtain really consistent results in this league. Every game in Serie A is very difficult. I don't have time to get beaten up over a defeat, although it annoys me a lot. I can't think like that because we're up there. Everything else... well, we can say everything and nothing. “We have to focus on ourselves, on improving ourselves. Right now our main difficulty is scoring goals, especially at home. We have to work on that and fix it. It's not about the No.9 or the false nine. It's about who plays, who comes on. Who shoots, who blocks, who plays one-twos and who scores. You get teams who play with a centre-forward, with space, without a centre-forward. If you can, you take a short cut, otherwise you take the long way round.”

Are you looking to sign a striker in January?

“I don't think you get anything fantastic in January, as far as my own experience goes anyway. The attributes are important. But I'm not even thinking about January right now. I just want to improve a situation that we're struggling with, which makes us look worse than we are. Losing in the Europa League the other night hurt because we lost to a team we shouldn't have lost to, at home. Our sole goal, playing two games a week, is to improve, and one way to do that is by experimenting, trying things out, because we've had lots of players missing. We've had Dybala back for two Sundays, Bailey for one. You have to play them and see what happens. We don't have time in training. The only thing is to increase our effectiveness by training.”

How are Artem Dovbyk and Ziolkowski doing psychologically?

“Sometimes you get booed when you lose. That goes for the players and everyone. The next day, you go again and try to earn applause. A Roma player needs to be supported. I think everyone should be supported, pushed, carried. And the player has to react to a bad performance by working hard. The aim is always the same: trying to grow and improve. Unlike some other teams, at the moment we have room for improvement, also because it would be hard to do worse. We can only get better.”