Gasperini: “We won an important match”

Here’s what the Roma coach had to say.

Coach, this is a top-of-the-league team. Roma still have the best defence of the season. How satisfied are you?

“I am very satisfied with our league standing, as well as with today’s match because it was a tough one. Sassuolo are playing well. We read the game the way we were supposed to after two defeats, the one against Inter, which was disappointing for us, and the one on Thursday, which was rough for us. We reacted very well and won an important match.”

Tell us about your tactical move of putting Bryan Cristante as an attacking midfielder, a bit like Atalanta’s Mario Pasalic. And given the problems of the forwards, is Paulo Dybala your centre-forward?

“I’ve never had any doubts about it, I have doubts about others, but Dybala is a forward, he’s an extraordinary player. He’s not really a wide forward, so he can play as a main striker, second striker or in a two-striker system as we did today. There are no issues regarding his integration: he has very clear attributes and we must make the most of them.

“Regarding Cristante, I have to say that Pasalic has scored more than 50 goals in that position over the past years and Cristante played there first: he’s scored 12 or 13 goals and he hasn’t lost the habit, even though eight years have gone by. He lacked a bit of creative spark, but he did well. He has matured as a player, he’s well rounded from every point of view and is helping us a lot.”

Still regarding attack, are you happy with the team’s positions during the attacking phase? And a comment on Artem Dovbyk: we saw you instruct him multiple times to stay wider or come short. 

“Today we needed our forwards to stay a bit wider to take advantage of the spaces and the midfielders’ runs, who could also find gaps centrally. Dovbyk was subbed on and did well, his sprints are great: his physical condition is very good. I work on all players, I try to help every player improve.

“[Gasperini is shown Dovbyk’s pass to Wesley] He made a good pass to Wesley; we could’ve scored. All the substitutes did well. Of course, I’m trying to find some solutions in attack, as it’s been the least prolific unit of the team so far, even though our standing is great.

“We want to improve: we try things during matches, also because Dybala didn’t play for several games, it was [Leon] Bailey’s first match as part of the starting XI, and we tried various combinations with the other players. Playing many games helps us in this: sometimes we don’t get the results we’re hoping for, but we’re getting there.”

From a personal point of view, how does it feel to be top of the table again? And is winning at home again a priority for Roma to consolidate this standing?

“It’s an absolute priority, because it’s a shame to have our fans watch us lose so many times in just a few matches. We always play in a stadium with a full house, with a history of such great passion, and we’d like to deliver good performances for them to watch. Not all of them were bad – for example against Inter or in other games – sometimes we were also a bit unlucky.

“But we shouldn’t have lost the match on Thursday, and this win helps us catch up a bit. On Wednesday we’re going to play at home again: we must stay focused, because when we play there [at the Olimpico], we sometimes hit a brick wall and then concede. We must be more effective.”