Gasperini: "Morale is sky high. We’re in a good place"

Here’s what our boss had to say:

You made a lot of adjustments to your team over the course of today’s game. It seemed like you had your work cut out on the bench.

"Indeed, it was a tough start because of Parma’s efforts and how we played. Some aspects of our play need polishing and we need to work on this. Once we found our feet we were consistent, attacked a lot and made the breakthrough. Our positioning was great. Their goal late on had us a bit on edge in the closing stages."

This Roma side knows how to suffer and doesn't let up physically in the second halves of games. Paulo Dybala was relentless after the break - we haven't seen him play like that in a long time.

"I'm pleased. He's doing really well, as are the whole team. Our morale is sky high - we're in a great place, mentally speaking. In terms of our football itself, we can grow and improve. Today we controlled the game better than on previous occasions - I'd say we're improving."

I’d say that Roma's second half performance was one of the best moments of the season. So much went right. There's a lot of talk about your attackers, but I'm struck by the fact that in every match one defender stands out, and today it was Mario Hermoso. Your defenders are very involved. How was this idea developed?

"They really shone today. Moving [Gianluca] Mancini to play as a right-sided centre-back gave us a great boost. Hermoso is also more inclined to move out there, and [Evan] Ndicka is also very positive. We can rotate them and alternate their roles depending on the opponent and the match in question. That's a strength of this team. I also have versatile players such as [Mehmet] Celik who’s capable of covering a variety of roles.

"This all serves as a very solid and positive foundation for the team, along with our midfield. We're also finding extra gears in attack thanks to the performances of [Mathias] Soule and [Paulo] Dybala. Our attacking game is really coming on. Until recently we were lacking in this department, but we're making up for lost time."

What does Leon Bailey need to do to contribute to the team?

"He needs to get back into shape. We threw him right into the action, perhaps ahead of time. He's been out for quite a while – he’ll be fully back in the fold in another week or two. I played him against Inter and Sassuolo. Maybe he hadn't recovered properly because he was definitely struggling. He wasn't the Bailey we know. We were taking risks, so I made the decision to sub him off."

 On Sunday it’s Milan v Roma…

"Is it really? (smiles, ed.)"