Gasperini’s comments following Roma v Napoli

Here’s what our coach had to say.

What’s your opinion on the moment [the tackle on Manu Kone] that was decisive in Napoli’s goal-scoring move? If you want, I can ask you a broader question about the match; you tell me.

“These moments can be seen from many different perspectives. I find it hard to have a clear-cut opinion. Because if you look at what happened, the player raised his foot after touching the ball and goes to trip… anyway it’s not that. It’s not a clear-cut moment: it could or could not be a foul, but it’s not so clear as [Luca] Marelli said (DAZN’s referee analyst). 

“Apart from that, we were caught out: we had two defenders out of position, [Mario] Hermoso and [Gianluca] Mancini, two wide players out of position, so they hit us on the counter-attack. It was also our fault that they scored, because we shouldn’t have conceded that type of counter-attack, especially at a time of the game when we were at a disadvantage. It was certainly our mistake. It’s a shame.”

Let’s continue discussing the counter-attack. A total of seven goals conceded, four of which were on the break if we count tonight’s goal. Yours is a very proactive style of football, especially in the final third of the pitch. How can you solve this problem with this squad? In some situations, it looks as though you’re lacking the stamina to keep up.

“I don’t think that’s the case. We’ve played many games and conceded few goals. If we change our playing style, we may concede other types of goals, and not necessarily fewer. This attitude has enabled us to get to this point in a very good position in the table. Of course we must always maintain a good defence, because on that occasion we were the ones who didn’t do a good job; it wasn’t about the other team doing well.”

Was your performance not good enough or did Napoli prevent you from attacking more effectively?

“A bit of both. Napoli didn’t press high either: it was a cagey match. It’s a pity that we weren’t able to play with the right energy. Maybe we felt the effects of Thursday’s game more than we expected and we weren’t as fast as we normally are. When you make more passes than you should and the ball doesn’t move as fast, and against a team that is very well organised like Napoli, everything becomes harder. I think that unfortunately we got to this match with some physical problems and weren’t able – and this goes beyond the result itself – to read the game the way we did on previous occasions.”

The two teams are very close in the table; a single win is enough to change everything. Is there a common thread connecting these head-to-head matches? How do you explain your losses to Inter, Milan and now Napoli?

“They’re different games. We were awarded a penalty kick against Milan towards the end of the match that unfortunately we missed. Tonight we didn’t perform as well as we did in the two previous games. But I think that the tempo, both ours and Napoli’s, was slower. It was certainly a less beautiful match. I’ve already said why: I don’t think we had the right mental energy. 

It’s a shame; we’re disappointed. But it is a very competitive league this season, with many teams involved. Now we have a week’s time to do some work. Then there will be another intense run of fixtures. When you win, you have to look ahead. Likewise, when you lose like tonight, you have to learn and focus immediately on the next game.”