Gasperini speaks pre-Juventus v Roma

Read what he had to say.

How are the team? How is Artem Dovbyk?

“He’s not fully recovered. Even though he’s been training for a few days, he is still having some difficulty kicking. Other than that, we’re all here apart from the two who have left. [Mario] Hermoso has a little issue that we’re hoping to resolve.”

You were in the running to coach Juventus. Can you explain why you chose to come to Roma?

“Because it was harder. I’m happy with how it went. We’re about to play a very important match against a very strong team, who are always able to become even stronger. It’s in their DNA to play at the top level and to win. We’re going into this match after a good performance against Como and after putting on a good display in Glasgow. We want to hold our own against Juve because we’re getting into the best part of the season.”

How is Paulo Dybala? Roma have always won with a strong centre-forward. Is that just a statistic?

“I don’t know if it’s an accurate statistic, but it’s important to have a centre-forward. We’ve always done that, with one player or another. We’ve never played with ten men. We’re assessing Dybala today. We’ll try him out, test him and see if he’s ready to start, to be subbed on or to be on the bench. I think he’s always highly motivated. I don’t think a player of his level has any motivation issues. It’s just a question of fitness. He needs to be fit, able to sprint, kick and do so in the best possible way, to be able to play at the level expected of him.”

In October, you spoke of an accidental first place. How important is the four-point lead over Juventus now?

“I think we’ve done well because after fifteen games, we already have a significant string of results from which we can draw our conclusions. I don’t know if we’re among the strongest teams or if we’re strongest overall. There are many very good and very competitive teams. I think that the lads have done a brilliant job over the past few months. I would say that in almost every match, even those that we didn’t win. There have been very few very disappointing games. This group is always highly motivated. I think that we’ve improved in terms of technique and quality, as well as in terms of cohesion. It’s true that one of our strong points is that we’ve conceded very few goals, but this is also a team that’s tried to create chances over the past few weeks, and, lately, has managed to score goals consistently.”

The transfer window is just around the corner. Do you want to talk about it? What are you looking for? Do you want to comment about Joshua Zirkzee and Giacomo Raspadori?

“None of that. Sorry, no. Tomorrow is a very important match. We’re playing against Juventus who are four points behind us. It’s an important match for them too to try and climb back up. For us, it’s essential to keep them at a distance or even increase our lead. Our concentration and focus is all on tomorrow. It’s nice to play a match of this level in Turin, against Juventus, with this table. There’s time for everything else but that’s not now, just for this reason.”

How much have Juventus changed since the beginning of the season with the change of coach? What relationship do you have with Luciano Spalletti, who you’ll be meeting again after your coaching experience with the national team?

“I definitely have a friendly relationship with Spalletti. When he was at Inter, we happened to meet. When he was with the national team, we obviously spoke often because there were players that he called up and he came to Zingonia a lot. We don’t speak much now he’s at Juve, but we’ll say a friendly hello to each other. It’s chill between us. I think he’s trying to bring his football and his ideas, maybe starting from a situation that’s already been consolidated over time. However, it seems to me that recently, Juventus have shown some strong signals, especially after the match in Bologna and the one in the Champions League. Playing against Juventus is always difficult, because they have great players with a lot of quality. It’s always a valuable match. For us it’s a benchmark, an opportunity to see how we size up against them and how strong and competitive we can be.”

Have your players said anything in particular about this match? In your opinion, is Juventus just another opponent?

“Normally, throughout Italy and maybe even in Europe, when you play against Juventus, there’s always a lot of motivation and huge rivalry in the stadiums. I think that’s a situation that, as far as I’m concerned, and with my experience in the youth sector of the club, ends up strengthening the team, because they always face extremely motivated opponents. Rather than being a disadvantage, it can be a stimulus. At least that’s what it was like in the past. Juventus has always been a reference point in my career. I haven’t beaten them many times. I’ve actually lost against them more often, especially during their nine consecutive league titles when they were really difficult to beat. But when you managed to beat Juventus, it meant you were competing at the highest level because even in their less successful seasons, they are still one of the best teams.”

Have Devyne Rensch’s last two performances convinced you? Will Zeki Celik return in defence? What’s wrong with Mario Hermoso?

“He’s fatigued so we hope he’ll recover in time. It’s not a strain, it’s not a muscle problem, it’s not anything like that. I’d like to make as few changes to the team as possible because to bring Celik in, I’d have to move [Gianluca] Mancini and shake things up. You risk involving three players to replace one. It’s not ideal. However, it’s clear that [Evan] Ndicka’s absence will definitely force us to experiment. The solutions are these: [Jan] Ziolkowski, Celik, [Daniele] Ghilardi. If Hermoso was out too, as I said before, and Rensch as well, that would undoubtedly put us in more difficulty.

To understand that better, regarding Rensch, do you mean one of those three at the back?

“Yes.”

The match against Como was also a game between two different footballing philosophies. Yours has been inspired by lots of coaches.

“Football is made up of many components. You can play well or badly in lots of different ways. You can get results in many more. Luckily that’s the way it is because otherwise, if it was reductive and limited, it wouldn’t be as enjoyable. There’s space for new things and for small details. What I don’t like about football at the moment is the handling of the keeper. This situation needs to be sped up because the eight second rule is very rarely applied. There’s also another situation where the ball is stationary on the floor, in which 30 seconds can pass before the keeper plays it. It takes advantage of this phase where goalkeepers are more skilled with their feet, but it slows the game down too much.

“Another thing that I don’t like is the total time the goalkeeper has the ball. Against Inter, Como had the ball at the goalkeeper’s feet 51 times. People don’t like that. Football is an attacking game. Passing backwards to the goalkeeper, possession for its own sake, becomes a caricature. What kind of possession is that? It’s not something that excites the crowd. People want to see tackles, dribbling, vertical play. Otherwise, you run the risk, beyond individual teams, of football becoming ugly and very similar to five-a-side football: fun to play sometimes but horrible to watch. In my opinion, as football lovers, we need to find solutions that push the play forward and not backward. It’s not that easy, but when I see a goalkeeper holding the ball at his feet for ten, 20, 30 seconds, I don’t like it. It’s not a good game. I like seeing the forwards have the ball.”

How satisfied are you with Matias Soule’s growth?

“I’m happy with him and with everyone. Ours is a team that plays with spirit and that has the support of the fans, even when we fail to get the desired result. That’s the most important thing. He certainly is one of the players who stands out the most because he has certain characteristics, which I mentioned earlier, that people really like.”