Ranieri previews Lecce clash

This is what the Giallorossi coach had to say... 

 How are Lorenzo Pellegrini and Paulo Dybala doing? Will they be available?

“Pellegrini is training well and that means a lot to me. He's calm and just needs to keep doing what he's doing, then I'll decide for each game. Dybala hasn't got the intensity but I'm happy with the way he's played. He's not a player who gives you intensity – he offers quality. He has to find himself in the right place at the right time between the lines and help the coach and the team that way.

“I've told the team our season starts now. December will tell us where we're at and where we can go. But there are no easy games. Lecce are looking to stay up for the fourth season. They beat Venezia, drew with Juventus and they never give in. They have good players who know how to scrap and a coach who wants them to play good football. We'll need to be smart and resolute and make every ball count.”

Do Roma need to be scrappy, dirty and nasty against Lecce, or aware that they're the better team on paper?

“I want a team that goes out onto the pitch without looking at who our opponents are but set on playing our game and fighting for every ball. That's what we did against Napoli, Tottenham and Atalanta. That's the Roma I want. Always determined. If there's a ball to win, we must win it every time. If we have the ball, we have to move it quickly. We'll need to be at our best against a team that's good at playing the way they want: being hard to break down and striking on the counter, keeping the ball when they want to keep it, playing one-twos. They're a decent team with decent players. But we shouldn't be looking at a team, Lecce. We should be looking at a month, December. This month will tell us who we are and what we want to do. That's it.”

Going back to Pellegrini, I'd like to ask about how you're bringing him back in. Against Atalanta, you had him warm up in the second half, which means he was ready to play. Then he didn't come on and you said you didn't have a box-to-box midfielder like Niccolo Pisilli. So I wanted to ask how the two things are connected.

“Lorenzo is a fabulous player from the midfield up. He has vision, a great shot, an eye for goal, the ability to lose his marker, killer passes. The lot. They all train together so that I can pick any of them during the match. I didn't bring him on because I needed someone who could battle with Atalanta's players at both ends of the pitch. I see Pellegrini more as an attacking midfielder.”

As you said, December is the month of truth. Have you seen the right level of determination from your players? And are you considering playing with four at the back against Lecce?

“Maybe but I'm not going to say it because I don't want to give our opponents an advantage. The level of intensity the team played with against Tottenham and Atalanta is the intensity I want to see and the intensity we must play with. When we have more intense training sessions, that's what I ask of them. They had a really good session today – they really went for it and are taking my ideas on board. As you know, I haven't had many training sessions to work with them. It's not easy when they've had three or four different coaches in a year. Footballers are like sponges but they're not computers. You can't just take one thing out and slot another one in. Some respond immediately, some take longer to catch on. But in my book, if you train well, you can play. Every training session is at full pelt. Little by little we'll be able to do reproduce that in the league as well. Little by little but we need to get a move on. That's why I say, 'December, tell us who we are and where we can go.' We have to be able to answer those questions ourselves.”

How has Artem Dovbyk been looking lately? From a mental point of view too, given that he hasn't scored for a few games.

“Apart from that chance after the one-two with Dybala when he could have been more determined, he had a proper Greco-Roman wrestling battle with his marker. He won lots of duels, laid off for his team-mates and offered them an outlet. He's not 100%. He has flu but managed to play against Atalanta. I don't know if he'll be available for Lecce – let me be honest about that. I'll have to give it some thought. I don't know if he'll train tomorrow or what shape he'll be in.”

A very blunt question: Are Roma in a relegation dogfight?

“I always say the league table reflects the current state of play for all the teams. At the moment, this is where we are, fighting to get out of the bottom half of the table. These players are used to being near the top of the table. I'm used to be being in both halves. In any case, I want the team to fight at all times. I don't think it's difficult. I'm sure my players will respond blow for blow, but I'm like Thomas: I want to see and believe.”

How are Mats Hummels and Bryan Cristante? What about Mario Hermoso? If you were to play with a back four, could Gianluca Mancini play at full-back?

“I think football is in constant motion, constant evolution. Sometimes you move forwards and sometimes you go backwards. I think what Mancini can do on the right, [Evan] Ndicka can do on the left. Why not? I wouldn't rule anything out. For five minutes or so against Atalanta, Angelino went back to playing in a back three – not because I wanted him to, but because [Lazar] Samardzic was coming inside. Then after the subs we switched back to four. So anything can happen during a game. I think the lads can do anything. Hummels has trained. He's fine. Hermoso has trained. He's fine. Cristante's ankle is still on the mend. It's blue. We'll see tomorrow.”

What sort of player is Enzo Le Fee?

“Le Fee is a top-quality player. At the moment I see him as an attacking midfielder but I'm sure hecould develop in a similar way to [Carlo] Ancelotti or [Andrea] Pirlo when they were young – start further forward then become a deep-lying playmaker. He's quality. He needs to make the most of this first year to settle in but I'm sure he can help us out during the season.”

Do you agree with the comments made by Florent Ghisolfi to Il Corriere dello Sport about the refereeing mistakes that have gone against Roma?

“I think if you interview any team, they'll all complain. The hardest job in Italy is being a referee so we have to respect them – that's the main thing. That said, it's only right that sometimes a club might say, 'We think that...' But respectfully. They're people like the rest of us .When I was playing, they used to make more mistakes. They didn't run as much as they do now. They're weren't as well prepared as they are now. And now we have VAR too. Though VAR can make mistakes as well of course. But if you compare the two ages, we should thank God for how far we've come. You can complain but always being respectful.”

Leandro Paredes and [Manu] Kone seem to be a solid midfield partnership. Will you make any more changes in midfield?

“We'll see. We can all see what a top player Paredes is. Everyone can see that. I hope he can maintain this level. He's had two amazing games so I don't see why I should change at the moment. But what a coach says one day can change the next. Football is changing constantly. Nothing is set in stone. We need to keep our eyes open and see what's best for the team. Right now the team is doing well with those two.”

You spoke about how important December is but I'd like to take a step back. In London we saw how dogged this team can be. How important is that sort of attitude?

“It's hugely important. Fundamental in my book. I wasn't a hugely talented player but I always pulled out all the stops on the pitch. I didn't always play well but I always gave my all. And that's what I said to the players on day one: 'We can all play well but we all know deep down if we actually did well or not. You never know. It happened to me sometimes and it can happen to you that you can have a magnificent game because that's how football is, while other times you might feel good but everything goes wrong for you. It might be a question of technique, tactics, form, but there's one thing only you can control, and that's how much effort you put into it. You have to sweat until the very last second, even if you're losing 3-0 – I don't care. You might be sorry about the result but you must be able to say you gave everything in that match. If you only give 5%, the coach should have realised you could only give 5%. You must always give 100%. You might play well or play badly. But give me your all out there.“

“I just wanted to end by sending a big hug to Edoardo [Bove]. Hang in there. We're all with you.”