De Rossi: ‘Everyone questioned at Roma, Lukaku, Dybala, me’ | OneFootball

Roma coach Daniele De Rossi felt his team are ‘the right direction’ to become a family and brushed off the criticism of himself and his players.

The Giallorossi have been a team reborn under the former midfielder following his arrival back in January, having replaced Jose Mourinho after his two-and-a-half-year spell in the dugout in the Italian capital.

Roma have won five of their six league matches under De Rossi and are now in a decent spot in the race for European qualification, sitting sixth in the table just four points behind fourth place Bologna. In the Europa League, the team will face Brighton in the Round of 16.

Speaking in a press conference via TMW, De Rossi first discussed the health of his Roma squad.

“Everyone is fine except Rick Karsdorp with a knee problem. Nothing serious, but he needs a break.”

He spoke about how he’ll manage the condition of star forward Paulo Dybala.

“Management is easy when you have many good players. When someone is tired, you change them without lowering the quality. Dybala is fine. I don’t know how many times he played 110 minutes and then 90 immediately afterwards.

“We must be happy. He’s happy, his condition is good, when you score a hat-trick even some issues feel good.”

De Rossi gave his thoughts on Monza coach Raffaele Palladino.

“Something has changed in the last few games and we have some doubts. We have to prepare for more than one type of game, but we are ready for everything.

“I respect Palladino a lot, we spoke a few days ago, we started the coaching course together. I’m happy for him, he is an excellent coach and is managing the occasion at Monza brilliantly. The future is on his side.”

De Rossi was asked if Roma were more of a family unit today.

“I don’t know what it was like yesterday. I don’t try to do something different from the past. I try to manage as I did at SPAL, which was no different when I was captain. There are different roles and choices.

“When you are captain you are friends with everyone, as a coach you are friends but then you send 12 to the bench. If we are not yet a family, we are in the right direction to become one.

“If we feel good we go to Trigoria to do something more. The players must be happy to go to the pitch to do a mentally and physically perfect job.”

He spoke about Dybala’s suitability to a 3-5-2 formation.

“He scored a goal from a penalty, one from thirty meters and one from a run. There is nothing about the three-man defence that helps him or anything tactical about what he did. If we analyse the goals, they are situations that would also happen in a 5-5-0.”

De Rossi deflected criticism of Romelu Lukaku.

“Everyone is questioned, even Dybala. Me too. Sometimes choices have to be made. Choices arise from performance or condition. His condition is like a star, he always runs and fights.

“This makes everyone happy, he is a footballer that everyone would like. I don’t see long faces, it’s their job. From this point of view, Romelu is the perfect player.”

He was asked if he felt the Roma environment was destabilising.

“I don’t perceive destabilisation around us. The owners provides us with the serenity we are enjoying. We are an accommodating wing compared to what happens above and below us. I am not insensitive to what can happen, but the company is at my disposal 24 hours a day.

“Same with Dan and Ryan (Friedkin, ed.), I can’t complain about anything. I know there are a lot of changes because some roles are uncovered, but I focus on results.

“Other than that it’s not my field and I have no say in the matter. To me the atmosphere seems positive, nothing different is happening that doesn’t happen in other clubs.”

De Rossi provided an update on Chris Smalling.

“The running-in phase is coming to an end and maybe it’s just my exaggerated concern. Maybe if he had played with four he would have done even better. The physical stress of the game is different.

“My idea was to put two guard dogs on his sides to limit his range of action. But if we send him on the pitch it’s because he’s feeling good. He played in the three-man defence to make him more comfortable. In the future he will be very important for us regardless of the lineup.”

He also spoke positively about Leandro Paredes.

“He’s improving in what I ask of him, in ball possession I’m asking him to do something different, he’s very intelligent. Even without the ball he is.

“The energetic midfielder who slides in is certainly nice, as is the feisty one, but stalling is essential. I’m not asking him for different things, they’re just nuances that I allow myself to give the midfielders some more lessons.”

Finally, De Rossi discussed how he plans to limit Monza’s dangers.

“They put everyone in difficulty, Roma in the first meeting, now Milan. They know how to play football, but they are less aggressive than Atalanta and Torino. As far as crosses are concerned, marking in the area and man management are important.

“On Zapata, the cross could have been avoided as the forward was well marked and he should be congratulated. Angelino needed a hand on Bellanova to prevent the cross from going off. We will work on it, then it is clear that we will always suffer from crosses as is normal in football.”