Ivan Juric reflects on his time at Roma so far: “I am in heaven.” | OneFootball

Roma boss Ivan Juric released his first exclusive interview to Corriere dello Sport.

Having been appointed in a difficult moment for the Giallorossi in the aftermath of Daniele De Rossi’s dismissal, Juric reflected on his time in the Italian capital so far.

“I am aware of what is happening outside Trigoria with regards to the criticism, but I am focused on my work. Which is exciting,” said the Croatian technician.

“The team has incredible room for improvement, I see guys willing to make sacrifices. The performances are clearly improving, and this is important.”

“In Trigoria the conditions in which I move are fantastic, I have only positive feelings about this experience. Knowing that the situation outside is what it is, we have to move forward.”

“I have never found myself in a similar situation, but not even in one as beautiful as this. Those who love football here have fun…”

“I am sure that with the results things will change outside too, it has always been like this in football. In recent years Roma has struggled in the league, we have to achieve more… I feel the love of the people at every step.”

“I am not contaminated by negativity,” he continued. “The relationships inside the club are fantastic, we have a great sporting director, there is excellent communication with him, we share many things and we want to do well. I am focused only on this, I cannot get into the merits of other matters, I do not even intend to do so. I am interested in preparing for the match with Inter.”

“The defeat to Elfsborg? In all honesty that night I wanted to see the whole squad in action, understand who to count on, there just wasn’t enough time and that match represented an opportunity. I think we did many good things. The defeat is not acceptable, I am aware of that, but the team managed to move well on the pitch.”

“We were poor in the final meters, with many wasted goal opportunities, we only hit the crossbar once. The negative side was the counterattacks we suffered; a defect that comes from the positions of the midfielders, but these are things that can be fixed, I can work on them.”

“I saw a good base, we played a lot, we suffered too many counterattacks, I was saying, but already in Monza we suffered much less in this sense. Working on preventatives and positions is fundamental. The midfielders must guarantee a certain balance.”

“Pisilli? You fall in love with him in a short time. He’s still young, he has to grow up, he comes from a good family, he is a little intellectual, he is calm, serene, he reasons; he has a talent that I had never seen in such a young lad until now.”

“He has first control, perception of things, technique. If he continues like this, working without getting too excited, he will have a great career.”“Pellegrini has had 6-7 scoring opportunities in the last few games. What does that mean? That he moves like a god, that he is doing well, that he runs a lot, that he has a fantastic spirit and doesn’t hide. He hasn’t scored and that’s a shame. He had important chances, he hit the crossbar. I see him in training, he never backs down.”

“It can be a negative moment for him, even in the national team everything he tries goes wrong. But working as he is doing, like a true captain, he will get there. I see a player to whom Spalletti gives the number 10 shirt. I am convinced that he will unlock himself…”

“On Dybala… the first game was fantastic, even the first half with Athletic Club. After Athletic he had some problems. With Mark (Sertori, head of performance, ed.), who has great experience, and all the staff, we are trying to recover him 100% and have him be more consistent.”

“We want to avoid relapses and manage him well, we have taken some days to do it. When Paulo plays he is a marvel, we have to fix him, not like in past years, we want to find continuity with him, maybe he won’t play all the games, but the objective is to fix him from a muscular point of view.”

“Friedkins? We exchange messages. For my part, I repeat, I am in heaven. We share everything, I have an excellent staff, in the recovery of the players we are at top levels, we have top conditions. The team is fantastic – they work hard, they are all hungry, they want to change the situation, in that sense so far everything is very positive.”

“I know that the environment is like this, the pressure is like this, but it doesn’t affect me at all. I feel great trust from everyone.”