Mancini explains what De Rossi ‘brought’ to Roma after Mourinho | OneFootball

Gianluca Mancini admits Daniele De Rossi has brought ‘serenity’ to Roma as results under José Mourinho were not good enough.

The Italy international spoke at a press conference on the eve of a Europa League Round of 16 first leg against Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton.

The first question was about Roma fans and how they can inspire the Giallorossi in their next home European fixture.

“As we always say, they are an extra weapon, but we must go on the pitch and bring them towards us. We are happy with what they do for us every Sunday, and we’ll try to make them sing even more tomorrow,” Mancini replied, as quoted by forzaRoma.info.

De Rossi didn’t say whether he would play with three or four defenders, but Mancini is ready to play with either of the two systems.

“Being able to cover more roles is an advantage to me and the team,” said the Italian defender.

“I even played in midfield with Fonseca because we had few options. When a team has many strong players, the quality naturally rises. The most important thing is to train well and give our all on the pitch for Roma.”

De Rossi replaced Mourinho in January and has won six Serie A games from seven. The Giallorossi also progressed to the Europa League Round of 16 after beating Feyenoord on penalties in the knockout playoff stage. What have Roma changed since De Rossi’s appointment?

“The coach has brought freshness, he has brought his ideas and we are trying to understand what he requires,” argued Mancini.

“We are doing so even if we have achieved nothing so far. You don’t win titles in two months, but the coach has changed us in many ways, both tactically and in training sessions. The coach has clear ideas. He brought serenity, not because Mou didn’t have it, but because results were not good enough. He [De Rossi] has worked on our heads, and when he fixed us, he started saying his ideas.

“It’s not a four-man defence that made us win six games from seven, but a blend of things. Sometimes, you lose games despite dominating, and other times, the opposite happens. Football is strange, but the most important thing is that 26 players have the same target.”

Mancini has had recurrent groin issues over the last few weeks but seems to have fully recovered now.

“I’ve been dealing with this problem for a while. I don’t want to look like a hero; I could play, and so I did it,” he said.

“When the coach [De Rossi] came, I missed a game due to suspension and took some extra days to rest. I underwent treatment and worked in the gym for 12 days, now I no longer feel pain and I feel much better.”

watched Brighton’s games against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City to prepare for tomorrow’s fixture.