Ranieri: ‘Roma have work to do, but I am positive’ | OneFootball

Claudio Ranieri felt ‘positive’ after his Roma debut, even though it was a 1-0 defeat to Serie A leaders Napoli, explaining his tactical tweaks and whether Paulo Dybala can face Tottenham.

It was his ‘debut’ on the Giallorossi bench, albeit his third different stint at the club he has always supported and came out of retirement to help rescue as their third coach of the campaign.

Romelu Lukaku ultimately decided the match at the Stadio Maradona, sliding in to meet a Giovanni Di Lorenzo assist from six yards, while Artem Dovbyk nodded a free kick onto the crossbar in their best chance to equalise.

“If we look back, we have some problems and that is why I was called. We were up against a team that is fighting to win the Scudetto,” Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.

“Having said all of that, I am happy with the performance from my players. We made some mistakes that we will talk about during the week, but the hunger, the determination to get back on track was there. We have a lot of work to do, but I feel positive.”

Ranieri already tweaking Roma

epa11738808 Roma�s head coach Claudio Ranieri gives instructions to his players during the Italian Serie A soccer match SSC Napoli vs AS Roma at Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, 24 November 2024. EPA-EFE/CESARE ABBATE

Ranieri had moved Roma to a four-man defence at the start, but switched to three at half-time in Naples. What was the thinking behind those changes?

“The objective was to keep more of the ball, which we did in the second half, and we also prevented Napoli creating so many chances with the diagonal runs. We saw that at times Lukaku was followed by two of our defenders, leaving Kvaratskhelia unmarked. He missed one chance when totally unmarked in the first minute, then fortunately El Shaarawy managed to go across and cover.

“I thought this way we could be more solid and try to get a foothold in the game.”

Paulo Dybala was not fully fit and came on for the final stages, already providing glimpses of a very different Roma with La Joya in it.

“I risked him in the final few minutes, because he can pull anything out of his magic hat. He didn’t feel any pain since yesterday, so I said OK, give it a go. I think during the week he should be OK and we’ll see if he can play against Tottenham in London.”

Few know the problems and tension of being Roma coach more than Ranieri, so he is well prepared for the way star players like Lorenzo Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante are treated like ‘traitors’ by some of the fans when they don’t perform.

“They need the right character to help themselves and then others. Naturally, when I arrived, the team was a little closed up, but I think we started to open up a bit by the second half. We had that header with Dovbyk and the Baldanzi chance too,” added Ranieri.

“We know there is work to be done, we have to focus on reacting rather than sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves.”