Daniele De Rossi hold first press conference of 24/25 season | OneFootball

Roma manager Daniele De Rossi addressed the media on the eve of the start of 24/25 Serie A season.

The Italian coach attended today’s pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s game with Cagliari.

“There are no unavailable players for tomorrow,” announced De Rossi.

“Leandro Paredes will play with the Primavera because he is disqualified, we are happy to have this support from the youth sector.”

“On Dybala we know there’s something, we’ve heard about market rumors, but Paulo is with us, there are no problems, he’s called up for tomorrow. Of course we aware that some players are looking at the market.”

“I hope to continue to see the enthusiasm and dedication to work that the team showed in the pre-season,” he continued.

“The first phase of preseason was full of young guys who gave us a great hand, the last part was fantastic, we worked well together. The dream is to bring this team back as high as possible and the dedication of the players is impeccable.”

“The transfer rumors? I want to deal with certain topics in a delicate way, because I know how the fans think. As a coach I try to only talk about facts and not rumors.”

“How do I evaluate the possible departure of Dybala as a coach and how is it handled as a fan? You can’t ask me to be a fan, I always will be one. As a coach I cannot comment on rumours, negotiations or chatter. I wasn’t present or involved, I have an important match tomorrow. I don’t have to go into the details, Paulo will do it tomorrow.”

“He’s a very strong player. What I had to say to him I told him and the club. I always say things to everyone’s face. Then stop, I can’t go any further.”

“The point remains the same: here no one is more important than Roma. Strangely my words have been misrepresented… nothing and no one is more important than Roma. I have no obligations of silence, I want to make a strong team. One thing saves me: strong team, good results, strong players and good results. This is what I want.”

“Soulé? The player’s danger rate speaks for what he did last year. We limit ourselves to judging the fact that his team was relegated, but in five, six statistics he is one of the first among the U23s, in assists, passes key, through passes. We will have to work to make him feel comfortable. Everyone is making themselves ready. A mention for those who were there last year and had little space: they are training well and are keeping their level high.”

“How do you reconcile having a stronger team with the loss of the best player in the Italian league? Let’s talk about it. Here’s an example: a team 24 months ago sold Fabian Ruiz, Insigne, Mertens, Koulibaly, and they ended up winning the Scudetto. I’m not saying that we will win the Scudetto, but that sometimes even by losing strong players the team can rebuild and become stronger.”

“The choices made up to this point have often been made by me. Together with the sporting director I choose the players. Some presidents have more say, I imagine, here they give us carte blanche.”

“I was happier when a few days ago the fans didn’t insult me. But I have work to do and some technical beliefs regarding the players I want.”

“Yesterday I made a speech to the team, I said ‘I know that the moment is delicate, that some may be distracted, please let’s go to Cagliari and think about Cagliari, as if it were October. Let’s just think about this game and forget everything else.’ I even said that if someone didn’t feel like it they could talk to me about it and I would accept it, if I talk about the transfer market here for two hours I’m doing the opposite of what I told them.”

“The insults from fans? It’s not pleasant. In everyday life they wouldn’t say what they wrote to me, but not because I’m scary or a danger, but because you don’t go around the street and wish cancer on someone who wants to sell a player or has lost the match.”

“For half an hour it’s annoying, if you calculate how many there are compared to Roma supporters and think that they are few. Sometimes you open the photo, they are 14 year olds or subhumans you have never seen.”

“Anyone who utters words like that behind a keyboard is not worthy. I always hope to be loved. I knew that coming here could undermine what I did as a footballer, even in those days there were delicate moments. Some positive results will also bring peace to those who have fun on social media.”

“Dovbyk? He is not that different from Lukaku, the characteristics have not completely changed. We didn’t sign a false 9, we signed a finisher, who attacks space well, very fast, strong, quite clean in his controls, decisive inside the area.”

“We are trying to make him understand what we want from him without giving him too many indications. I told the new players too many things at the start of training camp, they wanted to do 10 things together when the ball arrived. We have reduced instructions to make them concentrate on fundamental things.”