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Roma’s coach, Claudio Ranieri, spoke in a press conference two days before the crucial home match against Gasperini’s Atalanta.

Claudio Ranieri, coach of Roma, addressed the press conference two days before the big game at Olimpico against the strong Atalanta side led by Gasperini. The Giallorossi will have to give their all to collect points against Atalanta to avoid remaining in the lower regions of the table.

The match, valid for the 14th round of the championship, is scheduled for Monday, December 2 at 8:45 pm.

PAULO DYBALA AND LORENZO PELLEGRINI ( PHOTO BY SALVATORE FORNELLI )

Roma, Ranieri’s words

Will we see Roma with a 3-man defense against Atalanta?

“We are facing the third team that has more or less the same philosophy. They always attack, always go vertical. Napoli with Antonio Conte is at the beginning, in the fourth month, fifth month. Tottenham, I don’t remember how many years now, two or three years, plays with a different system but with the mentality of always attacking. So, Atalanta is that perfect machine. Congratulations to President Percassi because for the first four years, I remember, he said they needed to avoid relegation and meanwhile, they climbed, climbed, and kept rising in the standings and now rightfully seek to do their best. Doing their best means returning to the Champions League next year, trying to improve on the past season.

We are going to face a team that I would dare to say is perfect. And we have seen a glimmer, a glimmer of light. I have seen players wanting something positive intensely. At this moment, we need to make our fans proud of what we can do. We are not doing well as I would like because it is not possible after a week, ten days of work. I told the players to respond blow for blow. We want to make our fans proud of what we do. At this moment we can win, we can lose, but we must have this vision.

Atalanta is first in goals scored, first in scoring opportunities, third in vertical passes, first in shots on goal, second in crosses, first in ball recoveries… it devours you. I don’t want my players to be devoured, I want to see a great game on Monday. That is what I hope for, that is what I will stimulate my players to do in front of our fans. Our fans left early in the last home game. I would like them to stay as they did in London against Tottenham. And we could have lost, not scored in the 90th minute. I would like them to leave the field and say ‘oh, finally they did everything they had to do.’ That is my wish”.

About the fans.

“Now it’s up to us to make our fans fall in love with us again. Because our fans are magnificent. And rightfully, when things are not going well, they say some things need to be done. So we have to give our best. And our fans understand that”.

The perfect position for Saelemaekers?

“We coaches are always looking for players who can interpret multiple situations. I spoke with him, he loves to play high on the left-center, but he told me he also feels good on the other side. I see him more projected forward, but he must help the team. I told Dovbyk never to go back, but he made a fantastic recovery in the second half because he found himself closing the action. So, if you do it once, I like it, but he doesn’t have to run after his opponent all the time. So Saelemaekers is a rediscovered player, of course, he doesn’t have 90 minutes, but we saw with what determination he went into one-on-one situations, provided the key pass to Angelino. We are returning to what the fans know”.

Does Roma want to follow Atalanta’s model? Even with the next coach?

“As long as you say Atalanta model, I like it. We always relate to our vision. Now all tennis players have to look like Sinner, now we all have to look like Atalanta. Atalanta is a top model that should also be taken as a model. Why not? Each with its characteristics, each with its difficulties, each with its qualities. But it is a team that has gradually become a symbol of Italy… And this is important, it is a model they have managed to create, they have built from the ground up, because if I remember correctly even Gasperini at the beginning, the first five, six games, didn’t go so well.

Then it improved, blossomed and created a game, players who maybe when they left did not perform as they did at Atalanta. And this means that the coach deserves a lot of credit for all of this. So hats off and compliments to the entire club. From President Percassi, to the son who was my player at Chelsea, to the coach, to everyone, because they are all rowing in the same direction”.

Do you think it’s true that you and Gasperini are so different? Do you think you deserved to win more in your career?

“I have done my part, I am super happy, because each of us knows what they found when they arrived at a team, the historical moment of another team, so I am super satisfied with my career. Gasperini is always defined as a coach who plays man-to-man, plays differently. There are now many sons of Gasperini who play in that way. No, I am a coach who tries to do the best with the players he has. I don’t have a defined system. My players are defined. I try to put them, almost all, in their best position.

Of course, with some I may have to ask for extra work, because maybe it’s not their exact position. So I feel like a coach who can bring out the best in every player, in every situation where I have been. Also because when I was sent away, it seems to me that those who came in after me did not do better than me. So I have this presumption at 73 years old”.

On Dybala’s management.

“I evaluated Dybala training after training. We know the boy can face some issues and I have to be ready to understand them. I substituted him in London because I needed, first of all, another player to press and close down the opponent closest to his penalty area. I have no problem saying that when he got fired up, he did wonderful things because the assist for the goal, the other action when we put the ball in for him, the shot that the goalkeeper made a superb save. I know very well that maybe Soulé didn’t do those wonderful things Dybala is doing at the moment, but he gave us a lot of running, a lot of pressure. So I have to assess everything well every time”.

And about Pellegrini’s situation.

“I told him: ‘look, you are running like crazy, you feel the weight of this situation, I want you to have fun, now let’s switch off, reset yourself, and you will see that later on you will return to being the midfielder that I know.’ I have had two phenomena in my career, talking about midfielders good at scoring goals: one is Lampard and the other Pellegrini. We criticize him a lot, but how many midfielders score the goals that Pellegrini does? So at the moment, I am helping Roma, because my job is to help Roma. How long does this situation last? It depends on when we switch back on. With football, you cannot say how long this thing lasts. And I can say that he is already starting to score goals, to find the goal, when he couldn’t find it when I arrived.

You can see the striker when he is in form, how he shoots always hits the goal, when he is not in form, maybe he shoots the ball not so well or misses, and now he shoots and scores, so that process of regrowth that the boy needs is starting. He is a very sensitive boy, very introverted and suffers more than anyone for the situation concerning De Rossi. I read that De Rossi’s faults are his, but it is absolutely not true, nothing at all, and the fans need to know this. Neither Mancini, nor Cristante, nor Pellegrini sent Daniele away, on the contrary, they acted crazy to make him stay. People need to know the truth”.

About Dovbyk.

“He had some minor problems in Ukraine. He had that knee problem that he no longer feels, and that is a good sign. We know how to serve this boy and we are helping him. I spoke to the team, showed them videos on how we should help him because he is our striker. We shouldn’t burden him with responsibility, but give him the balls that that type of striker needs”.

You worked on vertical passes. Did you know they played a lot behind?

“I am a football fan. I love it when I see games where both teams try to score and I am happy. In these 4-5 months, you don’t know how many times I saw on TV other teams playing the ball back, back, back to the goalkeeper, back here and I changed the channel. In my opinion, the game the other night against Tottenham was beautiful because they wanted to score and we wanted to score. I believe people enjoyed it, then it ended 2-2, it could have ended 5-5, it could have ended 5-2 for them, it could have ended 5-2 for us, but that’s what I want, for people to come to the game and say, ‘oh finally, let’s try to win’”.

December opens with Roma busy with league and cup matches, five times at the Olimpico and two away. How important is it, after this initial phase, to face a team in top form like Atalanta and then go on to face December with many home games, against opponents who are more within reach, at least on paper?

“In my playing and coaching career, I have never looked at the opponent’s name, because we can face the most extraordinary team and find them in a moment that is not going well. So I always say knock and let’s see who we have on the other side. The name has never interested me, so for me, they are all teams that want to beat you, with their qualities, with their strategies, and we must be good and clever to try to win against them. Football is simplicity, the difficult thing is to make it simple”.