Claudio Ranieri insists he saw Lorenzo Pellegrini and Saud Abdulhamid’s progress in training, so was not surprised as Roma beat SC Braga. ‘Dialogue is fundamental to recreate self-esteem.’
The Giallorossi seem to have found their feet under their fourth coach of 2024, earning their first victory by beating Lecce 4-1 at the weekend in Serie A, then sweeping SC Braga aside 3-0 this evening.
It would’ve been far more had it not been for a combination of Matheus heroics in goal – before his red card – and some more wasteful finishing, as Roma had 17 shots on target, 33 in total.
“It was a positive performance, even if in some situations we held onto the ball for too long,” Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.
“The lads pushed, wanted the victory and to give the fans something to cheer. The crowd is entertained if you create scoring opportunities and we certainly did that today.”
The big surprise in the starting XI was captain Pellegrini, who had featured for only 45 minutes on Ranieri’s debut against Napoli on November 24 and was then kept on the bench.
This had been for his own protection, as the coach insisted he needed to shake off the pressure and ‘sadness’ of criticism from fans.
It seemed to work, because Pellegrini opened the scoring against Braga, followed by winger Saud Abdulhamid’s first goal for the club and Mario Hermoso in stoppages.
“Pellegrini broke through that impasse, finding the goal that you could tell in training was about to arrive. I’m happy for him.
“Since I arrived, Saud has been so fast in training sessions. Unfortunately, I haven’t had any friendly matches to run some experiments, so I wasn’t sure if I could risk him, but I am happy with his performance,” said the coach.
Ranieri has revitalised troubled Roma
Ranieri was brought in only until the end of the season to bring calm back to the troubled squad. How did he bring them back together?
“I talk to the lads and I asked them for help. I asked them to give their all, then it is up to me to put them on the field in the right conditions. Dialogue is fundamental to recreate self-esteem.
“They had not forgotten how to play football and they are starting to prove it now. We are only at the start of this experience, at least with me here, and there is a lot more work to be done.”
Manu Koné was exceptional in midfield this evening and has become a rock in Ranieri’s version of Roma, a role he did not enjoy under Ivan Juric.
“We could see he was a strong player. Where he can improve is understanding when to play the ball and when to hold on to it. I was telling him that in the second half, to get the ball moving faster, but he’ll get there gradually.”
