The rain falling incessantly from the skies of Alkmaar (“just eleven months of the year”, chews bitterly the Afghan taxi driver who took us to the stadium for the press conference) has a strange (in)consistency, it is pulverized, almost pleasant to walk through, if it weren’t for the fact that the cold almost freezes before settling. It will be like this again tonight (there is not a glimmer of sunshine in the forecast for the next few days, weeks, perhaps months), even if the temperature could miraculously rise by a few degrees. Not that Roma left the sun by leaving Fiumicino yesterday afternoon, but when you imagine a trip to Holland in January, well, it’s exactly what you could have predicted. The home crowd responded en masse, so to speak: it will be sold-out, but the capacity of the Afas stadium reaches 19,000 units and a thousand will be Roma fans. Red cheeks, intense cold, drizzle and the usual commitment not to be underestimated. This season we have already made bad impressions away from home.
Ranieriafter having remembered the passing of Gigi Riva (one year ago yesterday) visibly moved, he repeated several times that he fears the proactive and “forward” play of this very young team, “they play the way I like it” and above all they have not lost since two months: between September and early November they actually lost often (even seven times in nine games), then never again. In short, it won’t be easy, also due to this annoying taboo of away victories that haven’t arrived since April, it was the Europa League, San Siro was conquered in one of the highest points of De Rossi’s management.
The coach is focused on his commitment, but obviously also thinks about the future and when a Dutch journalist asks him about Roma’s (alleged) interest in Farioliyoung and up-and-coming Ajax coach, he responds with a smile on his lips praising his less famous colleague and then freezing him and those who hoped to see him on the Giallorossi bench with a joke at the end of the rather cryptic translation: “and he will wait”, evidently pushing him away from perspective. In short, if he decides, the coach will be someone else.
Swiss
