Claudio Ranieri spoke on DAZN after the Roma win 2-0 against Lazio in the Derby of the Capital.
Where did the idea of starting Pellegrini come from and how did this decision come about?
“When he came to talk to me yesterday, I understood thathe had a great desire to be the captain of Roma in the derby. And I didn’t expect anything else, because we coaches try to stimulate our players to be able to ask them for more. I put him in Milan and told him he didn’t make a good start, beyond the goal he could have scored. Then yesterday I told him he would play.”
” I was convinced he would have a great matchbeyond the goal. But he has the goal in his blood: he is one of the best Italian midfielders in this regard ».
« Pellegrini didn’t ask me to playI just understood that his will had arrived where I wanted it to arrive.
After a tortuous journey and three coaches, Roma seem to have found a precise tactical identity: everyone seems comfortable.
« I agree, now we are a teameveryone knows what they should do and how to help each other.”
« We must continue on this path. After making a bad first leg for Roma, we now have to show that we are herethat we have spent the night and that we must begin to see the sun. I expect a great match in Bolognabecause it would be terrible to go there and not repeat the performance. Then the result is the result of many episodes, but we must fight like we did tonight ».
You have won all the derbies, how do you approach these challenges? There will then be a return derby to play, then we will understand the future: today Ghisolfi said of you: “I hope he can stay on the bench next year too”.
“(The coach smiles, editor’s note) So you no longer ask him who will be next year’s coach? “.
Would you be available?
« I am available to stay here until the end of the year then God will see and provide. As with the derby, the coach must counterbalance: if he sees the team exhausted, he must charge them. And derbies happen on their own, it’s not the coach who has to add something extra. It’s a mistake for me.”
“My job is just to try to keep the boys calm, calm, so that they can give everything on the pitch.”
What changed in these 10 games: what was the easiest and hardest thing to rebuild the team?
“When I arrive on a team – I always get called into problematic situations – I put on my helmet and I go into battle. I begin to work as I have always done, trying to instill serenity and the desire to do. Being demanding of myself, I want my players to be too. And then it seemed logical to me to put world champions in the team : I tried to restore confidence to everyone and restore self-esteembecause, when you find yourself in these situations, the fear of not taking the ball, of not being seen, is high, while here in Rome the quality of these guys is very high. But here, we must “flour” with this healthy determination and this desire to achieve the result.”
At the end of the derby, you greeted Baroni and said, “I’m sorry for what happened at the end.” You are an example.
“I was sorry because the derby took place peacefully and we should not have ended like this.”
