Gasperini analyzes Roma’s injury crisis in Cagliari preview | OneFootball

Roma are looking to bounce back from their defeat in Udine, and what better opportunity than to face Cagliari in front of their fans? The Giallorossi will host the Sardinians at the Olimpico on Monday at 8:45 PM.

On the eve of the match, Gian Piero Gasperini introduced the match from the Trigoria press room and discussed current issues at Roma. The coach began by discussing the possible return of Totti and the latest arrival, Zaragoza: “I’ll start Totti straight away, but he needs to train,” joked the manager.”

“We’re getting to know Zaragoza; he’s trained with us a few times. He played regularly for Celta and is in decent condition. Now he needs to settle in; he’ll be available tomorrow. I haven’t decided yet whether he’ll start, but the intention is to quickly integrate the players.”

Gasperini spoke about refereeing errors and commented on De Rossi’s comments: “I think we as coaches need to gather ourselves together for a moment and make our voices heard. I agree with Daniele: we don’t like this style of football: cards, strange penalties, simulations, and benches that explode. We coaches also need to do something, teach players to be fair, because football is fair; trying to steal a card or a penalty is far from what football is all about. As Daniele said, I no longer identify with this sport.”

He then spoke about the team’s growth: “I’ve never had any doubts. The team has always responded strongly; we’ve lost many games 1-0 without managing to come back. Maybe we need to improve our aerial game because so many games are recovered in the final minutes this way. From a motivational standpoint, this team has always shown a great reaction.”

Regarding the difficulties of January, Gasperini explained: “What we’re trying to do is approach each game, resolve the issues that arise. We’ve played 10 matches this month, all of them very difficult, including in terms of numbers, where we had to bring in young players. We always played with great spirit and desire. Now we have a month of normality in terms of matches and we’re trying to recover some of our key players as much as possible.”

And regarding the renewals of players whose contracts expire at the end of the season, he said: “The negotiations are difficult because there’s a financial difference. I can’t be in the middle; it’s only about the financial part. It’s not easy to get to the end of the season with four players whose contracts are expiring and two on loan; that’s a lot. I believe that, knowing the players, we’ll always be highly motivated.”

Gasperini then took stock of the injuries: “Ferguson has sprained his ankle for the fourth time. Every time he changes direction, he risks a small sprain. We all work hard, but it’s not easy even for him, who goes from happy to unhappy. We have to put him back together every time. When he was available, he was always used, but this is the problem with this player.”

Regarding the injuries, he continued: “Hermoso has a bad bruise on his foot, a hematoma. Dybala has a severe bruise on his knee, we hope he’ll be available next week. Soulé has been suffering from pubalgia for the past week, but he always recovers with great spirit: he’s never played so much, but he’ll overcome it. Koné? He’s working well, let’s hope. I think Vaz will join the team on Tuesday/Wednesday.”