Roma’s Pellegrini: Gasperini, transfers and Serie A favourites | OneFootball

Lorenzo Pellegrini, midfielder and captain of Roma, opened up in an interview with Il Romanista, focusing on his current form, his new coach, and the transfer market.

Roma, Pellegrini: “There’s a gap between Napoli and the others! My dream is to understand my level”

Pellegrini spoke to Il Romanista, here are his statements:

On Gasperini

“Have we absorbed his methods? In my opinion, yes. The tactical difficulties also depend on the opponents. Like against Lille: we lost and struggled at first, since they had one of their players between the lines and we had to mark him differently from how we had prepared. Then you work on what the match preparation is. As far as we’re concerned, it always depends on the opponents. Sometimes, things don’t go as expected and you need a few minutes to really understand what’s happening. But we’ve always managed to get the game back on the right track. Even in Milan, against a Milan side that defends well, counterattacks, and has a high-level team, we stood our ground and played. In the first half, there was a great half-hour; then we suffered in the last 10 minutes and started the second half a bit so-so. But then the game was pretty much one-way. Everyone has their own particularities, football-wise, and their own demands. But personally, I think the coach is a field coach, who focuses on that and wants to improve the players there. In the end, everything else isn’t superfluous, but what happens off the pitch is a consequence of what you do on it. So it’s right to focus on that.”

On the league favorite

“In my opinion, there’s a gap between Napoli and the others. The Azzurri are coming off a year in which they won, in which they did certain things that they’re continuing to do. And they’ve added several important players. For me, Napoli are the favorites. Then comes Inter, simply because of their players, their quality, and their experience. And from what you can see, the group really follows Chivu, respects him, and believes in him. The players are important. Then comes Milan, who have a strong team. For us, rather than looking at how far we are or aren’t from them, we need to focus only on ourselves. There are things we can improve, and if we improve those areas, we can have fun. Do things right. At the start, we’ve often won with a ‘but.’ ‘But here, but there, but 1-0…’ When we fix these ‘buts,’ everything will be a bit clearer.”

On his role

“If someone thinks of me as a ball-winner, then they don’t understand anything about football. It’s normal, everyone has their own qualities. What I think is less understood about me is that I’m not an attacker. I’m a midfielder: I have to play facing the goal, that’s where I give 100% of my qualities. I shouldn’t be with my back to the sideline and taking on players one-on-one. That’s not my characteristic. Soulé is like that. Not me. Then, the matter of goals, shooting, making runs into the box, and the fact that I’ve been pushed a bit further forward is different. I’m a midfielder. Whether it’s as one of the two holding midfielders, or as a mezzala, which is my favorite role, since it allows me to have space, drop deep, receive the ball, move around… My idea of myself in a match is to be able to do a bit of everything: drop deep to help the team play out; also defend, because I don’t think I’ve ever complained about having to run.”

On transfer offers

“I’ve thought about it, of course. And more than offers, there was interest. But that injury was just too decisive at that moment. I still wasn’t training with the team; I made my first symbolic bench appearance in Pisa, after training once with the others. Plus, I’m someone who doesn’t like things done at the last minute: if I have to do something, I need to think it through, be sure about what I’m doing.”

On his dream

“My dream now? (He thinks for a bit, ed.) My dream is to understand what level I’m at. My dream was to play for Roma and win with Roma. I was lucky enough to achieve it, winning is always a dream, especially with this shirt… But my Roman spirit is loving Roma no matter what.”

Raffaele Morra

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.