Roma, Gasperini: "Beating Midtjylland, not worried about Koné" | OneFootball

After the 2-1 victory in the Europa League against Midtjylland, Gian Piero Gasperini spoke to Sky microphones and in a press conference, also discussing Koné's situation.

Rome, Gasperini: “Tough match, we needed to play more with the forwards! Koné suffered a bad tackle”

The coach of the Giallorossi, Gian Piero Gasperini, spoke to Sky microphones and in a press conference after the important European victory against Midtjylland. Here are his words.

On the match

“It's a victory that greatly improves our standings, held against a great team as we said on the eve. We didn't play a great match because we took the lead immediately, I expected we could do better technically, all the conditions were there to do so, but it's also true that we play a lot and can't always perform at our best. We could have done better technically, we moved the ball a bit slowly, we made many mistakes. The regret is that I expected more in the build-up phase and to make the forwards play better, but the team held up well, but it's clear that for Sunday we need to do much better.”

“Tough match because when you don't play particularly well, you always have to recover the ball, so you expend much more energy. Yes, it's true, we started well, all the conditions were there to continue, but then we stopped a bit. But it's not just a matter of intensity and athletic part, indeed we ran a lot, until the end it was definitely not a physical problem. We needed to make the forwards play a bit better and also the forwards help us move the ball better. Then, at times, we did some good things and we must also consider that we were playing against a valuable team, with some very good players.”

On the false 9

“Also a bit out of necessity, because Ferguson is struggling with this ankle sprain and I preferred to bring him on during the match. But tonight, I repeat, we did some very good things, others a bit less. Surely on Sunday, we did it better.”

On Koné

“He took a bad tackle on the ankle and this caused him a slight sprain. Now we'll see how the next few days go.” In the conference, he added: “Koné, let's wait: he took a bad bruise. It doesn't seem serious.”

On Ghilardi

“He had a good performance, certainly in excellent athletic condition, he was very motivated, he cared a lot, because he has suffered a lot until now, in the sense that he has played little. But he is a growing boy, tonight he played a good match. He can still improve technically, because he made some dangerous passes, but good, definitely good.”

On El Aynaoui

“He is already a starter, it's not that he isn't. He already alternates with Cristante and Koné, so he is definitely a reliable player. He has had significant growth, he did an excellent job today.”

On Dybala

“He has recovered, is in good athletic shape, has overcome the injury, so on the athletic side, he has no problem. I substituted him at the end, but he could have played until the ninetieth minute, so he is a fully recovered player. Then, today with the central point, he had a bit more difficulty in the first half. We'll see if he can still play that role against Napoli or if he can be more effective in a more external position.”

On Napoli

“The match with Napoli is highly anticipated: rightly so. But to prepare well, you have to play well, to have awareness. We unlocked the match early, then we relaxed: today we also conceded a goal at the end. Matches must be played to the end, without just waiting to get in the shower. The teams know each other. Napoli's strength is the team, it has an important squad, it is the champion of Italy. We know we have to play a match to the best of our abilities: we are facing one of the strongest teams in Italy. Unlike Inter and Milan, we have to do better in terms of results. We are measuring ourselves against a very strong team: let's see where we are.”

Raffaele Morra

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