Karsdorp delighted to finally make Roma debut

The Dutch full-back made his first start for the Giallorossi in the 1-0 win over Crotone, showing some of his athletic gifts in a solid display before his substitution with 10 minutes remaining.

And, speaking after the contest at the Stadio Olimpico, he revealed how pleased he was to finally make his first appearance since his summer move to the Italian capital.

“It’s an amazing feeling, I feel like a little kid again with the joy of playing out on the street with a ball,” Karsdorp said. “I’ve been training with the squad for two weeks now and I’m happy to get 80 minutes under my belt for my first appearance for this great club.

“Obviously I’m also very happy with the win and the three points.”

The former Feyenoord player revealed what coach Eusebio Di Francesco had said to him prior to his debut.

“Before the game he gave me a few tactical instructions and then on the pitch he was keeping me on track,” he said. “Other than that, all my teammates came before the game and wished me good luck for my debut. I am pretty happy with the 90 minutes out on the pitch, I thought I did okay. But I can and want to do more, especially because I had a few moments in the game where I could have done more with the ball – especially in attack.

“I know I can always do better. For example, in the first half a made a mistake and gave up a good chance for the other side. This sort of thing you can’t do at this level. But I must say that I am really happy to be back on the pitch playing after such a long time, because there’s nothing I love more.”

Karsdorp was asked if he felt he would be able to show his full potential in both attack and defence in this Roma system.

“Yes, because Roma is a team that plays an attacking style of play – and today you could see that,” he noted. “We had a lot of the ball, more than 70%, and we pressed high. We created a lot but today we were unfortunately only able to score once. Roma are also looking to go and win every game that they play. Sometimes it does not matter how, the result is enough.

“I think that to be a factor in both phases, defence and attack, it’s just up to me to learn and improve and get better every day.”

He added: “It’s difficult to talk about my precise condition right now. At Feyenoord, for example, I played over 100 games and maybe I wasn’t always at 100% for some of them. Now I have been out for four or five months and I’ve now just played 80 minutes. I feel pretty good. I am a footballer and it’s my responsibility to always improve.”