De Rossi: “Happy with our transfer business”

Here's what the Giallorossi boss had to say...

Do you think Roma might look at bringing in any free agents? And could the two new signings, Manu Kone and Alexis Saelemaekers, make the squad for this game?

“Everyone will be in the squad unless there are any last-minute hitches. We'll consider how much they've played recently and their pre-seasons but everyone will come with us.

“Our transfer business has been good and I'm happy with what we've done. We were caught out by a situation we couldn't have foreseen in defence but we'll put that right. We've raised the level of our team. We've done a a great job and brought in some top players. I'm pleased.

“I'm very happy with Kone and Saelemaekers. I really like both players. We didn't have anyone like Kone. I think he's what we needed to beef up our midfield a bit, as that's what I said we needed last season too. He's a carefully chosen signing. The same goes for Alexis Saelemaekers and the others who joined us earlier that we shouldn't forget about.

“We're a little short in defence but a situation arose that was difficult to manage and predict. That was a deal I would have been happy with.”

Thiago Motta often speaks very well of you. Tomorrow will be a match between two attack-minded coaches. How do you deal with this Juventus side?

“Thiago is a friend – not one of those you speak to regularly but someone you're always happy to hug when you see them, a former team-mate that you're happy for when they win or do well in the league – except for last season when we lost out as a result – because they deserve it. He's an excellent coach, not just for his results and not just for the way he get his teams playing well, Juventus now after Bologna, but because there are coaches who have a Midas touch, coaches who put players on and they score, who pick unheard-of players and they perform brilliantly. There are coaches who have something special about them and he's showing that. He's worked his way to the top by coming through some difficult seasons with a lot of credit. Now he's reaping his rewards at a big club with ambitions of winning the league.

“It's going to be a difficult game. They've started well with a very clear playing philosophy. They've made some exceptional signings and spent a lot of money but they're getting results with young players. You can never relax with Thiago. You never know what team he'll pick because he's always capable of springing a surprise. We're preparing for the sort of Juventus team we expect, regardless of who plays. It's going to be very difficult especially as they're in high spirits after their good start, but we know we're capable of producing a big performance in Turin.”

Are Roma a better team now than in May? What's your first impression of Saud Abdulhamid?

“With regard to the Roma team of last May, it's hard to analyse the state of play at the moment. At that point we had months of work behind us. I think we're going in the direction I want us to go in. I've been backed in what I asked for. I actually think we've done better business than Inter, but Inter are a better team as they started from a higher level and only need to add two or three players.

“I think we've taken a step in the right direction. By that, I mean that in a few transfer windows' time, we'll be able to operate like Inter: make a couple of additions and remain an excellent team. They haven't made spectacular signings. They've bolstered an already great squad with a couple of players. They gave everyone a fright with their performance [against Atalanta] last night. I think that's the direction we're taking. If we keep working as we've done in this transfer window, I don't see any reason why we can't be in the Scudetto mix soon.

“Obviously you don't get to that point in a month or two months, in a single transfer window, in a transfer window with lots of players coming and going. We're moving in the right direction and it will become easier and easier because we won't have eight or nine players leaving because they were on loan. For example, if we're not happy with a goalkeeper we can change goalkeeper. If we're not happy with a striker, we can change striker. We've gone in the direction we were supposed to, in line with what was agreed at the start, so I'm happy. But it's always difficult to manage transfer dealings.

“As for Saud, I saw him for part of two training sessions then he went back to Saudi Arabia for his visa. He was on the pitch for 10 minutes yesterday but we didn't want to overload him. I didn't know much about him but he's got the qualities I'm looking for. I spoke to [Roberto] Mancini, Simone Contran and Antonio Gagliardi [Saudi Arabia technical assistants] and they said we should sign him. They think he's got the makings of a future star.

“We're going to have to do a lot of tactical work with him and some technical work too. But he's got something we needed: an engine capable of going 200 mph. He hasn't been able to show it yet because he's hardly trained with us but he's very fast indeed. We need to teach him some tactical notions as the game is more tactical here than in Saudi Arabia, but he's a positive, smiling lad who can help us. We'll need to help him settle into what is already a great team in the right timeframe. Because I've always said this was a great team. We needed to improve physically, in the one-v-ones, in winning duels, and we've done that.”

Is a three-man defence a real idea of yours?

“Where did you hear that? How many things have you heard that weren't the way you heard?”

You have the right to clarify anything that has been misreported. What I wanted to ask you was if this tactical change was due to the arrival of a player like Kevin Danso or if it could be useful in any case? Also, how does the departure of a player like Edoardo Bove affect your plans?

“We always build play with three. Maybe you saw three defenders building play... And yes, I certainly did imagine Danso in that defence, and I spoke to him about it. Building with three, with the full-back pushing up or the three centre-backs remaining more static, is not much different. We nearly always build with three. Sometimes three plus two, sometimes with a diamond. It depends.

“Last year we would often have a full-back drop deeper. We defended with three and you didn't realise. Other times we played with three centre-backs and you thought that was the problem. It's an option.

“Lots of teams attack with five players as we do. We haven't come up with anything new. I saw Roberto Mancini doing it, and others too, when we won the Euros. And I liked it a lot. Lots of teams attack with five channels, five attacking players. You either have to be good at sliding across with a four-man defence or you have to push an extra player forward from deep as Thiago often does with [Khephren] Thuram and in other games with [Manuel] Locatelli. It doesn't change much. That might sound like nonsense but it's true. It depends on the players.

“I think as a coach you have to manage transfers based on your tactical ideas and then adapt them depending on what you're not able to do for whatever reason.

“As for Edoardo, I'm very sorry to see him leave, but I didn't hold him back. I didn't tell him to stay at all costs. I was honest with him. With him, with Bryan [Cristante], with Lorenzo [Pellegrini], with Leo [Paredes]. I told all of them that I was planning to bring in a couple of midfielders with a bit more dynamism, more pace. So there probably would have been less playing time and the playing time he got last year wasn't enough for him.

“He's right. He played less under me than he did with [Jose] Mourinho. He came to me and told me he wanted to play more and I couldn't guarantee he'd get that time so he went and looked for another solution. I'm sorry because he's a great player and a positive, polite lad who loves Roma. It's always a shame but at the end of the day I have to make choices. I can't be thinking about whether or not I like a player or whether they might turn into a fantastic player like [Riccardo] Calafiori or [Davide] Frattesi.

“I have to take responsibility. In this case I almost hope I made a mistake because Edoardo deserves to become an Italy player like others before him. He's on loan so it's not definitive. I won't forget the hug we gave each other. I think and I hope there will always be that mutual respect. It was the same with Paulo [Dybala] a few days ago.

“I know people will get angry and people will be sad. If I'd wanted to remain the undisputed idol I was, I wouldn't have come back and put my reputation on the line, or I might have gone more with popular opinion. I have to go on what I see on the pitch and I have to see what the players do when I tell them 'I want box-to-box' or I want a certain type of player. Some say ok and others say they need to play more because they're 22. I have to respect that. I have to respect Edoardo as a person and I have to respect his desire to move on to pastures new.”

How difficult was this transfer window for you, especially in August with the Dybala and Danso situations? And how much has it impacted on results?

“It's been tricky. I saw [Eusebio] Di Francesco's interview and he said what we're all saying. I heard [Gian Piero] Gasperini saying that their season will start after the international break. That's not exactly how I see it. We could have won those games. I should have done better. We all should have done better, but I think the transfer window has left a mark on the season. It's the same for Cagliari and Torino. We're all in the same boat. We're all annoyed. I think it's crazy, but we could have done better. And to be honest, we've played two games, hit the woodwork five times and had a penalty not given. There were things we didn't do well but there were also things we did very well.

“We've had to adapt to situations as they came about but that's all part and parcel when you're a coach. You organise things and make transfer plans, then something falls through and you have to reorganise and get everyone on board with your football ideas – those who might have left and didn't, those who joined who you didn't think would join, and those who were about to join, like Danso, but don't because of problems you can't control. That's what the coach is there for.”

Earlier you said, 'You've heard lots of things that weren't true.' There was talk of arguments with the CEO Lina Souloukou, with Cristante, with Gianluca Mancini. How much of that is true?

“The only thing that's true is the exchange with Bryan. We had a heated exchange on the pitch for ten seconds, without offending each other. It was a normal exchange but then it got turned into a situation where we laid hands on each other, where we hit each other, where I hit him. And that is very serious, because there was some truth to it and somebody decided to make it out to be something else. That is very serious.

“So, as I've had to do for a few years now, I have to go down the legal route. Because if people make up lies about me and my work, if it gets reported that I laid hands on one of my players, that's not normal. We know a lot of stuff gets made up here in Rome. I've heard all sorts of things during my 20-year career, probably even worse things, but it's unacceptable. I won't allow you to do it.

“It was reported that before the Empoli game, before or after, I argued with Lina. I didn't even see Lina that day. It was reported that I argued with Mancini when there wasn't so much as a hint of an argument. You wrote that [referring to a La Repubblica journalist]. Maybe someone gave you false information, because that can happen too, but maybe you could have checked.

“I argued with Cristante for 20 seconds and it was turned into something different. The Mancini thing never happened. I didn't even know about it. I didn't read about it. Mancio told me when I came to Trigoria. There's no defence for that. No defence. When I talk about legal action, I'm talking about the people who said I laid hands on one of my players, not the people who made up an argument with one of my players. Which is serious all the same. Because it's your job to report on events and I understand your interest in getting a scoop, but making stuff up is something I can't defend against. And I think quite a lot of people on the outside who read that stuff believe it.

“That's not doing anything good for me but more importantly it's not doing any good to the club. That's indisputable. We're not helping Roma. If something does happen, it's right – it's your job – to write about it. Of the three things you mentioned, the only one with a vague element of truth was the thing with Bryan. We clashed over something in training and it lasted perhaps 10 seconds, 20 metres apart. I've seen hundreds of worse situations. The day after we hugged without even needing to say much – and you turned it into a fight between player and coach. That's very serious in my book.”

How difficult has it been to deal with players arriving and players leaving before an important match like this one against Juventus?

“It's difficult but, as I said, I'm not one to make excuses. It's hard for the other coaches too. I've spoken to some others, like [Roberto] D'Aversa, and they won here. I don't like making excuses. I've never done that before. It's not ideal but it will last for one more game at most and then we'll start focusing on what I prefer to focus on. On what I'm probably best at, which is coaching.”

You said Juventus have ambitions of winning the league. What are Roma's ambitions?

“To improve on what we did last season, to finish higher. We've moved in the right direction. And that doesn't necessarily mean finish fourth. Improving on last season means doing better than Juventus, than Milan, and I'll add Napoli, although they finished below us. Plus Bologna, Atalanta, Lazio, Fiorentina. It's not easy to do better than those teams.

“This team has to move in a certain direction, one I very much believe in. We always talk about Atalanta and clubs like that but we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg: those are teams that started eight years ago. They starting with [Roberto] Gagliardini, Cristante, [Mattia] Caldara, Mancini, who were kids and were thrown in. Then if they finished sixth one year, they'd rebuild and the year after they finished fourth. That work they did has got them challenging for those positions. As we were around ten years ago. We had a core team that was nearly always capable of challenging for those positions. That's where we want to be.

“Of course we'd like to do that straight away this year. If in a few years' time, we're a permanent fixture in those positions, regardless of who's here, then we'll have taken the biggest step we can take.”

To finish this matter, I'd like to ask you this: if there had been an argument with the CEO or with a player, would you have come out and told us in a press conference? Do you know why I'm asking? Because when you speak it's difficult to talk with people that you described as 'subhuman'. So I'd like to ask you, if you had had an argument, would you tell me?

“Let me just clarify that when I spoke about subhumans, I was referring to people who said they hoped I got cancer and died...”

I'll show you my Instagram later...

“Ok, but I never called you subhuman.”

No, but the power your words have through the microphone or the Instagram story of a player saying certain things...”

“Sometimes talking can be a good thing. If I had argued with Mancini yesterday and I came here, I wouldn't say, 'Did you know I had an argument with Mancini?' But if it was a heated exchange I wouldn't have denied it, like with Cristante. When I said people who say they hope I die are subhuman, I didn't say the name of the person. It was basically a joke at the end of a broader concept. And I do think that: it's not normal for anyone to write that sort of thing over a football situation. Regarding the player, I'm answering to you because you wrote it.

“If you'd asked me, and had it been true, I would have played it down. But we never argued. And you never said anything to me. I did argue with Mancio before the Genoa game, for example. We had an argument but it never got out and I didn't come here and tell you about it.

“I went over to Mancini and told him what I thought and now his behaviour is virtually impeccable. But if you write something that's not true, you can't expect Mancini not to respond to you. Or in any case, you know that he might, because that argument never happened.

“I agree with you that a lot of half-truths get told in press conferences. But if we were to talk about what we've been on the receiving end of in the last month...

“You know what happens if I come here and say, 'You know, yesterday I disagreed with Lina about buying this phone. She wanted to buy it and I didn't.' That's a problem because we give out the message that Lina and I hate each other. If there are differences of opinion over transfers, that's one thing. You say I argued with her before Roma v Empoli, and I didn't even see her that day, but I didn't reply to you. I didn't make a big deal out of it. All I'll say is you're not the first and you won't be the last in this city. But don't be surprised if there's a reaction to something that – I swear – is not true. It wasn't true.

“I don't want notifications – the less I read, the happier I am, because it's a world that is only real up to a point. If I meet someone in the street, they greet me and hug me. Everyone is very nice. Those who hate me maybe keep it to themselves and don't wish anything on me. That's how it should be. And that's what we have to fight against – me in press conferences, Mancio in an Instagram story he wants to do – if you say something that's not true...

“I guess it's what you were told. I don't think you made it up in your sleep. Maybe someone intentionally gave you false information, but it wasn't true. The Bryan thing was blown out of proportion and turned into something that never happened. The Roma v Empoli argument never happened. We don't hold press conferences to tell you everything. But the way I am, and you know me, I don't say something is false if it's quite clearly true. I don't say I really like someone if it's not true. I might just say we don't always see eye to eye and that's it.”

With the transfer window now closed, how many fast players do you have?

“Quite a few. With Danso, we'd have had a lot, but it's nobody's fault. All the players we brought in are dynamic. And that doesn't mean that those who are less dynamic get forgotten about. We can go back to the Bayer Leverkusen example: their most important signing was [Granit] Xhaka and I don't think he racks up the most kilometres or runs the fastest in games. But if you surround him with players who play to his strengths, then Xhaka becomes the fantastic player we've all seen and admired.

“The most important thing is having complementary, functional players in a team. You don't need all fast players, but nor do you need single-speed players. Getting the right mix helps. We've brought in players with pace and skill and that's ideal. You can teach a physical player to think more when he has the ball. You can't teach a burst of pace to a player like I was, or teach me to sprint all over the pitch. I'll always be the sort of player who provides more volume and fewer sprints. That's how it works.”