Juric’s pre-Verona press conference

Here’s what the boss had to say…

What’s the latest on Artem Dovbyk? Has he recovered from the flu? Do you plan to employ the same tactics involving Bryan Cristante and Lorenzo Pellegrini?

​“We’ll see how Dovbyk is today in training and we’ll decide. It’s the same for the others. I have to see who’s recovered well and who hasn’t. I’ll make my choices based on that, but these are technical decisions. It doesn’t change if this one plays or that one plays.”

Did Dovbyk train yesterday?

 “Not yesterday. He hasn’t done anything since the last match.”

When you coached Verona, you made life hard for Roma when you played there. It’s a difficult ground with a hostile environment. Their performances are up and down at the moment. What are their attributes as a team?

 “There’s a positive atmosphere and they really get behind the team. I think they have lots of fast, talented and technical players. Their performances have fluctuated between excellent and less good. They’re on a bad run of results at the moment, although they did well in their last game despite being a man down. They’ll certainly be full of motivation to get back on track and secure a result. As always in Verona, it’ll be a really tough game.”

You started seven players under 25 against Torino, which isn’t a usual thing at Roma. How do you combine the desire to develop young players with the need for results straight away? Roma haven’t won in seven away games in the league. What do you put that down to?

 “I’ve said since day one that we have so many young players with so much room for improvement. It’s not a problem and you can get results with youngsters. We have a well-balanced squad. We’ll assess the players based on training rather than if they’re young or not. It’s clear that the youngsters have more scope for improvement and are maybe at a lower level but with room to get better. The older players, on the other hand, must perform at their best. In terms of mentality and the rest, we need to take it game by game, showing that we’re a good group.

“Last time out, we got a good win, but if we don’t follow it up with a result at Verona, we won’t have achieved anything. I expect the same mentality once again, the same focus, the same organisation within our game. I expect to win. We deservedly did so last time out. We’ll need to strike the right balance.”

How come Matias Soule isn’t getting much playing time, particularly in a team that are struggling for goals?
 “Soule played so much before getting ill. I don’t see any problems. Between [Tommaso] Baldanzi, him and [Paulo] Dybala, choices have to be made from game to game. Baldanzi is doing really well. Dybala is doing well and has so much room for improvement. Some develop quickly and others need more time, even though everything is wanted straight away in this environment. From my experience with various players, such as [Alessandro] Buongiorno, [Samuele] Ricci and [Mattia] Zaccagni, I’ve learnt that you need to have time with them. If they have the desire, they’ll get better. I’m very calm about all this.”

Is Dybala ready to play in another game in such a short space of time?

 “He did the most important thing, which was to get on the pitch and play good football. You need to win the game, train well, prepare and win. He played as a false 9 in our last game, but also in other matches when he lined up alongside Dovbyk, such as against Athletic Club, he had more freedom than the others. He has a sense of space and the match at hand, which is why we give it to him.”

What do you think is Stephan El Shaarawy’s best position? How is Nicola Zalewski? How long until Samuel Dahl could be part of the squad rotation?

 “I think that El Shaarawy and Zalewski both prefer to play on the left. They feel more comfortable on that flank, even though Zalewski did really well against Dynamo Kyiv on the right. We’ll see how he’s doing. He did have some cramp trouble.

“Dahl is an interesting lad. I see him like Angelino, so either a full-back or a third centre-back, but as a wing-back, they lose something. He’s very similar to the Spaniard in terms of passing and technique. They have less one-on-one ability than Zalewski and El Shaarawy, but a bigger engine.

“He’s a lad who I really like based on how he trains and his mentality. We’ll see over time if he plays as a full-back or wing-back. We need to decide. He’s one of the young players who started off quite far behind, but I really like his mentality.”