Claudio Ranieri interviewed after Roma 2-0 Lazio

Here’s what he had to say… 

Where did the idea of starting Lorenzo Pellegrini emerge from? How did this decision come about?

“When he came to talk to me yesterday I saw that he was burning with desire to captain Roma in the derby. I expected nothing less, because we coaches try to fire up our players and demand more and more from them. I put him on against Milan and I told him that he’d not done well, aside from that chance he had. Yesterday I told him that he’d play.

“I was convinced that he would’ve played great, whether he got a goal or not. He’s got goals running through his veins - Lorenzo is one of the best Italian midfielders in this regard. He didn't ask me to play him - it was me who saw that he was sufficiently fired up for me to start him in the game.”

Following a tough period and three different coaches it seems that Roma have found a precise tactical approach. All of your players seem at ease.

“I agree – we’re a proper team now. Everyone knows what they have to do and how to help each other out. The players manage to hold their own throughout, which is very important. We need to continue like this. 

“After having had a poor first half of the season by Roma’s standards now we have to show that we’ve achieved stability. We were in a tunnel and now we’re starting to see a bit of light. I expect us to play a great game in Bologna, because it would be terrible to go there and not repeat our performance from this derby. Tonight’s result is the product of many scenarios, and we have to fight like we did tonight.”

You’ve won all of your derbies - how do you approach these matches? There will be another Rome derby in the second half of the season, then there’s the matter of your future. Florent Ghisolfi said today that he hopes you’ll carry on next season.

"[The coach smiles, ed.] So you didn’t ask him who’ll be on the bench next season, then."

Would you be available?

"I’m available to stay here until the end of the season, then it’s in God’s hands. On the matter of the derby, as a coach you’ve got to balance things out - if you see that your team is tired you’ve got to switch things up. Derbies require no motivation – coaches don’t need to dig deep in this regard. I don’t see that as the right thing to do. I just try and keep the lads level-headed and to give their all out there on the pitch.”

What’s changed in the ten games you’ve had in charge? What’s been the easiest and most difficult thing in rebuilding the team?

“When I join a team – and it’s always the case that I’m brought in as a firefighter – I get ready for business and get stuck in. I start working as I’ve always done, trying to instil a sense of serenity and a desire to do well. As I’m really demanding of myself I want my players to equal this. It made total sense to put world champions in the team - I tried to restore confidence in everyone and restore self-belief. It’s because when you join a club in such circumstances players are worried about not getting the ball, about not being seen, yet at the same time the quality of Roma’s players is really high. This needs to be combined with healthy determination and desire to get results.”

At the end of the derby you had a word with Marco Baroni, saying: “I’m sorry for what happened at the end”. You’re a real gentleman.

“I was sorry because the derby had gone by peacefully and there shouldn’t have been a need for that to happen.”