Ranieri’s thoughts after Parma

Read what the boss had to say below.

Do you remember Matias Soule’s goal in the Frosinone v Cagliari game a year ago? This one seemed like a carbon copy.

“Unfortunately, yes, I remember it [Ranieri laughs. He was head coach of Cagliari at the time]. This evening, we can enjoy it. He’s a great player and he’s gradually getting used to wearing the Roma shirt. We believe in him a lot. He’s doing very well and I’m happy with his performances.”

Why did you decide to move Soule out wide in the second half? To make room for Alexis Saelemaekers, who seemed to be a bit under the weather today?

“Yes, exactly. I switched them to allow Saelemaekers to play between the lines. I wanted the team to be able to pick out him or [Lorenzo] Pellegrini behind Parma's midfield line when we circulated the ball quickly, because they could then create a numerical advantage and we'd be able to put together good moves. There were some good moves, although unfortunately we weren’t able to kill off the match and it remained open until the end.

“That’s the only regret I have because we were always in control. With Parma a man down, we never got too full of ourselves. We moved the ball around quickly. I’d say I’m happy with that, except for the fact we couldn’t kill it off sooner, which would have made me a bit calmer on the sideline.”

What type of atmosphere do you want to see at the Olimpico on Thursday against Porto?

“Our fans know what type of atmosphere there will be. We want their support because it’ll be an all or nothing match. Porto is another team with a lot of quality. They love to play on the counter, just like Parma, so we need to be fully focused and obviously try to win.”

With all the points you’ve earned in Serie A, is it possible you’ll get a place in Europe through the league?

“We don’t know. Those are two huge challenges. We’ll play it match by match and at the end of the season, we’ll see where we’re at. You can’t say ‘we’ll be here or there’. I hope I can continue to rotate the squad because that will mean that we’re moving forward in Europe. The lads that are playing less are gaining experience and they’re really helping us out, as they did against Napoli, Venezia, and today too. We’ll keep going day after day and  see where we manage to get.”

When we asked Soule and Evan Ndicka on a scale of one to ten how charged up Roma are for the Porto game, they said 11. Do you agree?

“We’re charged up. We needed a positive performance in Parma but we have to be clever and not get carried away with the desire to win at all costs and then leave ourselves open on the counter. We had a great match in Porto, but we weren’t able to wrap it up. In the second leg, we need to be wise.”

How is Paulo Dybala?

“He’s recovered.”