Inter
"Tomorrow will be a tough game: Inter don't need any introductions. Will we be affected by the defeat to Cagliari? No, on the contrary, it's better to play again right after losing a game; it's the perfect opportunity to bounce back with a win. Ranieri's team are no surprise to anyone: he has a very strong group, players of absolute top quality. I think it will be a game in which we will have most of the possession and they will try to hurt us on the break."
Statistics
"Numbers are only there to give you something to refer to, they are a reflection of the football played. But lots of other things affect a football match: the statistics say that we were superior to Cagliari in everything but we lost. The numbers say we have proven that we have what it takes to be an incredible team, and in several games we have been incredible. We have our identity as a team and I'm happy with it. As I said, we have to remain focused and cut down on the mistakes; if we can do that then we'll go a long way."
Intensity and attention in details
"Am I disappointed after the recent results? It's my job to try to make sure the team keeps improving all the time and in that respect I'm still optimistic because I'm happy with the work I see in training every day. I'm a very demanding person but I see a team with great margins for improvement. Everyone knows how we play by now, but it's precisely for that reason that we must analyze our mistakes and pay attention to the minor details, otherwise we can get beaten again. I repeat, we're on the right path and I like the way we're playing because we have our identity, but it's the attention to detail that makes the difference between victory and defeat. We must perform consistently, always play with 100% intensity – that's what makes you a great team. And we have to make a bit more effort in that direction: so far we've only managed to play a few games with the right intensity; now we have to do it more regularly."
Ranieri
"Inter have taken huge strides forward over the last few months since Ranieri arrived, after really struggling at the start. He is an excellent coach and has a lot of international experience. I've known him since he coached in Spain. I also spoke to him at the meeting we had here in Rome with all the coaches and I know he has a soft spot for this team. I don't know how he works but I do know that he's very experienced and has done well at different clubs."
De Rossi
"Will De Rossi play? I don't know yet. He was training separately for a while and he's only been back in full training for the last two sessions. I don't know if he has 90 minutes in his legs, we'll see tomorrow..."
The defeat to Cagliari
"Wednesday's match was a reflection of this team: for part of the game we played some incredible stuff but we weren't able to do it for 90 minutes. We did well to turn things around after going behind early on. In that opening period we were better than Cagliari but after we went 2-1 up we took our foot off the pedal. We thought we'd done it all but in football nothing is decided until the final whistle. Ballardini's team was clever: they waited for the right moment to hit us on the counter and it was difficult for us to get back into the game because they were set out well in defence. That's why I was obviously disappointed after the match, but I'm still confident about the future because I know – and we've shown it on more than one occasion – that we can be excellent and we're capable of expressing our game over the whole 90 minutes. I repeat, we must improve as a team: we lose together and we win together. The group, as I've always said, comes before anything else."
First-choice players
"Have I settled on my 11 first-choice players? Having only 11 is a problem for me. I prefer to have 21, which is what we have here at Roma. I do my job and I know who the best players to pick are from one week to the next because I see them in training, and I know what their physical and mental state is like each day. I have to manage the group and I make my choices."
The future
"How far can Roma go in the league? I don't know. I'm not making predictions. I believe that the team will do better over the coming months and the league table at the end of the season that will tell us if that happens or not."
