Gasperini: ‘Roma and fans are central to project, not me’
Gian Piero Gasperini insists he is not the centre of the Roma project, but rather ‘the club and fans’ must be the focus, while he sees improvement in the 2-0 victory over Bologna.
The Giallorossi had a bone to pick with Bologna, having been eliminated from the Europa League Round of 16 in a 4-3 extra time thriller, having drawn the first leg 1-1.
This was a very different experience, as Donyell Malen broke the scoring in the opening minutes, with Neil El Aynaoui adding the second on the stroke of half-time.
Gasperini sees Roma improvement
“We must believe that we can win every game. Now we are getting important players back to fitness, so we can regularly repeat the first half performance,” Gasperini told DAZN Italia.
“There were some issues in the second half, but we need to keep improving and be ready for the next game.”
Gasperini has refused to answer questions on the chaotic departure of special advisor Claudio Ranieri, even though it was largely due to his disagreements with the coach.
There is also tension with director of sport Frederic Massara and he is widely expected to leave Roma before the summer too. Was it hard for him to protect the squad from this media storm?
“No, it was not at all hard, because these lads have trained hard since the start of the season, they followed me from the first day, and I have been thanking them for months. They are eager, and when we manage to get a few more players back from injury, it is obvious we are competitive.”
There was more good news, as Paulo Dybala made his comeback off the bench after three months out of action, and it was Roma’s first away victory since January.
“Malen has certainly raised our level by a lot, it is unfortunate that we were also without Matias Soulé and Dybala for long spells. What we were unable to have during those months, we hope to enjoy in these remaining games,” said Gasperini.
El Aynaoui not only scored a goal, but also provided the assist for Malen’s opening goal, so he is finally starting to deliver.
“He did very well in the first half of the season, until December when he went to the Africa Cup of Nations. That experience, Morocco in that controversial Final that is to a degree still going, it took a lot out of him. We had to wait a little longer for him to fully recover, but he had a great game today.”
The win means that Roma stay in the hunt for the top four, and must now hope that Juventus slip up in the showdown with Milan on Sunday evening.
Gasperini was asked if he feels that he is at the centre of the Roma project now that the Friedkin family confirmed their backing.
“The club and the fans are at the centre of Roma. I am a professional coach, so I deal with the technical aspects, and I thank the club for giving me that trust from the very first day, allowing me to work the way I want to.
“I hope to give my contribution along with those who work in the club. So the centre of Roma are simply the club and fans,” replied the coach.