Nicolas Burdisso calls Roma captain Francesco Totti “fantastic” but “he’s not a leader”.
The defender spent five years with the Giallorossi, after joining from Inter in 2009, and has a surprising opinion of the idol of the Lupi fans.
“Francesco is fantastic, and can never be a burden,” Burdisso told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“But he never asked questions. He never asked if it was better to play for 15 years at Roma and win, or 20 years and not.
Nicolas Burdisso calls Roma captain Francesco Totti “fantastic” but “he’s not a leader”.
The defender spent five years with the Giallorossi, after joining from Inter in 2009, and has a surprising opinion of the idol of the Lupi fans.
“Francesco is fantastic, and can never be a burden,” Burdisso told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“But he never asked questions. He never asked if it was better to play for 15 years at Roma and win, or 20 years and not.
“In footballing terms, he’s not a leader who drags you forward on the pitch. [Daniele] De Rossi is in too good a state, he never wanted to climb over him [Totti].”
Burdisso also worked with Luis Enrique in Rome, and praises the Barcelona Coach for instilling a work ethic at Trigoria.
“I’ve been lucky, I’ve worked with [Diego] Maradona, [Vincenzo] Montella – who was fantastic, and I wouldn’t have sent him away from Roma – and Luis Enrique.
“Look, if Barcelona win it’s not all down to the front-three [Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar]. I remember in the preliminaries with Slovan [Bratislava] he replaced Totti and we went out.
“We had a lot of young lads on the field, and we needed Francesco. When I saw the change I shook my head. The day after Luis told me ‘he wasn’t doing enough’.
“He was right, it resulted in a culture of work at Trigoria. At Roma it seemed like you were doing a favour by training.
“I remember [Luciano] Spalletti and Montella went mad with rage. Vincenzo used a GPS, and at the end he said ‘you worked in an embarrassing manner’.
“At Inter? Every day was a war. We were fighting for a place in the team, and everyone at Inter wanted to win.
“Playing against champions in training helps you grow.”
The defender was with the Nerazzurri for the Calciopoli scandal, which saw Juventus stripped of two titles, and he doesn’t feel the Bianconeri have repented.
“I was disappointed,” Burdisso says.
“After it was uncovered, that would have been the right time to ask questions. Instead the World Cup was won [by Italy] and nothing changed.
“At one point it was made out as if we at Inter were guilty, instead of looking at what had happened.
“There was a scientific approach: not a penalty against us, but yellow cards, fouls.
“The fact that Juve are still displaying the revoked Scudetti shows that they don’t accept what they did wrong.”
Finally, Burdisso was asked for the best player he played with, other than Lionel Messi.
“Adriano at Inter was indescribable. He’s lost his way, because he was too good.”