Daniele De Rossi explains his change of tactics back to a Jose Mourinho approach backfired in the 2-2 draw with Fiorentina. ‘Roma are rejecting that system now!’
It was a dramatic evening at the Stadio Franchi, as the Viola twice went in front through Luca Ranieri and Rolando Mandragora, then saw a Cristiano Biraghi penalty saved by Mile Svilar.
That proved crucial, as after the initial Houssem Aouar header, Diego Llorente equalised with the last kick of the game.
“I don’t think it was the fault of the yellow card for Mancini. It was that Fiorentina were winning too many duels, we didn’t have the right attitude and some of my choices didn’t pay off. It was a bad first half performance,” confessed the coach on DAZN.
“We were sluggish in every way. The second was better, but considering the amount of possession we had, we should’ve had more shots on target.”
De Rossi had to be on his toes and improvise this evening, as first he took Gianluca Mancini off after just 33 minutes when the defender was running the serious risk of a second yellow card. Did the coach have to give Mancini a talking to?
“Mancini was well aware what was happening. I did not see the incidents, but you could sense the crowd calling for a second yellow and it felt like the referee was on the edge, so it was a necessary move.
“I had Karsdorp and Celik warming up, as I wanted to go straight to four at the back. However, we didn’t have a lot of height today and struggled with crosses into the box, so I figured Dean Huijsen can play at right-back and wouldn’t waste us a substitution.
“Diego has remarkable quality that is almost wasted on a defender. Evan Ndicka also gave him a golden assist, cushioning it for him perfectly. Oh yeah, we tested it repeatedly in training, obviously!”
He then switched from a 3-5-2 formation to 4-3-3 in the second half and that made a big difference to their performance.
“We have to analyse when things aren’t working and the fact is after each of the Europa League games, we had a bad first half in the next Serie A match. And every time I moved to a three-man defence and saw improvements. Well, I tried it from the start this time and evidently that’s not the issue.
“Whenever I saw the team running on empty, I tried to move them back to a system they used for many years and felt comfortable with. I remember they were very difficult to score against when playing with five at the back.
“However, maybe they are rejecting that system now, like a body with a new organ!” he laughed.
“I felt like we could win it when we equalised and conceding the second goal was against the run of play, that could knock the wind out of our sails, but the penalty save kept us alive.”
This result keeps the Giallorossi in fifth place and now only three points behind Bologna.
“Not losing a match like this is fundamental, not just for the point, but the enthusiasm it generates. I generally don’t like to celebrate draws, but we held out against a very strong team in a stadium where many sides have lost.
“We stayed in there to the end and during a season there can be moments like this where we have to take what we can. The enthusiasm we felt standing in front of our fans for a few minutes after the final whistle was something we needed.”
There were some reports that Paulo Dybala asked to be substituted, so is there an injury?
“I think Dybala had a great game. He dropped deep often to help out and try to build from the back. He was substituted because he felt tired, but I don’t think it was anything muscular.”