Daniele De Rossi wanted to teach Dean Huijsen a lesson by substituting him after a stunning solo goal against Frosinone, warning Roma had ‘a horrible’ performance before winning 3-0.
They risked going behind several times at the Stadio Stirpe, including a fingertip Mile Svilar save on Matias Soule and a triple Kaio Jorge chance from six yards.
“Winning a game that had started with that half is a very important sign,” De Rossi told DAZN.
“It was a horrible first half, I did not like it at all. Since I got here, we had not suffered so much as during that 45 minutes.”
However, Dean Huijsen started a run from his own half and dribbled past everyone to curl into the top corner, with Sardar Azmoun and a Leandro Paredes penalty rounding out the 3-0 scoreline.
Huijsen was booked for making a ‘silence’ gesture towards the home fans and it is no coincidence he was substituted at half-time.
“He will learn, he’s very young. I don’t want to stand here lecturing. He won’t do it again next time, we learn and we grow with experience.
“For a start, he will know that this celebration is the reason he could not play the second half, because he was booked.”
There was a touching reunion with Eusebio Di Francesco, who had been De Rossi’s teammate, then coach at Roma, had an opportunity to join his staff and finally they became colleagues.
“This is still a new world for me, I am discovering it day after day. This was my first fixture seeing the away end packed with travelling fans, that kind of thing is fundamental for me.”
It keeps the Giallorossi in the running for that Champions League spot and means De Rossi has won all but one of his five Serie A games since taking over from Jose Mourinho, along with Thursday’s 1-1 Europa League play-off draw away to Feyenoord.
He not only changed tactics from Mourinho’s three-man defence to 4-3-3, but also dropped Rui Patricio for younger goalkeeper Mile Svilar today.
“We have two exceptional goalkeepers and it is the only role where I want there to be some clarity. Considering the way he performed this evening, Svilar deserves to be given a chance.”
The coach also substituted star striker Romelu Lukaku at half-time, so was there any fitness issue?
“It was a tactical decision and I also wanted to give him a rest. It was not a criticism.”