Roma coach Daniele De Rossi warns his players that the derby against Lazio ‘won’t have normal consequences’ but he’s not worried about the referee: ‘I don’t protest like the others do.’
The Giallorossi meet Lazio in a derby della Capitale on Saturday.
It will be De Rossi’s first derby as the Roma coach, so reporters asked the former midfielder about his feelings on the eve of a match he played many times as a footballer.
“Honestly, it changes. I am quite calm even if, of course, I’m excited,” De Rossi replied as quoted by VoceGiallorossa.
“The lads have the right approach, they work hard, and they are serene. We are pumping them up, but in the right way, without exaggerating.”
What are his best memories of the Rome derby as a footballer?
“Some nights were fantastic, others not so much, but when you play in the same place for 20 years, you can’t only have good memories,” he said.
“I think about the first one when I was introduced as a substitute in the game in which Mancini scored a backheel goal. I was young, and I was the happiest man on earth after the match. You don’t forget these things. I remember struggling in the first few years when I was nervous entering the pitch. I didn’t really play in the first three or four derbies, but after that, I started playing well.”
De Rossi said he would assess Tammy Abraham today, while Paulo Dybala may not play 90 minutes against Lazio having recently recovered from a muscle injury.
“You must prepare everything, knowing that it’s a game that won’t have normal consequences. It’s not the same stress as Roma-Sassuolo,” he said.
“There is something different and the previous derbies were not positive. The guys have a desire for revenge, which we must fuel without exaggerating. There’s a football game against a strong side, so we must be clear-headed and act like a football team.”
De Rossi’s contract expires at the end of the season, so has he discussed his long-term future at the Stadio Olimpico with club directors?
“We often talk about the short-term future,” De Rossi admitted.
“During the break, we took stock of the situation and spoke about the most important future for us, which is in the next two months.”
What does he expect from Lazio who will be without the injured Mattia Zaccagni?
“Are you sure Zaccagni won’t play? There’s no certainty,” DDR replied.
“Players want to play these games and sometimes they grit their teeth and play anyway. We don’t have enough time to make a hypothesis about Lazio, we must focus on ourselves. We know Igor Tudor is a valuable coach with a clear identity which he is trying to pass on to his players. Obviously, Lazio won’t play like Hellas Verona [under Tudor] for 90 minutes because it takes time. We are preparing the game, based on what we’ve seen so far and what we think they’ll do.
“Tudor is an important coach, I have the utmost respect for him. He is smart and he’s aware that he can’t always play as he did with Hellas Verona. It depends on the players he has. I respect him and we are on good terms.”
The latest derbies between Roma and Lazio were quite tense, and Roma appealed for a penalty kick in last week’s 0-0 draw against Lecce. What’s De Rossi’s approach with referees?
“I have no strategy. I don’t focus too much on referees because I can’t train them to make correct decisions,” he said.
“Coaches want favourable decisions, not correct ones. In Lecce, we were affected and it was fair to point it out. However, we must focus on different things because I don’t want my players to think it’s the referees’ fault. There are many things we must improve before thinking about referees. I think I am a fair coach, and I don’t protest like the others do.
“We discuss this with the club too. We spoke about it with Lina [Souloukou] and Maurizio [Lombardo] only a few days ago. Obviously, I’d take a position if the Lecce incident is repeated every week. I am not worried, but the rules concern me. Players should use us as test animals to make the game more fluid. No one knows the intensity of a contact like players. Referees, players and former players should draw up rules together. The shadow zone is the most controversial. I often hear, ‘ It’s a penalty when the referee blows his whistle,’ but it’s a dangerous claim. Convenient but dangerous.”