Edin Dzeko insists that Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti 'gives him confidence, even when he criticises me'.
"I'm not a boy anymore,” Dzeko told The Independent. “I can't run maybe like I could ten years ago…you feel different. I'm older, but I'm much [more] clever, because I have so many games behind me.
Edin Dzeko insists that Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti 'gives him confidence, even when he criticises me'.
"I'm not a boy anymore,” Dzeko told The Independent. “I can't run maybe like I could ten years ago…you feel different. I'm older, but I'm much [more] clever, because I have so many games behind me.
"Some balls I went for like crazy for at 21-years-old, maybe this time I wouldn't go for, because you could get injured. When you're a young boy, you don't think, you just go for it. When you have more experience, you have to play more with your head.”
The striker then goes on to discuss the way Roma play, and how the confidence placed in him by Coach Luciano Spalletti has given him confidence.
“We're playing very attacking football with some great players, so they make it easier for me to score. Because the team is playing for me, I get a lot of good service.
“It gives me a lot of confidence. For every striker it's important to have the confidence of the Coach. Even if he sometimes criticises you it's because he wants you to do even better. When you know he has confidence in you it's much easier. You feel that on the pitch."
Finally the Bosnian discussed his desire to have played with 40-year-old Francesco Totti when he was in his prime.
“It's a shame he's 40 years old. I would [have] loved to have played with him five or six years ago, because then I'm sure I would score even more goals than I do now.
"His ability to see and understand the striker, to play these passes…it's like a present to every striker. It's a privilege to play with him.”