Eusebio Di Francesco admits Roma can improve ‘a lot of things’ after they were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid.
The Giallorossi concluded their pre-season tour of the United States with a defeat against the European champions in New Jersey.
And speaking following the contest, the Stadio Olimpico boss challenged his players to show more defensive resilience.
“I think my team is not quite at 100 per cent. But that’s fine – it’s the start of the season that counts,” Di Francesco told Roma’s official website.
Eusebio Di Francesco admits Roma can improve ‘a lot of things’ after they were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid.
The Giallorossi concluded their pre-season tour of the United States with a defeat against the European champions in New Jersey.
And speaking following the contest, the Stadio Olimpico boss challenged his players to show more defensive resilience.
“I think my team is not quite at 100 per cent. But that’s fine – it’s the start of the season that counts,” Di Francesco told Roma’s official website.
“We have been working hard, the workload has been tough for a few weeks and that has had an impact on the legs.
“It has been a long tour, a lot of travelling involved, and the choices we have made have been done with the idea of getting everyone at 100 per cent in time for the first game of the season.
“There are a lot of things we can improve on.
“We were playing a great team, perhaps the best in the world, and perhaps we could have done better with some of our defending – especially at the beginning.”
Roma enjoyed only 34 per cent of possession and had just two shots on target against Real, but Di Francesco does not believe that tells the full story.
“These games are important to put into practice what we do in training.
“The statistics do not reflect what we did on the pitch, in both halves we could have made more of a few situations.”