Paulo Fonseca admits Chris Smalling’s return has affected Roma confidence in defence and attack after their 2-0 win over Fiorentina. ‘He is a leader.’
The Giallorossi certainly looked more confident than Thursday’s 0-0 Europa League draw with CSKA Sofia, but it was also the second game with Smalling in the starting XI and second consecutive clean sheet.
Paulo Fonseca admits Chris Smalling’s return has affected Roma confidence in defence and attack after their 2-0 win over Fiorentina. ‘He is a leader.’
The Giallorossi certainly looked more confident than Thursday’s 0-0 Europa League draw with CSKA Sofia, but it was also the second game with Smalling in the starting XI and second consecutive clean sheet.
“It’s not a coincidence, I always said Chris is important for us,” Fonseca told Sky Sport Italia.
“We have three young lads in defence, so it’s important to have someone like Chris who is more experienced and more of a leader. It’s a very important figure to have.
“The whole team put in a good performance against a strong opponent. We were solid in defence today, doing well to break quickly on the counter. Lorenzo Pellegrini is a very intelligent player who can take on different roles, just as we can play with three at the back or four.”
Roma are technically unbeaten this season, as their 0-0 draw with Hellas Verona was turned into a 3-0 loss by default due to an irregularly fielded player.
“We have to take it one game at a time. The objective is to do better than last season, which means qualifying for the Champions League. It’s important to remain balanced and focused, but to maintain the spirit we saw in the team today. The team looks more confident, more solid in defence and therefore ready to push forward with more pace.”