Roma's Rudi Garcia confirms his faith in Gervinho and Juan Iturbe, whilst discussing the challenges of playing in Rome.
Both have come in for criticism as their sub-par performances have contributed to the Giallorossi's current crisis, but they may be used in tomorrow's Europa League Last 16 game against Fiorentina.
Garcia was asked about their use in European matches and he stood by his decision.
“Gervinho has scored a lot in Europe while Iturbe was sidelined for a long time, like many of our strikers.
Roma's Rudi Garcia confirms his faith in Gervinho and Juan Iturbe, whilst discussing the challenges of playing in Rome.
Both have come in for criticism as their sub-par performances have contributed to the Giallorossi's current crisis, but they may be used in tomorrow's Europa League Last 16 game against Fiorentina.
Garcia was asked about their use in European matches and he stood by his decision.
“Gervinho has scored a lot in Europe while Iturbe was sidelined for a long time, like many of our strikers.
“Gervinho is the same player that dragged the team ahead last season. He must find his European dimension in Serie A too, but in Rotterdam [against Feyenoord] he helped us make it into the Last 16.
“Iturbe is a different story, he spent a long time recovering from injuries.
“If he isn't at 100 per cent he can't express his qualities in full.
“But I have faith in these two players, as I do in the others.”
On from his earlier statements that Rome is the most challenging football environment in the world, the Frenchman was asked to explain what made it so tough.
“You know that better than I do, because you're part of it.
“It's a mixture of many things, but we'll talk about that at the end of the season, or at the beginning of the next.”
“If it's only challenging for coaches? I don't know, it's hard for the players too. But I don't give up at the first hurdle.
“I hope I'll confront other challenges in the future, but for this season we've had more than enough trouble.
“I don't know when the last game of the championship is going to be, but I'll be there until the final whistle.
“I'll be pushing ahead all those who need to be pushed, and I'll be the first in line among them.”