Rudi Garcia is without Daniele De Rossi and Adem Ljajic against Genoa, but assures “nothing has stopped working” at Roma.
The Giallorossi host Gian Piero Gasperini’s Genoa on Sunday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
Rudi Garcia is without Daniele De Rossi and Adem Ljajic against Genoa, but assures “nothing has stopped working” at Roma.
The Giallorossi host Gian Piero Gasperini’s Genoa on Sunday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
De Rossi, Ljajic and defender Leandro Castan are all suspended after the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Juventus last week.
“Everything is possible,” said the Coach in his Press conference. “In midfield we have the option for 4-3-3, but we are also ready to change tactics to a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-2-3-1. If we need another system during the game, then the players will be ready.
“De Rossi is very important for us, but there’s no point in me talking about someone who can’t play tomorrow. I trust all my players 100 per cent and we saw Radja Nainggolan settle in quickly too, as if he had been with us for years.
“Miralem Pjanic and Dodo are in good condition, which is good news. I have six or seven strikers who are all complementary and need to move along the line of attack, changing position to trouble our opponents.
“Am I worried by the number of red cards? No, I have players who engage in fair play, so I am not worried about that for even a second.”
Genoa will have problems of their own tomorrow, as top scorer Alberto Gilardino sits out a ban.
“I really like Gilardino, but I have no doubts his replacement will be highly motivated and talented. Our only option is to win this game and we’ll do everything to get the three points.”
The fact remains Roma have won only two of their last eight matches, having won the first 10 in a row, and are now eight points adrift of Serie A leaders Juventus.
“Nothing has stopped working, it’s just that the 10 consecutive victories were extraordinary. We cannot compare the first part of the season to the second, as after that we were without Francesco Totti, Gervinho and others for long periods. You can make statistics say anything.
“It was very important to get back to winning ways in the Coppa Italia against Sampdoria on Thursday, we achieved that, so now we must continue along that path. It’s a good sign that we create many scoring opportunities, though obviously it’d be better if we took more of them.
“If we reach the midway stage of the season with 44 points, it’d be a great result. It’s the kind of tally worthy of a Scudetto contender and above all Champions League qualifiers, which is our real target.”
Roma squad for Juventus: Benatia, Borriello, Burdisso, Caprari, De Sanctis, Destro, Dodo, Florenzi, Gervinho, Jedvaj, Lobont, Maicon, Marquinho, Nainggolan, Pjanic, Ricci, Skorupski, Strootman, Taddei, Torosidis, Totti