Rudi Garcia has remarked at birthday boy Francesco Totti’s evergreen appearance and assures focus is very much on Verona tomorrow.
Tomorrow evening’s visit of the Gialloblu to the Stadio Olimpico will mark club captain Totti’s 38th birthday.
For his Coach, it is just a number and one that does not reflect the player’s continued output.
Rudi Garcia has remarked at birthday boy Francesco Totti’s evergreen appearance and assures focus is very much on Verona tomorrow.
Tomorrow evening’s visit of the Gialloblu to the Stadio Olimpico will mark club captain Totti’s 38th birthday.
For his Coach, it is just a number and one that does not reflect the player’s continued output.
“Let's not remind Totti how old he actually is. He feels as if he's still 28!” Garcia has joked to reporters today.
“He is essential to us, enormous. As I said in Parma, my pleasure is to see him taking the pitch with pleasure when he plays for Roma.
“You simply can’t play until that age without a gift and without the physique he’s got. He’s got a more powerful structure in comparison to the rest.
“Obviously he is also a fantastic professional, otherwise it would be impossible to play until that age.”
The former Lille manager also had praise for Miralem Pjanic, who was decisive in the game in Parma on Wednesday night.
“Pjanic showed, in the 88th minute, how great he is and what he can bring to Roma. Generally speaking, I really liked the team's approach in the Parma game and to be honest with you, it was better to win 2-1 than 1-0.”
With key games against Manchester City and Juventus looming on the horizon, the team might not be focused enough on the game against Verona, but Garcia thinks otherwise.
“Empoli, CSKA and Cagliari were not as important then? At the moment, I'm only thinking about our next opponents, Verona.
“The guys will need to be 100% focused on this game tomorrow and I'm sure that this will be the case.
“We're not distracted by the Champions League. My players have already shown they are able to focus on the next game only.”
The Frenchman might be thinking about a switch to 4-3-2-1.
“Paredes is ready to start. His time will come. We can’t play every game with three midfielders. There is [Alessandro Florenzi] and there are four more offensive players. And not that Pjanic is that defensive either.”
Squad depth doesn’t seem to be an issue for Garcia, though. Without Daniele De Rossi, Roma have discovered some important contributions from Seydou Keita too.
“Daniele helps us a lot too. But it’s true that Seydou possesses the fluidity we need in that position. He’s got first touch, contributes to our free-flowing football, but he can also offer us defensive reassurances.
“He can play with his back to the goal and be dangerous in that circumstance too. All in all, I hope that Daniele will be back soon anyway because he is fundamental to our game.”