Juan Jesus warns Roma “can’t settle for ninth place” and “the clock is ticking”, while Patrik Schick must “try to have a stronger character”.
The Giallorossi have started well in the Champions League, but in Serie A they are already a long way off the pace.
“The clock is ticking, we have to run,” Juan Jesus warned, speaking to Sky.
Juan Jesus warns Roma “can’t settle for ninth place” and “the clock is ticking”, while Patrik Schick must “try to have a stronger character”.
The Giallorossi have started well in the Champions League, but in Serie A they are already a long way off the pace.
“The clock is ticking, we have to run,” Juan Jesus warned, speaking to Sky.
“I don’t think we can settle for ninth place. I think it’s about concentration, you know that there are only six games in the Champions League group and you’re more focused.
“We need to recover in the league, because it’s not our place to be so far away from the top spots. We need to get back to being the Roma of before.
“If we work hard with the right attitude we can do even better than third place and the Champions League semi-final.
“I fight for Roma, we have to fight for third place and to go as far as possible in Europe.”
Patrik Schick may start against Sampdoria at the weekend, but the Czech hasn’t impressed since signing from the Blucerciati in 2017.
“He’s still young and there’s a lot of pressure on him. He has quality, but he must try to have a stronger character, even if everyone has his own personality.
“He needs patience and trust, in my opinion he’s a great player.”
The Brazilian also had some advice for his other young teammates.
“I was talking to Kostas [Manolas] about this the other day. Today’s youngsters are more fortunate than us, before it was harder to get into the first team. Now you just have to be a bit better and you’re in the first team.
“They arrive and they already think they’re the best, but you can’t be content, you must always want to do better.
“They’re already technically good, like [Cengiz] Under who is very fast, as is [Justin] Kluivert, while [Nicolo] Zaniolo has incredible strength.
“They need to work, they need to understand that football moves quickly.”