Marash Kumbulla was all smiles following his strong performance in Roma’s 1-0 win over Cagliari tonight.
The 21-year-old Albanian centre back played the full 90 minutes in the victory this evening, performing well in a back four alongside Gianluca Mancini. Coach Jose Mourinho specifically highlighted the impressive work of the former Hellas Verona man in his post-match press conference, giving the player something extra to smile about.
Speaking to Roma’s media team after the match, Kumbulla reacted to the win over Cagliari and his growth in recent weeks.
“I’m happy, I’ve come from a period where I didn’t play much and I struggled but thanks to my teammates and the coach, who gave me lots of advice, I’ve always given my all in training to be ready.”
The 21-year-old Kumbulla, who is contracted to Roma until 2025, has made 13 appearances across all competitions so far this season, for a total of 677 minutes. In that time, he has picked up four yellow cards and helped the side keep six clean sheets.
The young defender is slowly earning coach Mourinho’s trust; he only played a few minutes after the first 11 games of the season, but has since made seven appearances since the start of November.
🗨️ Kumbulla: “Sono contento, arrivo da un periodo in cui non ho giocato molto e in cui ho fatto fatica ma grazie ai miei compagni e al Mister, che mi ha dato tanti consigli, ho sempre dato il massimo in allenamento per farmi trovare pronto”. 👊#RomaCagliari pic.twitter.com/B21EjrhhzO
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) January 16, 2022
Better than Smalling, esp. when you consider Kumbulla’s upside. He must start, esp. if they are playing a back 4. With 5 there is obv. room for Smalling.
Better than Smalling? Not at the moment, but definitely better than Ibanez’s performance in the last three games.
Tammy was lost today…he didn’t position himself where he could receive balls.Team needs to score more goals as it could have been an upset draw today.