Coach Paulo Fonseca said Roma had ‘no courage and the wrong mentality’ against Napoli, but captain Lorenzo Pellegrini doesn’t agree.
The Portuguese coach was furious after the 2-0 defeat on Sunday night and blasted his players, but the captain defends his teammates.
“I don’t feel like saying there wasn’t the right attitude,” Pellegrini told RomaTV. “In the first half we were too deep, and they showed their qualities.
Coach Paulo Fonseca said Roma had ‘no courage and the wrong mentality’ against Napoli, but captain Lorenzo Pellegrini doesn’t agree.
The Portuguese coach was furious after the 2-0 defeat on Sunday night and blasted his players, but the captain defends his teammates.
“I don’t feel like saying there wasn’t the right attitude,” Pellegrini told RomaTV. “In the first half we were too deep, and they showed their qualities.
“In the second half we approached it differently and we did better. I can assure you that this match was prepared as an opportunity to demonstrate ambitions and unfortunately it didn’t go that way.
“In the first half we were deep and suffered, in the second half we did better, but it didn’t help.”
Pellegrini said they had decided to start without high pressure.
“We prepared for the game without having to press high, but we must understand that being deep doesn’t mean being passive,” he said.
“We must improve this aspect.”
The Italy international, who was given the armband when Edin Dzeko was stripped of the captaincy this season, said Roma still fight for a place in the Champions League.
“Absolutely,” he continued. “The match didn’t go well, but we believe in it. Winning this match was worth much more than the three points for us, it would have been revenge from the first leg.
“There were many reasons, it had to be the game of our ambitions, but it wasn’t to be. But not because there was no ambition, but because it went like this.”