Luciano Spalletti explained how he focused Roma to beat Milan 4-1, but replied sarcastically when asked about Francesco Totti. “Whatever I do, you complain!”
Edin Dzeko had two early goals before Stephan El Shaarawy’s curler and a late Daniele De Rossi penalty, though Gianluigi Donnarumma had also fingertipped two efforts on to the woodwork.
It set a record as the Giallorossi’s sixth consecutive away victory in Serie A.
Luciano Spalletti explained how he focused Roma to beat Milan 4-1, but replied sarcastically when asked about Francesco Totti. “Whatever I do, you complain!”
Edin Dzeko had two early goals before Stephan El Shaarawy’s curler and a late Daniele De Rossi penalty, though Gianluigi Donnarumma had also fingertipped two efforts on to the woodwork.
It set a record as the Giallorossi’s sixth consecutive away victory in Serie A.
This result was needed to recapture second place from Napoli and the gap at the top of the table is seven points with Juventus coming to the Stadio Olimpico next week.
“There is no other option in this line of work. You cannot hide. You need to grab the bull by the horns and react when games are lost, speaking every day to the players and not letting anyone invent something,” the Coach told Mediaset Premium.
“If you are fake, the players spot it straight away. In the second half we went too deep and were running around after Milan, but then we got compact again.”
Many expected Totti to get a run-out at the end, and even the Milan fans unveiled a banner honouring the Roma legend, but there was no final run-out at San Siro.
“We can set up a co-operative if you like and vote on who you want to play. I have no problem, you can choose,” Spalletti noted sarcastically when asked about Totti.
“The team looked a little tired and I had already chosen El Shaarawy, an attack-minded player, because I knew that 2-0 was not enough to relax. I’ve seen Milan score two goals in quick succession before, Mohamed Salah was tired. I don’t know what to tell you, I’m sorry.
“When I put Totti on for the last five minutes, you tell me I’m taking the Mickey and showing a lack of respect. So let’s just agree here and stop giving me counter-arguments. Last time I introduced him for five minutes and you complained!
“If I am the only one to see it this way, then maybe that’s just me. I got insulted before and after the game when using him for five minutes.
“I told you when I arrived at Roma, don’t make me into the guardian of Totti’s history and legend. I have to deal with a football player. I don’t know what else to do. If you’re hurt, then I apologise and will consider it for next time…”
This was a difficult week for Spalletti after the 3-1 Derby della Capitale defeat to Lazio.
“I was a little worried, because the atmosphere in Rome after a derby is very intense and when you don’t get a result, it can throw everything in the air. So keeping the players on point in that situation is not easy, but fortunately I have real men in this squad and I could speak to them openly, clearly.
“We conceded a few too many counter-attacks recently, so we worked to do the opposite today and cut off those channels. Perhaps we did it too much, but we wasted chances to get even more goals. If El Shaarawy hadn’t scored when it was 2-1, I think this was turning into a very difficult match.”