Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti will hold a summit with his directors today after the argument with Francesco Totti.
Rumours emerged yesterday of a bitter disagreement between the club's Coach and their captain, following the disappointing 3-3 draw against Atalanta.
Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti will hold a summit with his directors today after the argument with Francesco Totti.
Rumours emerged yesterday of a bitter disagreement between the club's Coach and their captain, following the disappointing 3-3 draw against Atalanta.
While Spalletti later denied there had been any unusual disagreement, and in particular no physical confrontation, multiple sources are now confirming there was a hostile scene.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Spalletti gathered together the team after the game and told them off very harshly.
“You never win, it's been 10 years that you look like fools and that I have to stand these little school-groups,” he yelled.
At that point Totti reportedly intervened to disagree. His exact words remain obscure, but he is believed to have been just as harsh in his manners, calling upon him the wrath of the Coach.
“You shut up!” Spalletti shouted at him. “You're not the one talk, when you go around the rooms playing cards until 2a.m.!”
President James Pallotta later minimised the incident.
“It wasn't just an argument between Francesco and the Coach,” he said from the USA. “What happened is not different than what happened with other players today.
“The Coach isn't happy with his players because they lose focus when they are in the lead.”
The situation should hopefully be resolved in a summit to be held today between Spalletti, sporting director Walter Sabatini, and general director Mauro Baldissoni.
The Coach will presumably argue against fielding Totti, while the directors are expected to keep Spalletti from excluding the captain from the remaining games altogether.
The Gazzetta further reports that Totti will probably leave Roma at the end of the season after yesterday's incident, finding a new team in the United Arab Emirates or in the United States of America.