Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti admits Iago Falque “calls me into question” after a brilliant start at Torino.
The Spaniard joined the Giallorossi last summer, but was loaned to the Granata with an option to buy ahead of the current campaign.
Now the 26-year-old has scored five goals and provided three assists in seven games, and the tactician explained the move.
Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti admits Iago Falque “calls me into question” after a brilliant start at Torino.
The Spaniard joined the Giallorossi last summer, but was loaned to the Granata with an option to buy ahead of the current campaign.
Now the 26-year-old has scored five goals and provided three assists in seven games, and the tactician explained the move.
“I found myself having to discuss some positions, where I decide who the starter is and then beside him is someone who might not want to stay if he doesn’t play,” Spalletti explained.
“He might want to be called every time. Iago Falque is a wonderful lad who is doing really well right now and that calls me into question.
“He wanted to play, and I told him ‘I can’t guarantee you’ll play’. He spent afternoons training alone to give me a headache, then he goes away to play and makes you see he was right. These are the assessments we have to make.
“You can’t add Falque’s five goals to Roma’s, because they probably wouldn’t have happened.
“There’s also [Adem] Ljajic who I haven’t spoken to, who loses enthusiasm if he doesn’t play all the time. That’s not a criticism, it just depends how you’re built. In the end though I have to choose.
“Do you send a kid like [Federico] Ricci away to play, or keep his as a reserve? Maybe he’ll make you regret it, but in the meantime he’s increasing his value in a way he wouldn’t if he was here and not playing.
“Sometimes you can get it wrong. If Iago Falque tells me I’m wrong, maybe in interviews he doesn’t say anything, but if he said: ‘boss, look at the numbers’? What can you say? He’s right.”
Spalletti then turned his attention to Sassuolo, having worked with Coach Eusebio Di Francesco in his first spell with Roma.
“They’re well-Coached, they’re a strong club who aim to develop players, taking them and giving them the chance to improve. Di Francesco has a lot of good players.
“When he was Team Manager he was already a Coach. When I got him to take training and gave him the sheets he wouldn’t understand some of my choices.
“He was the Team Manager, but we’d be discussing football. He was already a Coach. Now he’s showing that he has personality, pushing all the right buttons.
“He can hurt anyone.”