Kevin Strootman concedes Roma’s 2-1 home defeat to 10-man Atalanta was “shameful. I think it must be a psychological issue, as we lack confidence.”
The Giallorossi got one back in the second half with Edin Dzeko, but were 2-0 down after Andreas Cornelius and Marten De Roon strikes.
“If we talk about the first half, it was shameful to play like that on home turf,” the Dutch midfielder told Roma TV.
Kevin Strootman concedes Roma’s 2-1 home defeat to 10-man Atalanta was “shameful. I think it must be a psychological issue, as we lack confidence.”
The Giallorossi got one back in the second half with Edin Dzeko, but were 2-0 down after Andreas Cornelius and Marten De Roon strikes.
“If we talk about the first half, it was shameful to play like that on home turf,” the Dutch midfielder told Roma TV.
“I think it must be a psychological issue, as we lack confidence and don’t take responsibility. I believe it’s not a physical or tactical problem. We have to get out of this moment, because we are struggling. We’ve got to work and get back to our level.
“We must all do more, starting from me. Everyone has to take responsibility for the situation. I’ve never played that badly in my four years at this club. We tried in the second half, but it was too late.”
Roma had found their form and topped the Champions League group, but then crashed out of the Coppa Italia to Torino and scraped one point from the last three Serie A games.
Local rivals Lazio have now leapfrogged the Giallorossi, knocking them down to fifth place.
“I don’t know what happened after we qualified first in the Champions League group. It’s as if we just let go, it’s difficult to explain. We’ve got to all do more to help out, from the strikers to the defenders. We have to give our all for 95 minutes.”
There is now a two-week Serie A break, so will Roma discuss the situation in the locker room?
“Of course, don’t you think we do that already? We work every day, both on and off the field, even if now people say we sit around doing nothing,” replied an irritated Strootman.
“You only gain confidence by playing well and winning. If I play like I did today, then I can’t help anyone. We’ve got to look at ourselves and understand where to improve.”