Roma manager Ivan Juric held a press conference ahead of the team’s upcoming match against Verona, addressing various topics including player fitness, team improvements, and individual performances.
On Dovbyk’s availability, Juric stated, “We’ll see today and make decisions based on today’s training session. I need to see the training for the others as well. These are all technical choices; it doesn’t change anything if one plays or another. Dovbyk didn’t train yesterday. He hasn’t done anything since the last match.”
Regarding the Verona match, he noted, “The environment is positive and pushes for the team. In my opinion, they have fast players and have alternated excellent performances with less good ones. They’re coming from a negative period but did well even in Lecce with one man down. They want to redeem themselves, and it will be a difficult match as always.”
On areas for improvement, he emphasized, “I’ve said from day one that we have many young players with significant room for growth. It’s not a problem; we have a balanced squad. Young players are more likely to improve because they get better over time. The older ones are a guarantee. We need to show that we’re becoming a good group, but if we don’t get a result in Verona, we haven’t done anything. I expect the same mentality, the same game, and to try to win. The other day we deserved it.”
Discussing Soulé, he remarked, “Soulé played a lot before getting sick. I don’t see any problems. In that role, there are players like Baldanzi and Dybala, and we have to choose for each match. Soulé has great room for improvement, but Baldanzi is doing very well and Dybala is good. Our environment is in a hurry, and my experience with many players is that you have to work with them, and if they’re willing, they’ll grow as happened with Zaccagni, Ricci, and Buongiorno.”
On Dybala’s importance to the team, Juric said, “On a human level, he grasped the importance of the match. All that matters is playing good football; you have to win the game and train well to win. He played as a false 9, but in other matches too, he has more freedom compared to others. He perceives what happens, and when he plays, we give him more freedom than others.”
Regarding the wingers, he added, “Zalewski and El Shaarawy prefer to play on the left, although Zale did well on the right against Dynamo. He only had cramps on Thursday. There’s little time to do anything. Dahl is interesting; I see him like Angeliño. When he plays as a wing-back, he loses and is similar to him in characteristics and technique. They have less one-on-one compared to others but have a great foot. Maybe he started a bit behind his teammates, but I’m liking his mentality.”
