Roma prepare to face Genoa on Sunday and head coach Daniele De Rossi addressed various topics in his pre-match press conference. Speaking about the situation involving Nicola Zalewski, De Rossi said:
“I don’t think the decision to exclude Zalewski from the squad is final. It’s related to his contract situation, which is expiring. The club made this choice and informed me a few days ago. Everything is tied to his contract, and nothing in football is definitive. If they reach an agreement for renewal, I believe he will be brought back. But I don’t know what to say because it’s a matter above my position.”
“We’re preparing for the match based on how Genoa approaches big teams and Gilardino’s requirements. They’re a tough and organized team. They’ve lost some important players but have equally valuable ones. Their midfield has great thinkers and runners. It will be difficult to face them in one of Italy’s most fascinating stadiums, at a time that doesn’t excite me. We’re ready and will go there to play our game.”
“They give us more options and significantly increase our experience. I was told they were in good physical shape before signing, and they indeed presented themselves well here. They need time to reach 100%, but they’re ready to play. We need to understand how much, but from next week, we’ll start playing every three days.”
“Dovbyk is ready to play and will play. He’s crucial for us; we’ve invested a lot in him. We chose Kone for his characteristics, as he’s played both as a right and left midfielder. But he can also play as a defensive midfielder with his qualities, allowing us to field even more offensive players in midfield.”
“We’ve been working intensively on defensive compactness. Regarding Dovbyk, we need to fill the box with other players too. It’s not easy to do certain things on the field and be present in the box at the same time, but we’ll get there.”
“We know that Genoa, like us, aren’t obsessed with possession. Every team must prepare based on what they believe is useful in the match. If we think we need to be a bit more incisive in the offensive phase, we can do that by having the ball a bit more. I don’t think it’s about how much possession you have, but what you do when you have the ball.”
