Gasperini: ‘Roma showed quality, but Raspadori questions are irritating’

Gian Piero Gasperini praised his Roma talent after their 2-0 win over Sassuolo, but refused to discuss Giacomo Raspadori. ‘It’s irritating and just fuels media talk.’

The Giallorossi took a while to get going at the Stadio Olimpico, and were frustrated when a penalty was revoked for the Matias Soulé offside position.

When they finally did break through with Manu Koné, the second goal was just 120 seconds later from Soulé on a Stephan El Shaarawy back-heel flick for the 2-0 result.

“The first half had been good too, but when we got into the final third, we were too timid. After the restart we undoubtedly raised the tempo, but also did better on a technical level, so I saw some of the close passes that we do in training,” Gasperini told DAZN Italia.

“I have to thank these lads, who are extraordinary for their effort, but also for their quality.”

Paulo Dybala had some great moves, but is without a goal in Serie A since the last time he faced Sassuolo 76 days ago.

“He is waiting for the big games! I am glad he is enjoying his football, he showed some of his extraordinary repertoire of skills today, he will rediscover the power and precision in his finish with time,” joked Gasperini.

Roma are at the very least still sure of joint fourth place at the end of this weekend, even if Juventus beat Cremonese, especially as Como were held to a 1-1 draw by Bologna today.

The injury crisis continues to intensify, as Evan Ferguson limped off with a bruised back in the first half, joining Artem Dovbyk, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Leon Bailey and Pierluigi Gollini on the treatment table.

Neil El Aynaoui and Evan Ndicka are still at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Wesley hadn’t originally been in the squad yesterday, but made a late cameo appearance despite flu symptoms.

“Ferguson had a nasty bruise, he was unlucky, these are certainly painful knocks that can stop you moving smoothly. It’s a pity for him, we’ll see tomorrow what the tests say, but I don’t think it’s muscular or anything more serious.”

Soulé was playing in a more central role today after Ferguson went off, and showed he could do well there too.

“It is a solution we had tried early on in the season, I think he has what it takes to play there, as he has tenacity and can bring some creativity to that area. It’s not always possible, but he did very well this evening,” noted Gasperini.

“I also ask him to have more sharpness, as he does extraordinary things in the final third in training, but in a match situation he lacks a little something in front of goal. He needs more stamina to be ready in those situations.”

There are reports Raspadori will make his decision tomorrow on whether to accept the loan with option to buy from Atletico Madrid, but Gasperini reacted angrily when asked about the hesitation.

“I don’t want to get into this issue, it’s rather irritating, so I prefer to only talk about my players who are having a series of good performances. They deserve respect, are giving their all, and if there are other players then we can discuss them,” explained the coach.

“I think in football we talk too much about players who belong to other clubs. We go on for months and months being asked about players, while we play dozens of games with someone else. We are just fuelling these media with endless talk about players who aren’t at Roma.”