Gasperini: ‘Roma squad players put to the test’ with VfB Stuttgart

Gian Piero Gasperini is above all glad Roma beat VfB Stuttgart with major squad rotation in the Europa League, as these players were ‘really put to the test,’ but will never ‘play for a point.’

Despite the massive rotation, they still secured a 2-0 victory over VfB Stuttgart, thanks to two goals from Giallorossi youth academy product Niccolò Pisilli.

“Pisilli already proved his worth last season and I think he has improved a lot,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.

“It was a performance, quite apart from the goals, that showed great maturity in midfield, and he is among those who can provide strength in depth at Roma.”

The 21-year-old has been compared to former legends like Marco Tardelli and Claudio Marchisio for his ability to ghost into the box from midfield.

“There are some similarities with Tardelli, even physically they are similar. He might not have Tardelli’s pace, but he does have the same ability to time the runs and has a good eye for goal.”

The coach made seven changes from the side that beat Torino 2-0 in Serie A at the weekend, also as he could not call upon January signings Donyell Malen and Robinio Vaz.

“I can see the growth of these players during training, so not just Pisilli, but also for example Ghilardi, while Ziolkowski has promise, even if he can’t do a full 90 minutes yet,” explained Gasperini.

“There are young players who are evolving physically, and we also needed to test the fitness levels of those coming back from injury like Pellegrini and Soulé. It was a perfect outcome, as against a very strong opponent in an important game for the table, we really put these players to the test.”

This result means that Roma have at the very least secured a place in the play-offs, but are now in sixth place of the Europa League with one more match to be played away to Panathinaikos.

The top eight go directly into the Round of 16 without needing to go through that extra stage of the tournament.

Roma are an odd team, in that they have so far this season played 29 competitive matches, with 19 victories and 10 defeats, but not a single stalemate.

“If we’d had a few more draws, we’d be higher up, but if we had less wins, then we’d be lower too,” smiled Gasperini.

“When there are three points for a win, then that is the result we must always go for. We are incapable of playing for a point, nor would I want to.

“We missed some results against the top teams, but we went close, as not all the defeats in Serie A were particularly clear-cut. If we can get a result in those matches too, we’ll feel stronger.”

Donyell Malen scored on his debut against Torino, though he and Robinio Vaz are unavailable until the next phase of the Europa League.

With Leon Bailey sent back to Aston Villa, is the Roma forward line now a bit closer to Gasperini’s idea of football, and can they bring in anyone else?

“We are still in an emergency situation in attack, as tonight we had Rensch attacking down the right, while Pellegrini is adapting in a more advanced role too,” explained the coach.

“Malen has already proved himself, while Robinio Vaz is a youngster of great promise that we’ll try to work with and understand how to use in the best way.

“What I see looking around at the top of Serie A, and also in Europe, there are many options to take off the bench, and especially in attack they can make a difference when you have five potential substitutions.”