Claudio Ranieri has acknowledged that he is facing difficulty in helping Roma secure a top-four finish to the Serie A season. The Italian manager was appointed as the caretaker manager last month but he has since struggled to change the club’s fortunes with a couple of defeats from the opening three matches.
One of those came at the weekend where Roma suffered a damaging 4-1 defeat to Napoli and speaking after that game, the veteran acknowledged that he is giving his best to resurrect the club’s run of form, he said: “We’re doing everything. We’re going through a period where we concede from the first attack in the first half. We were able to equalise – I don’t know how – but they scored the second goal from their first attack after the break. It is hard, you try to help the group, but the other team runs more. It’s difficult to help them, it is difficult, but we’re not giving up. It is hard but we’re doing our best.”
With the result, Roma have dropped four points behind the Champions League places and they have a tough task ahead with four of the remaining eight matches on the road, where they have managed just five wins through the campaign. Elsewhere, they also have a home meeting against Juventus during the run-in and things don’t look bright for Ranieri’s men, unless they find a sudden trust in confidence.
Roma’s next game comes against Sampdoria on the road and the match should pose plenty of questions over their credentials. Sampdoria are currently just three points behind them on the table and they have shown that they can compete against the elite after succumbing AC Milan to a 1-0 defeat at the weekend. Roma have won just one of the previous three meetings against Sampdoria.
Despite the outcome, Koulibaly was recently named among the African Player of The Year contenders and speaking about the same, he said: “The most important thing is that I always try to improve so I can show everyone that I can be one of the best defenders in the world. For me, when I scored this goal I was really happy. I really want to win something with Napoli, they give me a lot of love and confidence. I want to give something back to them and I hope it will be the Scudetto.”
In an interview with Sky Sports, Conte has suggested that he is prepared to wait for the right opportunity ahead and does not have the immediate thought to returning to management, he said: “For a manager of my level it is better to wait instead of jumping on a train. I prefer to wait for June and to start a path with a new team, a new project. For the moment, I don’t feel the urge to go back to work. Maybe in a two or three months I will feel the desire and I’ll say something different from what I am saying now.”
Speaking after the 1-0 win over Fiorentina, Ancelotti said: “Napoli are destined to improveand we must do so quickly.We now have a lot of games coming and that will help us. They are all of a high level and all in all we are ready. So many reasons [for the change of formation]. It reduces the defensive role of Insigne. The team can defend well in either system and I’m more used to the other way of playing but I don’t see problems with this. We were solid, compact, and sometimes a bit disjointed and off balance.”
Speaking after the match, Allegri spoke about the nature of the game whilst stressing that the supporters need to have more patience with Ronaldo, he said: “We rushed things a bit at the start. There was a risk that we could get ahead of ourselves with all the excitement among the fans around Cristiano’s home debut. We needed to show a bit more patience. At times our play is too frenetic and at others we go to sleep, but we need to move the ball more quickly when the opposition tire. That said, we will improve and I’m pleased because this is an important win in our first match against a direct rival.”