“Angeliño has started working again, albeit individually. He’s training well; we’re somewhat dependent on the doctors for this situation. Dybala and Bailey are working together; I think they’re good going
forwards, but we need approval here too. The internationals, on the other hand, arrived a day earlier than in previous weeks. They performed well, almost all of them played, and since Thursday we’ve been fully equipped. We trained well on Thursday and yesterday. We’re trying to pick up where we left off, even though the recovery is always an unknown.”
Those were the updates on some injured players who are close to returning. However, all three will remain out this week. Mario Hermoso will also be out after ending his training session early due to discomfort. Additionally, Roma will be without Artem Dovbyk, who will be out for quite some time.
In a bit of good news, Evan Ferguson returns from his injury to give Roma a boost up front. Gasperini was asked about Ferguson during his pre-match press conference as well.
“Definitely [He has improved]. Training is the right thing for a very young player, coming from another country, and he definitely needs some adjustment. It involves matches, training, but also life, having been catapulted into another dimension, so he needed some time to integrate with his new teammates. When I said so, I started him in the match, and he had to come off after a minute with this sprained ankle, but in general, with these guys, at this age, you have to wait a bit.”
Gasperini was asked about the possibility of playing without a striker despite the return of Ferguson.
“In football, as I’ve said many times, you can play in many ways; the important thing is that it’s effective. In my career, I’ve had Milito, Zapata, and Muriel score more than 20 goals, while in the year we scored 98 league goals, we were without a center forward, with Ilicic, Gomez, and Pasalic at the back. And that’s happening to us right now. Everything needs to be tested on the pitch, understanding their characteristics, their solutions, their shooting ability. Then there are moments in the game, when you try certain solutions because they’re convenient for you. I think it’s important to have multiple options, even within the same match.”
If he does go without a true striker, Tommaso Baldanzi could be the one to draw the assignment as the false 9. Gasperini was also asked about the Italian, who has been connected with a January exit.
“You all know his characteristics very well. In emergencies, as happened with Udinese, in moments of difficulty, if we’d had all our forwards, we might not have chosen that solution with Baldanzi up front. But in emergencies, I think he has the ability to play in that role, but perhaps he lacks other skills. But he’s a versatile player, with good technique, a good shot, and in certain situations close to goal he can become dangerous. That’s not really his role, and who knows if he’ll ever become one. He’s always played in other positions, but right now he’s an effective player for us. He was very good against Udinese. He and Ferguson adapt to that role—he out of necessity, Ferguson out of characteristics—but in any case, he’s a player who can perform well in certain conditions. He’s done very well in training these past few weeks.”
With Ferguson’s return, we expect Gasperini to adopt a more traditional lineup, with the Irishman leading the line while being supported by Matías Soulé and Lorenzo Pellegrini. The midfield is also expected to be status quo with Bryan Cristante and Manu Koné. That means Niccoló Pisilli, who scored twice for Italy’s U21 team during the international break, will keep waiting for his opportunity. Gasperini reiterated that he is valued by himself and the club despite not consistently getting playing time.
“Pisilli scored an extraordinary goal. He consistently scores for the Under-21s. He’s one of the most interesting young players in our game. Right now, he has Kone, Cristante, and El Aynaoui ahead of him, but I definitely owe him something. We’re now entering a phase of 16 consecutive games, seven of which we’ve started. The toughest period will be between the end of December and the end of January, when we have nine to play, with qualification for the Europa League and the Coppa Italia on the sidelines, as well as tough league matches. It’s easy to predict that we’ll need the entire squad. So far, I’ve used a fairly broad core of players who have all played more or less the same games. Others, like Pisilli, while playing, haven’t played very much.
But for him, Ghilardi, and Ziolkowski, the time will come when it will be crucial to have the support of the squad, because there will also come times when players get injured or have to sit out. Here, if you’re out for two weeks, you lose five games; that’s when the squad’s ability will emerge.”
Where Gasperini will have an interesting decision to make is on the wings and backline with the injury to Hermoso and the prolonged absence of Angeliño where Devyne Rensch could be an option.
“He’s [Rensch] played so little because Wesley and Celik have been extraordinary, they’ve had amazing performances. We’ve become stronger and more competitive on the wings, and we’ve played some top-level games, so he’s been given less space. But that doesn’t take anything away from Rensch, who had a great game in the derby. Maybe other opportunities will come. I can’t play more than eleven at a time. Tomorrow, he could be an alternative with Hermoso missing. The options are a defender or a winger and Celik back in. The solutions are him, Tsimikas, Ghilardi, and Ziolkowski. Tomorrow’s choice will be made from among these.”
ROMA (3‑4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Çelik; Rensch, Koné, Cristante, Wesley; Soulé, Pellegrini; Ferguson
