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DE ROSSI: “WE AREN’T HERE TO MAKE UP THE NUMBERS”

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&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;Find out what coach&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;Daniele De Rossi&lt;/strong&gt; had to say on the eve of the match against Milan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You played here many times, but what are your thoughts on coming to San Siro in this new role?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify;&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“It was the stadium that I particularly wanted to come back to. In one of my early interviews, I said that I felt it was a shame that we’d already played Inter and AC Milan here. Fate and our European path have allowed us to return to the stadium that possibly transmits something different to me compared with all the others, apart from the ones where I felt at home in my career, one of which is here in Italy and the other is in Argentina.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“It’s a magnificent venue to play football at. It oozes glory. Whether you’re facing Inter or AC Milan, there’s a feeling that whoever has come here has seen brilliant footballers and experienced wonderful nights of football. We’re delighted to be here.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it an advantage or disadvantage to play the first leg away from home?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“It was always said that it was better to play the second leg at home. I think that now away goals no longer count double, this difference has become much less significant. It’s just like the fixture schedule. You have to play everyone sooner or later. That’s how it is. You have to play once at home and once away. You also have to be ready, beyond any external factors and the excitement, and prepare for the tie knowing that it’s over two legs.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How is Chris Smalling doing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify;&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“He’s doing well and is training with the squad. I didn’t bring him on in the derby to run the clock down, but because I felt he needed his height and defensive quality. He’s doing well. He’s just like the other players here.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify;&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“The discussion of managing his minutes is more linked to the fact that we won’t have Evan [Ndicka] tomorrow through suspension and Dean [Huijsen] isn’t in the squad, so we didn’t have many centre-backs left. If you start a player in that situation, you always have the doubt that you might end up in the game with only two centre-backs in [Gianluca] Mancini and Diego [Llorente].&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“That was the thinking behind it. Other decisions will be based on how the match is going, but he is doing well. He can play just like everyone else. He’s training hard or even very hard recently. We’re pleased with his recovery and how he’s trained in between returning from the second injury that he sustained and his rehab. He’s pushed hard to get back into the squad and I’m so pleased with him.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;People are interested to see what you’ll decide on down the left wing, where AC Milan are particularly strong, where Roma could attack and where it remains to be seen, given how Paulo [Dybala] often plays centrally when under pressure, how we will get after them. How many hours of sleep have you lost over this?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify;&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“We’re aware of how good all the AC Milan players are and when they have possession down the left, they can hurt anyone. It’s not just about Paulo, but it’s about knowing how to move and get into the right areas at the right time in terms of where these players prefer to play.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify;&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“I also think that if you’re lucky enough to coach a player like Dybala, you need to ask them to make sacrifices, run hard, show commitment and win duels, but at the same time, you mustn’t ask too much of them either or you may ruin the athletic and mental condition that they need to chase others. I think they’ll be very scared of him too.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify;&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“I have a photo on my phone, which is a screenshot from Instagram. Paulo was involved in nine duels in the derby. He battled like real leaders do. That means so much to me. It’s never enough, though. It’s their duty in fact, but when you see these quality players throwing themselves about, sliding in, chasing everyone down, having that energy both for the 70 or 75 minutes on the pitch and the rest in the dugout plus after the final whistle, it makes us feel calm.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;“It’s down to me to tell him when, where and how to go into battle and maybe not to get him running up and down the whole flank with Theo Hernandez.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;(Photo LaPresse)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&#34;text-align: justify; &#34;&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;https://www.asroma.com/en/news/70926/de-rossi-we-arent-here-to-make-up-the-numbers&#34;&gt;www.asroma.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Roma will be in Europa League quarter-final first-leg action away to AC Milan on Thursday evening at 21:00 CEST

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Find out what coach&nbsp;Daniele De Rossi had to say on the eve of the match against Milan.You played here many times, but what are your thoughts on coming to San Siro in this new role?“It was the stadium that I particularly wanted to come back to. In one of my early interviews, I said that I felt it was a shame that we’d already played Inter and AC Milan here. Fate and our European path have allowed us to return to the stadium that possibly transmits something different to me compared with all the others, apart from the ones where I felt at home in my career, one of which is here in Italy and the other is in Argentina.“It’s a magnificent venue to play football at. It oozes glory. Whether you’re facing Inter or AC Milan, there’s a feeling that whoever has come here has seen brilliant footballers and experienced wonderful nights of football. We’re delighted to be here.”Is it an advantage or disadvantage to play the first leg away from home?“It was always said that it was better to play the second leg at home. I think that now away goals no longer count double, this difference has become much less significant. It’s just like the fixture schedule. You have to play everyone sooner or later. That’s how it is. You have to play once at home and once away. You also have to be ready, beyond any external factors and the excitement, and prepare for the tie knowing that it’s over two legs.”How is Chris Smalling doing?“He’s doing well and is training with the squad. I didn’t bring him on in the derby to run the clock down, but because I felt he needed his height and defensive quality. He’s doing well. He’s just like the other players here.“The discussion of managing his minutes is more linked to the fact that we won’t have Evan [Ndicka] tomorrow through suspension and Dean [Huijsen] isn’t in the squad, so we didn’t have many centre-backs left. If you start a player in that situation, you always have the doubt that you might end up in the game with only two centre-backs in [Gianluca] Mancini and Diego [Llorente].“That was the thinking behind it. Other decisions will be based on how the match is going, but he is doing well. He can play just like everyone else. He’s training hard or even very hard recently. We’re pleased with his recovery and how he’s trained in between returning from the second injury that he sustained and his rehab. He’s pushed hard to get back into the squad and I’m so pleased with him.”People are interested to see what you’ll decide on down the left wing, where AC Milan are particularly strong, where Roma could attack and where it remains to be seen, given how Paulo [Dybala] often plays centrally when under pressure, how we will get after them. How many hours of sleep have you lost over this?“We’re aware of how good all the AC Milan players are and when they have possession down the left, they can hurt anyone. It’s not just about Paulo, but it’s about knowing how to move and get into the right areas at the right time in terms of where these players prefer to play.“I also think that if you’re lucky enough to coach a player like Dybala, you need to ask them to make sacrifices, run hard, show commitment and win duels, but at the same time, you mustn’t ask too much of them either or you may ruin the athletic and mental condition that they need to chase others. I think they’ll be very scared of him too.“I have a photo on my phone, which is a screenshot from Instagram. Paulo was involved in nine duels in the derby. He battled like real leaders do. That means so much to me. It’s never enough, though. It’s their duty in fact, but when you see these quality players throwing themselves about, sliding in, chasing everyone down, having that energy both for the 70 or 75 minutes on the pitch and the rest in the dugout plus after the final whistle, it makes us feel calm.“It’s down to me to tell him when, where and how to go into battle and maybe not to get him running up and down the whole flank with Theo Hernandez.”(Photo LaPresse)<a href="https://www.asroma.com/en/news/70926/de-rossi-we-arent-here-to-make-up-the-numbers">www.asroma.com</a>

DE ROSSI: “WE AREN’T HERE TO MAKE UP THE NUMBERS” | News

DE ROSSI: “WE AREN’T HERE TO MAKE UP THE NUMBERS”

Roma will be in Europa League quarter-final first-leg action away to AC Milan on Thursday evening at 21:00 CEST

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DE ROSSI: “WE AREN’T HERE TO MAKE UP THE NUMBERS” | News