Luciano Spalletti believes talk of Monchi becoming Roma’s sporting director is unfair on incumbent Ricky Massara. “He must be respected…”
Monchi appears headed for Roma this summer following the announcement that he is to leave Sevilla, but Spalletti was quick to back the “lovely” Massara, who succeeded Walter Sabatini at the end of last year and would be a “loss” in the Coach’s eyes.
Luciano Spalletti believes talk of Monchi becoming Roma’s sporting director is unfair on incumbent Ricky Massara. “He must be respected…”
Monchi appears headed for Roma this summer following the announcement that he is to leave Sevilla, but Spalletti was quick to back the “lovely” Massara, who succeeded Walter Sabatini at the end of last year and would be a “loss” in the Coach’s eyes.
“The Coppa Italia semi-final against Lazio a distraction? No, not for me,” he said at a Press conference for Saturday’s Serie A clash with Empoli.
“I’m only thinking about the match against Empoli. The best way to approach the game against Lazio is by doing well against the Tuscans. Our focus is only on this game.
“Players’ conditions after the international break? They’re all good, except for De Rossi. He has a problem in his back, we have to assess him day by day.
“It’ll be difficult to have him available tomorrow. The others are fine, although it’s normal for them to have suffered a bit of fatigue.
“Grenier’s turn? I’ve only seen little of him, but I’ll assess him today. I won’t rule him out, I’ll take him into consideration.
“Monchi? I know nothing about it, I haven’t talked to the club about certain issues. Today we have [Ricky] Massara.
“He must be respected, as should all the people that have achieved excellent results for this club.
“And don’t forget Sabatini, whom I’ve talked about several times already. Back to Massara, he’s a lovely person. he understands football.
“Him leaving would be a loss. I don’t know Monchi, I’ve only heard about him.
“My recent talks with Pallotta? I simply reiterated what you [reporters] already know. On the other hand, what I told him, well … you should ask the President directly.
“Franco Baldini’s role? It’s a way to divert attention to something I don’t want to participate in.
“I don’t decide the organisational structure. There can be no deviations, we’re only thinking about the game.
“Nainggolan to be rested? We’d better not give advantages to our opponents.
“Napoli–Juventus? I must only think about our game. I’ll watch the game in Naples because it’ll be a big match with two great Coaches and great teams on the pitch, but I’m only thinking about our challenge.
“Totti? He could play several games, but it’d depend on many aspects: physical fitness, the time, the result … Still I consider him to be a player like everyone else.
“Finishing second? Winning means to raise a trophy to the sky. Winning means winning.
“Finishing the season with a big number of points would be a pleasure, this is true, but the trophies are trophies.
“I can also say that I’m happy for the return of the Curva [Sud], I’ve missed it.
“Who decides whether second place is a failure? The big names in journalism, not me.”