Rudi Garcia had words of praise for his midfielders after Roma beat the MLS All-Stars 3-1 in a Kansas City friendly.
The Giallorossi disposed of their American opponents thanks to goals from Kevin Strootman, Alessandro Florenzi and Junior Tallo.
Rudi Garcia had words of praise for his midfielders after Roma beat the MLS All-Stars 3-1 in a Kansas City friendly.
The Giallorossi disposed of their American opponents thanks to goals from Kevin Strootman, Alessandro Florenzi and Junior Tallo.
“I was very happy with Strootman, Michael Bradley and Miralem Pjanic,” new boss Garcia, who fielded a 4-3-3, commented after the tie.
“The midfield is the heart of the team and the heart of my game. Obviously, that’s why I need several good players in that area.
“These are midfielders that know how to change positions and today you saw that Kevin, Michael and Miralem are capable of pushing forward.
“You need complementary midfielders and to look for ways to make life complicated for the opponents.”
The French tactician added that he was pleased with the efforts of a team who have had a tough pre-season so far.
“There was fatigue and tired legs out there,” the man who replaced Aurelio Andreazzoli added. “You have to play with your heads when you don’t have the legs and we did that.
“The team played very well and I’m really happy about the third goal, that was a collective strike by the team.
“However, there is still work to do because we’ve not been able to keep a clean sheet.”
MLS All-Stars 1-3 Roma
Goals: Strootman 6, Florenzi 47, Tallo 68, Gonzalez 91
MLS: Fernandez (Rimando 46); Besler (Gonzalez 46), Ashe (Yedlin 91), Collin; Johnson (Wondolowsky 46), Beckerman (Bernier 46), Zusi (Camilo 24), Davis (Magee 46); Henry (McInerey 46), Di Vaio (Donovan 46)
Roma: De Sanctis (Lobont 63); Torosidis, Benatia, Castan, Balzaretti; Bradley, Pjanic (De Rossi 63), Strootman; Florenzi (Marquinho 63), Tallo (Caprari 80), Totti (Ricci F 86)