Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti admits the Champions League play-off draw 'could have been better', whilst discussing his goalkeeper uncertainty.

The Giallorossi have just finished their North American tournee by disposing of Montreal Impact with a 2-0 victory, but there have been some mixed signals from their performance.

Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti admits the Champions League play-off draw 'could have been better', whilst discussing his goalkeeper uncertainty.

The Giallorossi have just finished their North American tournee by disposing of Montreal Impact with a 2-0 victory, but there have been some mixed signals from their performance.

“I'm happy about the game, but if we handled the ball better we'd have conceded less chances and produced more,” Spalletti told the Press after the match. “But if you consider the game on the whole, it's all fine. Possession play could have been better, but this can be explained by the accumulation of work done so far, the many journeys and the toxins we still have from the game with Liverpool two days ago.”

The Tuscan Coach fielded new signings Alisson and Gerson, who could have a strong impact on the Lupi's upcoming season.

“We must be pleased about the good things shown to us by Alisson. We already knew that we had two strong goalkeepers, we're happy about that but for this very reason I don't know who the starter is going to be. It'll depend on them.

“I must be careful about being fair. Alisson showed that he developed in terms of playing with his feet, he has a strong physical presence in between the posts as well as agility. [Wojciech] Szczesny still hasn't joined us.

“There's a hierarchy, because that's how things have always been. There are different phases and when two players are strong they can be ready to play when called upon, one week after the next. After all, there will be many games, and I can't field one as a full-back!

“As for Gerson, I tried playing him lower, I wanted to see [Federico] Ricci in his position. In the first part of the second half he did well as a trequartista. That's his best area, he feels at home there. He showed a lot of effort and physicality, on the whole he did well.

“We're all doing well in terms of our work schedule. There's still some progress to be made, perhaps quickly, but I'm convinced we'll reap the rewards when we come home and stop spending our time on planes.

“We'll have to sort out our jet-lag. It's going to be even harder to train when we come back, we'll need to fix our minds on our target and consider the timing we're still lacking for the important games. I'm convinced we'll be able to do this, and we'll be ready for the game on August 16-17.”

Roma will find out their play-off opponents for Champions League qualification on Friday, and they could include big teams like Manchester City and Porto.

“Other combinations could have been better, but clearly we've got to be ready to face our opponents right from the beginning. We don't get to take our pick.

“We must consider all of our adversaries to be strong, but we must also believe that we can pass the turn. I'm confident that that's how it's going to go, although it'll be a tough game.

“The only problem is that the first game in Serie A is a bit of a clash. In the last seven-eight situations like this one, nobody ever managed to qualify and then go on and win the first game in the championship. We'll have to give it our all.”

Byandrea

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