Luciano Spalletti was fresh from a 4-1 victory away to Milan, but confessed “if I could go back, I would never have returned to Roma.”
His contract is due to expire on June 30 and so far the tactician has refused to discuss a renewal, but his latest comments seem to suggest the die is cast.
Luciano Spalletti was fresh from a 4-1 victory away to Milan, but confessed “if I could go back, I would never have returned to Roma.”
His contract is due to expire on June 30 and so far the tactician has refused to discuss a renewal, but his latest comments seem to suggest the die is cast.
The Coach had already reacted with irritation when questioned about Francesco Totti by Mediaset Premium and moving on to Sky Sport Italia lost his patience.
“All this really disappoints me… If I could go back, I would never have returned to Roma,” said Spalletti, who had another spell here from 2005 to 2009.
“We always end up talking about the same thing. This team deserves praise, but instead we are always talking about this and if I play him for just five minutes, I’m disrespecting a legend, then if I don’t introduce him, that’s wrong too.
“The issue is here we are fighting to get into the Champions League and win the game in any way possible. We are a good team and tonight we should’ve finished Milan off earlier, because if the third goal hadn’t gone in straight away, we would’ve been under pressure.
“Tonight we set a record for six consecutive away victories. We’ve done great things, even if we haven’t always played brilliantly, but these statistics will remain.
“We work from morning to night in order to prepare in the best way for every match and that means not running the risk of conceding a late goal.”
Roma received a late penalty and Totti would’ve taken that if he had been introduced, but instead it was Daniele De Rossi.
“How did I know we were going to get a penalty? What could I have given him in five minutes? Milan were attacking, we were tired, so that was my decision. I’m sorry.”
Spalletti was asked if he has already decided to walk away from the Stadio Olimpico.
“No, this is not the issue. We’ll talk at the end. People wait for you at home, they have these ‘Spalletti v Totti’ banners at Trigoria, people ask me about this constantly and I don’t know what else to do.
“It is really disappointing, because Francesco always shows his quality and works hard in training, but I have to make choices for the team.”