Paulo Fonseca hints at a different role for Bryan Cristante against Cagliari, but warns “if you can’t handle the pressure at Roma, go and plant potatoes.”
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“This is one of those rare occasions where it’ll be easy for me to choose the starting XI,” said Fonseca in his Press conference, referring to the injury crisis.
Paulo Fonseca hints at a different role for Bryan Cristante against Cagliari, but warns “if you can’t handle the pressure at Roma, go and plant potatoes.”
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“This is one of those rare occasions where it’ll be easy for me to choose the starting XI,” said Fonseca in his Press conference, referring to the injury crisis.
Alessandro Florenzi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Diego Perotti, Cengiz Under and Davide Zappacosta are out of action.
“Florenzi has not recovered yet, he is still at home with flu. I expect a difficult and complicated game against a Cagliari side that is playing very well and coming off positive results.
“It has been a difficult period for us, without much time to prepare, train or recover, but the team has given good responses. I hope we can play at a sufficient level to win the game tomorrow.
“Javier Pastore isn’t ready to play two games in 72 hours without fully recovering. Bryan Cristante has already played as a trequartista in the past, but Jordan Veretout has the characteristics to play there too. We don’t really use a ‘classic’ Number 10 there, as we require different work to the usual, but in the circumstances, we are going to have to use one of these two.
“Of course we work on injury prevention, but many of these injuries are traumatic, like Zappacosta or Pellegrini, so cannot be predicted.
“The question should not be why Roma suffer so many injuries, but is the packed fixture list really compatible with the physique of a professional football player?”
The Giallorossi were in action on Thursday evening with a 1-1 Europa League draw away to Wolfsberg.
“Considering we maintained first place in the group and broke further away from the other two sides, the draw was not a bad result. Our ambition is always to win, so there was profound dissatisfaction and anger from everyone in the locker room after the game.
“It’s true that we create a lot of chances and often get the final ball wrong, so we have been talking about that, even if there isn’t much time to work on it.”
Fonseca was asked about the phrase from Cagliari midfielder Radja Nainggolan, who said players at Roma struggle to live with the pressure.
“Who wouldn’t want to live with this pressure? Who cannot deal with it cannot be a professional football player. I see the support of the fans who believe in us, who create a wonderful atmosphere both at home and away.
“Pressure is everywhere, especially at a club that wants to win. If you are not able to deal with the pressure, you should go and plant potatoes in a field instead. This pressure exists in football and you have to accept it.”