Roma, Gasperini unleashes: "Never feeling with Massara. Don’t put me on the same level as Ranieri"

Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini in a press conference commented harshly on Claudio Ranieri’s farewell to the Giallorossi club: “Meanwhile, the statement highlights two things: the trust, which has never been lacking toward me from the club. And the other is that Roma is in front of everything. In what did Ranieri disappoint me? That I never had the feeling of these strong and harsh tones, never in any meeting. Only this. And he surprised me a lot.”

“I did nothing, period. I didn’t create anything, and don’t put me on the same level. I never created any problems. Some time ago I talked about ‘Trigoria’ because this is where soccer is done, and I do soccer, for the rest I am out of all other matters. I repeat: I want to talk only about soccer, not about other situations where I have been pulled in. The events have been there for all to see, and I don’t feel like commenting on them. I repeat: I have been out of it and I don’t want to participate in this mud machine.”

“I think teamwork is needed more than ever,” Gasperini continued. “Then more than ever also the coach must be complementary with the ds in the market. Perhaps coach and ds should be responsible together for the results and the formation of a team, for better or worse. They should travel in pairs.”

So the coach from Grugliasco is clear with the ds Frederic Massara: “He is a very good person, but under the technical aspect we have not found feeling. But always only referred to the team, there was never anything personal. We were always very professional. Is he going to leave? I don’t decide that, there is the society. It’s not that I wasn’t happy with Massara’s operations, I always told him that he knew a player then he had to take him, that’s his job… There was never a closure from me on anyone. But from day one I talked about strengthening us up front.”

“A normal request, on everything else I never vetoed. Yes, on the attack I insisted because I thought and I think it is the focal point. It doesn’t seem to me such a difficult thing to understand or that it could create this whole situation.”