EDF: 'Roma fell apart'

Roma Coach Eusebio Di Francesco confessed he “didn’t like that performance at all” in a 2-1 defeat to 10-man Atalanta. “We fell apart.”

The Giallorossi were 2-0 down to Andreas Cornelius and Marten De Roon, only getting a goal back through Edin Dzeko after De Roon had been sent off.

“We started well for 10 minutes, then fell apart and lost our confidence after going a goal behind. That mustn’t happen, because if you are playing for Roma, you should have the belief to keep going and hold your head up high,” the Coach told Mediaset Premium.

“I didn’t like the performance at all, above all for the attitude, but then at the moment we are finding it really difficult to put the ball in the net.

“We have certainly taken steps backwards lately. We all have to accept responsibility and use this break to recharge the batteries, both physically and psychologically, because we cannot be the team that we’ve seen lately.

“In big clubs, you need the most representative players to also lead the others. We must keep pushing, as we’ve done some important things, but absolutely cannot rest on those laurels.

“We must learn from the mistakes we are making lately and bring out that bit more determination that we need to make situations go our way.”

Roma’s biggest problem at the moment is the lack of goals and Di Francesco considers a change to their 4-3-3 approach.

“We put in I don’t know how many crosses, yet we scored the goal from a vertical pass. We often do get goals that way, so we must try to vary it and realise being direct is not a problem. The many crosses aren’t paying off, so we ought to shake things up and I need to push them harder to do more.”

Radja Nainggolan was frozen out for this game as punishment for excessive partying on New Year’s Eve, so Di Francesco was asked if Roma would’ve won with the Belgian there tonight?

“We’ll never know what would’ve happened, but I want to point out Radja was playing in our other defeats this season.

“We had to make a decision that was based on discipline, ethics and professionalism. You have to make difficult choices in life to do the right thing and from the next game Radja will be more fired up than ever to contribute to the cause.”