By Anna Italia
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It’s obvious that AS Roma are looking for a brighter season and looking to have a good summer. The Roman gladiators starting the pre-season with a great victory defeating almighty Real Madrid on penalty shoot-out on Saturday 18 July. Well, that’s a closed case now. AS Roma coach Rudi Garcia is now preparing the International Champions Cup match against Manchester City on Tuesday 21 July in Melbourne, Australia.
Here are the declarations of Garcia during the press conference.
Rudi, these matches are friendlies, but after the result against Real Madrid have you given any thought to Roma winning the whole competition?
“We always play to win and that’s what I told the players before the match against Real Madrid – they did very well and weren’t content with the draw. It’s important to have that culture of winning and desire always, even in friendly matches. We know City well as we played them in the Champions League last year. We put in two good performances, even though the result of the second match at the Olimpico wasn’t the one we were expecting. It’s always an interesting experience to play against clubs of that level.”
Photo asroma.it
How’s Alessio Romagnoli? Will he play tomorrow? What level are you at in terms of preparation?
“Romagnoli was fine this morning and if there are no problems this afternoon he’ll play a part in the match against City, as was planned against Real Madrid. My team is working well and the players are demonstrating a real work ethic. They’re working hard and we’re doing everything we can do manage their physical condition, with all the time zones, traveling, changes in temperature and different kick-off times – we don’t want to take too many risks in these tours. Things are going well and tomorrow we need to put in a high-level performance. It’s always interesting to try and gauge what point the team is at. Against Real Madrid we saw that the guys were already playing with fluency. They know each other well and have returned full of enthusiasm and with fresh minds – they’re enjoying practicing our brand of football. Right now we’re on the right track.”
Did you see City’s last match? What are you expecting from tomorrow?
“I didn’t see it live, but as always we’re working from videos to provide the players with useful information. Their roster hasn’t changed that much. They’ll be without the players that took part in the Copa America, but at the same time they’ve had a good transfer window and have a roster full of great players. Having said that, I too have top players so let’s hope we see the same level of performance as we did in the Madrid match, with a few more goals for the fans.”
Do you think Miralem Pjanic can play in the same position as Francesco Totti, more advanced and with more freedom?
“We have had much the same roster for around two years and we know that we have a plan with Totti and without Totti, with Pjanic and without Pjanic and so on for all the other players. The team’s identity is always the same – lots of movement, keep the ball down on the field and short, attacking play. Obviously, certain players complement each other more when they play together. The most important thing is to make the right decisions and make them in order to win. All the players are at home in our system.”