I’m happy with one half
Thursday, February 22, 2018
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The Roma head coach Eusebio Di Francesco reflects on the game in Kharkiv
- Why did your men play two different halves?
- At the moment we don’t have enough ability to act for a long time in the same vein. We got off to a great start and were fulfilling the game plan, but the 1-1 score became a turning point, with us losing control. I want to give my due to Shakhtar – they are a strong team who’ve claimed a deserved win. I hope to turn it the other way round in the return leg. It will be difficult, but we will do our best.
- What decision of yours would you change given another opportunity? Would you still field Florenzi in the starting line-up?
- I’m not gonna blame him personally for conceding that goal, because everyone’s to blame in that episode. In such situations, we need to back up one another and come to the rescue. My line-up would be exactly the same. I think that I did the right thing by fielding Florenzi, - I conclude it on the basis of the first half, which was excellent. Fortunately, we still have the return game. I want to remember as good as possible the first 50 minutes and forget about the next 40 minutes.
- Is the poor second half a mental problem or a fitness issue?
- No, Roma are strong enough to play perfectly for the entire 90 minutes. That’s really a mental aspect. Before the break, we had that pace in terms of decision-making, ball control and transitions to attack. In the second half, Shakhtar easily returned back, and we should work on that.
- What did you tell the players at half-time?
- To play in the same vein and do their best to score the second goal. However, at the start of the second half, I got the impression that the guys were happy with the way the meeting was going, and they were not against finishing it 1-0. In this I see the main problem with the final outcome: we were not aggressive enough up front.
- The 4-2-3-1 formation wasn’t successful?
- It didn’t really matter. When defending, one midfielder just dropped, so our formation was the same. It was difficult in the opening 10 minutes, when Ismaily linked up down the left of attack. We managed to solve this problem, with the team spending the rest of the first half at a high level. I am happy with that segment.
- It seemed that even before the break, you constantly criticised Under for his defensive performance. Is that right?
- I demand more from all players without exception. I’m very pleased with the play of Cengiz, he followed the game plan. Already in the course of the game we tried to adjust his play taking into account the Miners’ actions down the left wing. I have no criticism towards Under: he netted one, he did on the field what was required of him.
- At the moment we don’t have enough ability to act for a long time in the same vein. We got off to a great start and were fulfilling the game plan, but the 1-1 score became a turning point, with us losing control. I want to give my due to Shakhtar – they are a strong team who’ve claimed a deserved win. I hope to turn it the other way round in the return leg. It will be difficult, but we will do our best.
- What decision of yours would you change given another opportunity? Would you still field Florenzi in the starting line-up?
- I’m not gonna blame him personally for conceding that goal, because everyone’s to blame in that episode. In such situations, we need to back up one another and come to the rescue. My line-up would be exactly the same. I think that I did the right thing by fielding Florenzi, - I conclude it on the basis of the first half, which was excellent. Fortunately, we still have the return game. I want to remember as good as possible the first 50 minutes and forget about the next 40 minutes.
- Is the poor second half a mental problem or a fitness issue?
- No, Roma are strong enough to play perfectly for the entire 90 minutes. That’s really a mental aspect. Before the break, we had that pace in terms of decision-making, ball control and transitions to attack. In the second half, Shakhtar easily returned back, and we should work on that.
- What did you tell the players at half-time?
- To play in the same vein and do their best to score the second goal. However, at the start of the second half, I got the impression that the guys were happy with the way the meeting was going, and they were not against finishing it 1-0. In this I see the main problem with the final outcome: we were not aggressive enough up front.
- The 4-2-3-1 formation wasn’t successful?
- It didn’t really matter. When defending, one midfielder just dropped, so our formation was the same. It was difficult in the opening 10 minutes, when Ismaily linked up down the left of attack. We managed to solve this problem, with the team spending the rest of the first half at a high level. I am happy with that segment.
- It seemed that even before the break, you constantly criticised Under for his defensive performance. Is that right?
- I demand more from all players without exception. I’m very pleased with the play of Cengiz, he followed the game plan. Already in the course of the game we tried to adjust his play taking into account the Miners’ actions down the left wing. I have no criticism towards Under: he netted one, he did on the field what was required of him.