This is right at the start,
perhaps the first day because I see Pinzolo in the background.
We realised straight away how the gaffer wanted to do things with his backroom team.
Huge motivation and high intensity in training
and we carried that with us throughout the year.
It wasn't easy to come in and take over a team that had picked up 87 points the season before,
which I think was Roma's best-ever points haul in Serie A.
For him to come in at a big club for the first time and do what he did,
to come in like that and achieve the results we went on to achieve
shows that the club got their choice spot on.
This is the first match of the season
and the player in the picture scored the winning goal.
I think he helped to improve the team's mentality
so credit to him and credit to those responsible for bringing him in.
I've known him for years but having played with him this season
I understand why he's had such an amazing career
and he's still performing at the highest levels.
With his professionalism, personality and technical ability, he's a notch above the rest.
He also coped well with the atmosphere in Rome,
which isn't easy having played for Lazio years ago.
This guy scored close to 40 goals last season.
He didn't score so many this year
but I think there were some games he won for us single-handedly,
although it's not right to say he won them single-handedly
because you always win and lose together
but he did what you expect from top-class players: he carried the team.
He really drove us on, with his physical presence, his mindset and his attitude on the pitch.
I was one of those who thought it strange to spend 10, 12 million or whatever it was on a goalkeeper
when we had Szczesny.
I didn't know anything about him.
My best friend keeps reminding me that after just one month I said he was world-class.
He wasn't even playing but I said he was world-class.
You could see it.
I've seen lots of goalkeepers who are capable of pulling off incredible saves,
who you can't score against in training but when it comes to a real match it's different.
This was an unforgettable night for Romanisti.
This was the match where we realised we had what it takes to go a long way in the Champions League.
We didn't win the match but we probably deserved to.
It was a taster of what we could do in Europe.
It made everything seem different.
Perotti had a superb game.
Aleks and Edin were huge as always.
That's when we started to see how far we might be able to go.
In the background you can see our travelling fans.
They and the ones at home celebrating our goals
were really important for us this season.
This was a very intense match, as it always is.
I think there's still a big difference in quality and we're the better side
but games like this are always tough to play in, really tense.
It's the ideal game for the style of football the coach wants us to play,
being really aggressive in the opposition half.
We scored twice playing like that.
We chased and harried them throughout the second half, while the first half was quite even.
We wrapped up the game with a couple of moments of individual magic.
You can harry as much as you want but unless you have player like Radja
who can stick it in the bottom corner from 30 yards for you
it can finish 0-0.
It was a combination of things: the coach getting us organised
and a top player producing the winner, as he often does on the big occasions.
We grew a lot closer to our fans again
and it was hard not to see it.
Actually, it was more them coming closer to us
because we've always got on with our jobs,
with differing results but always doing our best.
This season we really gave them a reason to be proud, and they were.
This photo is very simple: it's our name in our Curva.
Some people might call it minimalist
but it says everything that I want and they want:
the stadium with the stands full, our colours, our name.
It's great that we reformed this bond between us and them
and it bodes well for the future.
Here we'd just found out, or were just about to find out, that we had topped the group
after Chelsea and Atletico drew.
It gave us a boost for the rest of our Champions League campaign.
Topping a group like that isn't really something you expect of Roma,
although it hurts to admit it,
but we managed to impose our game and win the group,
which probably meant facing an easier last-16 tie.
Not seeing him out there with the armband…
He may have played less in the last few years
but he was always there on the bench and in training
so it was something new and shocking for a Roma fan
and certainly for us players.
It was the first season without him as a player
and it was difficult so it makes me even happier that things went so well
both in terms of results and the atmosphere we created
because it wasn't easy, having lost an icon that meant so much to so many people,
to rekindle that enthusiasm without him and his magic on the field.
This is one of my favourites.
I think he's a great lad.
We've probably said no more than 10 words to each other all season
because he says little more than 'hello', 'goodbye' and 'enjoy your meal'.
But you can see in his eyes that he's got the right attitude.
He wants to learn and his feet are on the ground.
I hope he's the future of Roma because he's an incredible player.
He's just 21 or whatever but he really took off in the second half of the season
and I think he could have a big part to play in our future.
I hope he does because he's a really good lad.
This was a big moment, a great moment.
It was very hard because Shakhtar are a great side.
It was the first of a series of games where we showed people how good we are.
The goal he scored from that glorious ball from Strootman in the second half,
us hanging on at the end,
him holding the ball up for us,
us maintaining our focus at the back
giving little or nothing away to Shakhtar.
It was the perfect game.
1-0 isn't as exciting as the 3-0 win against Barcelona
but if I was a coach I'd want my team to play like that.
We were focused and determined to reach the quarter-finals,
which we did and I think deservedly too.
This picture makes me laugh because…
because it's everything I love about the game.
Manolas always makes me laugh anyway
as you guys who work in Trigoria know.
He's quite unique.
His performances and behaviour were exemplary this season.
He's always shouting and stirring up trouble in the dressing room
but he's friendly and funny besides being one of the best defenders in the world in my opinion.
The best thing about this pic though is the guys in the orange tops.
It shows the strength of our team.
There's Pellegrini hugging one of our fitness coaches,
Maxine Gonalons with fire in his eyes.
It shows our strength.
People like Patrik and Gerson who perhaps didn't have a big role to play in that game
but you can see in their eyes how much it meant for us to go through,
to win the game and make the dream come true.
We gave that dream to the fans.
We needed a miracle, the perfect game.
We needed an early goal and another not too long afterwards…
We did all that.
If we played it again, we might not win 3-0
but if we played the first leg again we wouldn't lose 4-1.
A group of friends.
There are people who you might think are less important to the group but they all play their part.
Having this togetherness in the dressing room
and guys who want to make a difference when they come on…
That attitude helps you perform well when you do come on.
This is the end of our dream.
What you say to anyone in that situation and especially Radja
is to look up and see what's in front you: the entire Curva Sud, the entire stadium applauding us.
That's what helps you to kick on.
That's where you start sowing the seeds for future success,
which hopefully for me will come soon because I don't have much time left!
It's a platform we can build on over the next decade.
This was a huge win because it virtually secured our place in the Champions League.
We needed another point but we realised we were
all but certain of returning to the Champions League next year.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét