Claudio Ranieri confident in Pellegrini’s future: “I’m sure he’ll stay.” | OneFootball

Roma boss Claudio Ranieri continued his lengthy interview with Corriere dello Sport in a second half that was released earlier this morning.

In it, the veteran technician touched upon the future of Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini.

“I am sure he will stay,” said Ranieri. “Though I must clarify one thing.”

“He wasn’t the one who insisted on playing in the derby. In all these years, no player has ever asked me to play. With Lorenzo, a few words on Saturday morning were enough.”

“I don’t make long speeches, I don’t waste three hours talking to the team. Players have an attention span of eight seconds. Often, a well-crafted joke is enough. After all, even the Pope recently said that homilies should be shorter.”

“I had decided to keep Lorenzo on the bench, but I saw a different light in his eyes,” he added.

“His eyes were full of light. I understood that the desire to be there, to play, was enormous. And I changed my mind. It went well for both of us. Let’s say that I gained a bit of experience on that day.”

“Why I came back to Roma? To help the club start all over again and lay solid foundations for the future.”

“Roma must return to fighting for something important, for the Scudetto. The Friedkins are used to thinking big…. I try to do what I know and can. Later I will put my experience at the service of the club as a senior executive.”

“You know when I felt disappointment? When we lost to Como, especially for that awful second half. I was very bitter, the game had changed and we were not able to read it. I can live with a loss but not with a bad performance.”