Roma legend Francesco Totti gives a lengthy interview. As a daily messenger He discussed his exclusion from the club.
During the interview, Totti was asked specific questions about why he did not take up a role at Roma, the club he played for throughout his career.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m too loyal, too sincere. Maybe I’m a nuisance. What I say is taken into account, and what other people say is taken into account less. It’s like they’re afraid of having someone important at the club,” Totti said. “They think someone like me won’t be helpful, but that’s not true. I can be helpful.”
“But that’s not my job. If no one calls me… it’s not me who’s knocking on the door.”
“I will never be a sporting director. But I could see myself in a role similar to what Ibrahimovic or Zanetti used to have. A reference point between the club, the team and the coach. In short, a technical director. Someone who shows their face and says it like it is. Very simple. It is an operational role, not one that is called upon only when there is a problem.”
“De Rossi? I have never had any problems with Daniele. I would not give him a hand, I would give him an arm, make him feel good and calm. And if I work at the club, it would be like working for Daniele. We would walk together.”
“Other teams have called me, but I am loyal to Roma,” he declared. “It would be a disaster for Roma if I were to work for another club.”
“I’m just disappointed. And also because I expected something different from what I did for Roma, for the club, for everyone. Every two, three, four, five years the owner changes and whoever comes has their own thoughts and ideas. And in the end they have to be respected.”
“Do you like this Roma? Honestly, I still don’t understand it. After all, this transfer market was a mix of players, some came early, some later. A lot of money was invested. If we had 70 million euros, we would have made different choices, we would have spent it differently. For two players, it certainly wouldn’t have been. We would have signed four or five. Dobbik? We had to sign a striker, and in that case, it would be difficult to have less than 30.”
“Dybala? I stand by what I said before. I always said that we have to protect Roma’s strongest player, so he has always had the utmost respect and admiration. But now we will see how they handle it. What happened recently could have been a misunderstanding or a misunderstanding. We will see.”
“If you look at Roma spending like crazy in the transfer market, they have to go to the Champions League. If they invest 100 million and they don’t go, it’s a total failure. If there’s no Champions League, Daniele will be sacked.”
“Daniel needs to surround himself with people he trusts. He needs to respect himself. He needs to rely on his staff, people close to him, people who can reach out to him, people who try to make him understand his mistakes. Daniel has a strong and valid working group. I hope and think he will be successful because he knows the place, the environment, the club.”
“Even if he is the only one who can be Roma’s coach now, he still takes a risk. But back to the usual discussion, if you have a strong club that speaks clearly about its goals, nothing bad can happen. This way, the fans know everything. Instead, if things don’t go well now, the blame will fall entirely on Daniele.”
“That’s what happened to Mourinho. Jose showed his face. But no one helped him, no one spoke. After that, it was hard to fight against 6 million people. And it lasted a long time. You can be who you want to be. If you don’t get results, you become a scapegoat. But Daniel knows that.”
“Did you see what they said to him after the first game? What he did last year is already in the past. Everyone has forgotten, and what he did as a footballer is also in the past. That’s the positive and negative side of football. We forget easily, look what happened to me. And being a footballer and being a coach are two different things. He has to take responsibility for everything now.”
“Pellegrini? I like Lorenzo, but the only thing that matters is the pitch. If you don’t give your best on the pitch, you can be whoever you want. He hasn’t played well recently. Unfortunately, the truth is that Roma is a special place and the reaction is predictable. People want to be attached to the shirt, but they want to play 100%. And as captain, he has a bigger responsibility than the other players.”
