El Shaarawy: ‘Roma in good hands with Gasperini and Ranieri’
Stephan El Shaarawy assures Roma are ‘in good hands’ with Gian Piero Gasperini supported by Claudio Ranieri. ‘Champions League qualification is certainly one of our priorities.’
The Giallorossi had a chaotic campaign last term with three different coaches, but after Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric were fired, Ranieri came out of retirement to provide stability.
Now the veteran has a new role at the Stadio Olimpico as director, helping Gasperini to settle in after nine years with Atalanta.
El Shaarawy no stranger to Gasperini’s tactics
“Gasperini is the first coach I worked with and he gave me my Serie A debut with Genoa, so I already know him well,” explained El Shaarawy on Sky Sport Italia.
“He is a real teacher, direct both on and off the field, capable of getting the best out of his players. He demands a lot of intensity, and without doubt it’s tough training with him, but the new players all got to know each other and we have some very positive sensations. With Gasperini and Ranieri, we’re in good hands.”
Gasperini inevitably brings a new style of football with him and one that Roma are eager to embrace.
“It is much more vertical, with intensity and dynamism. We have to continually exchange places and positions. He wants a very attacking pressing game and always the idea is to move the ball forward,” continued El Shaarawy.
“That means a lot of push from us wingers, so we are working hard to give him what he wants. The objective for everyone is to do better than last season.”
Seeing as Roma finished fifth last term, and for some of the final game of the season they had been in fourth ahead of Juventus, that makes their target very obvious.
“Champions League qualification is certainly one of our priorities. We missed out by a single point last time and we must try to get there, just like we also want to do better in Europe compared to last season. We’ve got a lot of enthusiasm from everyone eager to achieve this target,” concluded El Shaarawy.