Giampaolo shows the way ahead of Roma clash: “Let’s stick to our playing philosophy”
The Sampdoria faithful have barely recovered after Sunday’s thrilling win over Fiorentina, but the Blucerchiati are already back in action on Wednesday night as Roma become the latest side to visit Fortress Marassi.
Speaking in his pre-match news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Marco Giampaolo called for Samp to focus on their own game when the Giallorossi come to town.
“We need to play with freedom,” said the Doria boss. “It’s important that we don’t set ourselves objectives. It’s going to be a tough game and mentally the intensity will need to be high, but it’s vital that we stick to our playing philosophy.”
Samp face the unusual prospect of facing Roma twice in the space of four days, as the abandoned Week 3 fixture from earlier in the season is finally caught up with on Wednesday before Giampaolo takes his side to Rome on Sunday.
“We both played on Sunday, we’re playing each other tomorrow and then we’ll play again in Rome on Sunday night,” said Giampaolo. “We’ve had the same preparation. It’s a bit strange but it doesn’t make much difference. The most important thing in these situations is to recover well between one match and the other.”
It has been a strange season for Roma, who are without a win in Serie A since they beat Cagliari 1-0 on 16 December but have at the same time enjoyed runs of five consecutive wins and nine games unbeaten this campaign while also winning their Champions League group against the odds. Giampaolo’s job is to figure out which Roma side to expect following Sunday’s draw against Inter in Milan.
“[Eusebio] Di Francesco sets his side up to play a really European brand of football,” explained the coach. “They try to keep hold of the ball and look to be brave in their play, with their individual quality taking it to the next level.”
The match could see the return of Patrik Schick, with Edin Dzeko seemingly on his way to Chelsea.
“He’s a top player and we know him well,” said Giampaolo. “I’ve always said that he has the quality to become one of the best strikers in Europe. He’s not afraid of making mistakes and that’s the kind of attitude you need to play for the biggest clubs.”
With Fabio Quagliarella doubtful for the game following his star turn against Fiorentina, it may fall to either Gianluca Caprari or Dawid Kownacki to partner Duvan Zapata up front.
“Fabio has received treatment and done some tests and he’ll continue receiving treatment today,” said Giampaolo. “We have another training session tomorrow morning and that will allow us to get a clearer understanding of the situation. Right now I don’t know who I’m going to pick in the starting line-up – but I can tell you it’ll be eleven against eleven.”
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