Former Roma full-back John Arne Riise has said that Giallorossi captain Francesco Totti is not treated as special by coaches at Roma.
Riise’s comments come after Totti was dropped from the squad for the Lupi’s 5-0 win over Palermo, after the Italian had complained about his lack of playing time under coach Luciano Spalletti.
“During my time at Roma, I did not get that feeling.” said Risse to Goal.com. “However, for us players it was better to have him on the pitch because we would feel safer and also mentally stronger due to his presence alone.
“But he does everything that any other player does; he is not treated as a special player, be that in terms of training or playing time.”
However, Risse did go on to say that Totti is like a ‘God’ at Roma. “With all due respect to the other players, Francesco Totti is like a god,” he continued.
“I knew a lot about him before I joined Roma but he actually surprised me when I was his team-mate. He is very polite, very kind, cracks jokes all the time and is very helpful.
“‘It is very tough for all of us to imagine Roma without its King!”
