Roma captain Daniele De Rossi insists that the players still believe in coach Eusebio Di Francesco, despite a shock 2-0 defeat at Bologna consigning them to their worst start since 2010.
The Giallorossi have not tasted victory since the opening day of the campaign and languish on five points from as many matches, leading to suggestions that Di Francesco is facing an uncertain future in the capital.
However, midfielder De Rossi leapt to the defence of the tactician and declared that he had the backing of the squad, and pointed to a similar scenario last season as a case in point as to why the coach deserved to be supported.
“The team has confidence [in Di Francesco] and the most striking example of this is back in January, there were similar calls [for the coach to be dismissed] because we lost to Sampdoria, Atalanta, Fiorentina and AC Milan,” the 35-year-old declared in the press zone after the final whistle at the Stadio Renata Dall’Ara.
“It seemed like the season was over but we turned it around with some memorable performances and a third place finish, meaning we achieved our goals.”
With Roma labouring so far, criticism has fallen particularly on defensive pairing Kostas Manolas and Federico Fazio, as well as new midfield addition Bryan Cristante. De Rossi was adamant that it was unfair to single out individuals however, and sought to defend his teammates.
“When things go badly with a team that has only earned five points from five games, it becomes reductive to talk about three players.
“It would have been understandable if they had done irreparable damage, such as scoring an own goal, but we are talking about a defect across the whole team, as we have not been able to reach the levels of last season,” De Rossi concluded.
