Claudio Ranieri admitted that Roma have a lot of work to do after their narrow 2-1 win over Empoli in Serie A on Monday, but believes getting a positive result will help build confidence.
The Giallorossi were reeling after a chaotic week in which they were beaten 3-0 by Lazio in the derby, knocked out of the Champions League by Porto and sacked coach Eusebio Di Francesco, sporting director Monchi and several backroom staff.
Ranieri was brought in until the end of the season and oversaw a victory in the first game of his second spell in charge of the capital club, thanks to first half goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Patrik Schick either side of a Juan Jesus own goal.
“The best thing is the result,” Ranieri told the press after the game.
“The thing to improve I’ll talk about with the squad. It was a difficult match, we knew it would be for a thousand reasons.
“One of the main reasons, beyond the situation that had been created, was the fact that we had to play without important players. The guys who played did their best. Winning helps your self-esteem, it helps you to improve. We must improve a lot.
“What has changed? They were used to playing wider and higher, they were playing with a 4-3-3. I want to be more compact.”
