A different Rome.
This is what Daniele De Rossi asks of his team that will face Inter tomorrow.
But not different from the previous three matches which brought nine points, but different from the one which won only one direct match during the season: the one against Napoli before Christmas.
The comparison with the big leagues, in fact, is merciless, but don't ask DDR to make comparisons with the past.
However, unlike his colleague who preceded him, he is keen to reiterate one thing: "It's not a problem in the players' minds".
So the Giallorossi coach is going in a direction diametrically opposed to that of the Special One who in his two and a half years in the capital has always insisted on a mentality never up to certain challenges.
"We have players who have won the America's Cup at the Maracanà - explains De Rossi - Who have played in Manchester or won a European Championship at Wembley against England. So it's not a problem in the head, otherwise they wouldn't have achieved certain career results" .
But six points out of twenty-four against the top seven in the championship cannot even be the result of chance.
"Randomness doesn't exist in football - he continues - When you play against strong teams you end up losing or struggling. Sometimes the levels on the pitch speak for themselves, and Inter, Milan and Juve are very strong. As for us, I'm trying to start a I don't know how long this journey will last, but the players must understand that we are a strong team."
For this reason he will ask his players for intelligence, awareness, but also respect and bravado.
He will need all this to win against an Inter team heading towards the Scudetto.
"All the teams in the world are beatable - swears the former Roma captain - And Inter are too. Today we cannot keep up with them in the championship, but in the single match we can win. We will need respect, not too much, to avoid that turns into fear, and bravado."
And something could change compared to Monday's match against Cagliari.
Certainly not Lukaku ("who is no longer 20 years old and will be able to handle a bit of emotion"), but in midfield yes.
In fact, to those who ask him if El Shaarawy will play, he does not answer and the doubt is precisely that: to raise Pellegrini in place of the Pharaoh, thickening the midfield with Bove to make it more muscular.
A move that is taking hold in Trigoria to create a 'cage' around Calhanoglu, even if De Rossi will only resolve his last doubts tomorrow morning.
He will not make other training calculations despite the Europa League returning on Thursday, because the objective is to give continuity to the results obtained so far while remaining in the wake of the Champions League.
In the meantime, he doesn't give weight to the labels of a "predestined" coach.
"I'm enjoying this adventure day by day, I don't know how long it will last, but I'm enjoying it a lot," he says, hoping perhaps to get the contract renewed thanks to the results.
Then it's time for De Rossi to apologize for the absence at the funeral of a Roma symbol like Giacomo Losi.
"I didn't ask when the date was, where the place was - the words of DDR -. The match the day before distracted me and I made this serious mistake. It bothers me, I'm sorry I didn't go to say goodbye to him. It's not a question of protocol, of role, but of the relationship that existed. I'm very sorry not to have greeted him, I apologize, my distraction was serious and I'm sorry because there was a good relationship. I spoke with Roberto Losi who was wonderful, the most important thing was to explain to him."
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