Roma manager Paulo Fonseca spoke about his experiences leading the club with A Bola.
"I always dreamed about arriving to one of the greatest European leagues and to a great club like Roma. I am in love with this club. I am living moments that I wouldn't change for the world. I always had the ambition to manage in the best European leagues. Italy is one of the most difficult leagues, maybe the most difficult at the tactical level. When my agent, Marco Abreu, spoke to me about the different possibilities that we had in front of us, one of them was Roma and it quickly captured my interest. I had played at the Olimpico with Shakhtar the year before and saw an incredible atmosphere with loving fans that live for their club. The city intrigued me."
On the injuries his team has suffered: "This season we've had a lot of bad injuries. It has never happened to be before in my career, but they're injuries that we are not able to control. It's not just Zaniolo, but he was in a great moment and we really missed him. The absence of Diawara was heavy. Mkhitaryan was our for two, three months. Then we also lost Cristante, Zappacosta, Dzeko, Perotti, Pastore, Kluivert, Under. I never had all my players available at the same time. It's difficuly to find stability in a team with so many injuries."
On Smalling: "He surprised me. He's a defender that had never left England and he arrived to a league very demanding of tactics, where a detail makes the difference. Chris adapted very quickly. He's an extraordinary guy, very intelligent. He has characteristics that I really appreciate in the center. He's fast, nearly unbeatable in one-on-ones. He has a great ability to read the play and anticipate. He was very important for this club. If possible, I would like him to stay. He's a great professional and person, it's a pleasure to have him here with us."
