Spalletti: 'Dzeko turning point'

By Football Italia staff

Luciano Spalletti explained how Edin Dzeko came to give his best at Roma and why Mohamed Salah’s finishing can’t be improved in training.

Dzeko scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Viktoria Plzen, which secured their status as group leaders in the Europa League.

“Despite it being a deserved victory tonight, if Alisson hadn’t saved that great chance when they were trying to make it 2-2, we might’ve been in trouble.

“This reminds us that matches have to be played and suffered to the bitter end,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“We also have to learn to keep the tempo higher in certain moments of the match and keep raising the bar.”

Dzeko was the star of the show with three goals, including a sensational opener from the tightest of angles. He seems a different player to the one Roma fans saw last season.

“He is not afraid to speak his mind and can at times try a bit too hard to prove himself. I think last season it was a fundamental step that I introduced Francesco Totti for Dzeko and the crowd reaction was so different.

“The other turning point was when I put them on together and they changed the game. It’s difficult for anyone at Roma to fight for a place with Totti and be clearly compared with him. The crowd are a little more understanding of him now.

“Daniele De Rossi was criticised, but he told the fans to stand by Dzeko, which helped him feel more at home here. He’s a total footballer and is now taking on the responsibility of being a star at Roma.

“Tonight’s opening goal showed what he can do, but he still needs to be more determined, because he can do even better. The third goal was practically a miss, he scuffed it and fortunately it went in anyway, but he has to focus more.

“Those scuffed finishes happened a lot last season and went wide, but now they’re going in.”

Salah could’ve had a hat-trick too after missing several great opportunities in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Atalanta.

“Salah always scores in training, but in the one-on-one situations in the fire of a game situation, that makes the difference. It’s impossible to train for that, really.

“He doesn’t trust his right foot and that’s often an issue for left-footed players. Right-footed players are more likely to give it a go with the weaker foot.”

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