Giampaolo calls for reaction against Roma: “We must be true to ourselves”

Marco Giampaolo wants Sampdoria to respond to defeat against Torino by sticking to their principles when they travel to Roma on Sunday.

The Blucerchiati head to the capital looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses but knows Eusebio Di Francesco’s side will provide a stern test of their credentials.

“We’ll be faced by a top-level team,” Giampaolo told journalists at a press conference on Saturday. “Roma have shown how good they are in the Champions League. They’ve had a few slip-ups in Serie A but there’s no doubting their quality.

“Regardless of who our opponents are we have to produce a top performance and play our football. I want my players to always be themselves, to always stick to our game and be faithful to the style of football we’ve been playing for the last two years.

“We made mistakes against Torino. We’ve analysed everything with my backroom team and the lads. We made a lot of technical errors but, just like when we win, I’ve told the lads we must put it behind us. We just have to forget about it – that’s the how you move on and improve. We must respond immediately.”

The first game after the international break is the Genoa derby but the boss insisted that would have no bearing on Sunday’s match. He is more concerned with trying to put out a fit starting XI.

“We won’t be looking at who might be suspended for the derby or anything like that. I’m short in midfield at the moment. If you have one player who is 80% fit and the others are fine then you can play him, but if you have three or four with problems it’s different.”

Finally, Giampaolo commented on the recent inversion of Sampdoria’s defensive record as, having conceded just four in their first nine outings, they have now let in seven in their last two.

“The statistic was skewed one way before and I think it’s skewed the other way now,” Giampaolo observed. “Seven goals in two games is way too many.”