Di Francesco: “I chose Sampdoria because it’s the right place for my football”

Eusebio Di Francesco faced the media for first time as Sampdoria coach in a press conference in Bogliasco on Monday.

Joined by club president Massimo Ferrero and sporting director Carlo Osti, the new Blucerchiati manager spoke at length of his ambitions in Genoa and his reasons for joining Samp.

“First of all I want to thank the club, the president and the sporting director,” he began. “I was keen to get back into management after my experience at Roma and I think that this is the right place to do so. I’m a football man and I’m here to entertain people and get results.”

Di Francesco – who led Roma to the Champions League semi-finals two season ago – said he had been convinced by the project illustrated to him by Massimo Ferrero.

“The president convinced me on everything – he pressed all the right buttons,” he said. “He showed me that he wanted to bring about improvement on a technical and tactical level. Targets are set by the club, not the coach. We need to be humble and show we want to improve. Sampdoria have done well in recent years – Marco Giampaolo did a very good job. Often it sounds a bit idealistic when you start talking about projects in football, but I really think we can build something important here.”

The new Doria boss laughed off suggestions that Sampdoria represents a step down for him.

“It’s not a step down at all,” he said. “I like the history that Sampdoria have and I like the idea of having the Gradinata Sud behind me. I’m absolutely convinced that I’ve made the right choice. I chose Samp. I want to experience the derby – that will be exciting. It’s not just another game. I hope I can continue the good run started by Giampaolo.”

Di Francesco went on to outline how his Sampdoria team will play.

“We need to try to play proper football,” he said. “We need to be aggressive and try to take the game to the opposition – that’s what I want. We also need to improve our form on the road. Of course, it partly depends on the opposition, but that’s what I want to bring to the team. Sometimes you do need to dig in, but at other times we’ll need to dominate. The main idea I want to get across is that we need to play our own game and always maintain a clear identity, no matter what.”