Castro: “With Gasperini you never feel like a back-up.”

Castro: “With Gasperini you never feel like a back-up.” Santiago Castro recounts his first weeks at Roma and his daily work with Gian Piero Gasperini. In an interview with DAZN, the Argentine striker discussed the competition in the attack, his impact at the Olimpico, and the match against Inter, also focusing on Dybala, Malen, and Lautaro Martinez. Finally, he discussed the significance of the Giallorossi number 9 jersey. “When you arrive at a team like Roma, you’re faced with players like Dybala, Malen, Pellegrini, Soulé, and now Rodrigo Mora has arrived. We have a lot of top-class players. At Bologna, I also found many quality players, like Bernardeschi, Orsolini, Rowe, Zirkzee, and Ndoye. I’m happy because I can take something from every teammate and always learn.” “Dybala and Malen? Paulo and Donyell are players who impress the fans every week and those of us who watch them every day. Those of us who train with them see things that seem to belong to another sport. You have to learn a lot. Paulo has a foot, a left one, that few people have. I think he’s one of the best left-footed players in Italy, even at a world level. From Donyell, however, you have to take that nastiness to score goals, the cunning, the movement he has, and then his shot, which is incredible.” “Gasperini? The thing the coach asks of me most is to always keep my body facing the goal, not to always play with my back to the goal because that way I’m not dangerous. He asks me to always be involved in the game, to attack, to play for the team. Scoring goals is important to him, but so is providing an assist, because it’s something that helps the team and gives a big hand to everyone.” “The match against Inter? It’s always going to be difficult to face teams with this kind of players, because they, like us, have world-class players and big names. It will be a great match for those watching from the outside: a warm stadium, two teams coming in strong, with the same points, lots of goals scored and few conceded. It will certainly be great to watch.” “Even from the outside, you can tell we’ve formed a good group. We’re a lot of Argentines, then there are players like Hermoso and Wesley who are like us (laughs, ed.), but we also get along well with the Italians and the guys of other nationalities. Maybe we don’t speak perfect English, but we try to understand each other, and it’s a great moment. We also have a good relationship with the coach and the coaching staff. We all know what our goal is and we’re going in the same direction: it’s easier that way.” “Gasperini’s impact? I think he inspires confidence in everyone. With him, you never feel like a reserve or a starter: you always have to be ready, always at your best, both in training and in matches. That’s very important, and I think it makes all the players feel good.” “Wearing the number 9? It’s nice to think of all the players who wore the number 9 for Roma. There were so many of them and they did so many important things, like Balbo and other great strikers. I only hope I can do even a small part of what they did: score goals and bring so much joy to the fans and the city.”