Frustrated Ranieri rages at Roma ‘unbelievable’ defensive errors | OneFootball

Claudio Ranieri was left deeply frustrated and irritated by Roma’s 1-0 defeat to AZ Alkmaar, which leaves their Europa League status in doubt. ‘It’s unbelievable to concede like that.’

The coach had warned before kick-off that the main danger was dealing with the AZ Alkmaar counter-attacks, but that was not enough to prevent them conceding the decisive goal on just such a situation.

Troy Parrott came off the bench to sweep in from six yards with 10 minutes to go, which proved to be the only goal of the game in the Netherlands.

“It is a pity to concede a goal like that, it started with a throw-in, that’s just unbelievable,” a frustrated Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.

“Unfortunately, it happens and it should not be happening. I had told the team beforehand, be careful because they go on rapid counter-attacks, so we must not be caught out by their transitions.

“There were at the end of the day six AZ players surging forward into our penalty area. Unfortunately, it’s a type of goal we have seen too many times at Roma, especially when we are away from home.

“This is just the way we are, evidently we are not built to deal with these situations. We are not sneaky, intelligent or sharp enough, so we make truly incredible mistakes.”

Ranieri furious at Roma midfielders

ALKMAAR, NETHERLANDS – JANUARY 23: Leandro Paredes #16 of AS Roma lies on the ground after being tackled as play continues in the first half of the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match between AZ Alkmaar and AS Roma at AZ Stadion on January 23, 2025 in Alkmaar, Netherlands. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)

Ranieri was particularly critical of the midfielders and had words of advice for Manu Koné.

“He certainly should’ve been more positive. I told him not to hold onto the ball, because they will swarm all over you and the referee might not give every free kick. We’ve got to move the ball quickly and make vertical passes, which we did more in the second half, but in the end it was for nothing.

“It’s disappointing, because there was a performance, the team played fairly well, but then didn’t reap any rewards. AZ Alkmaar took home all three points with the minimum effort and that is really disappointing,” continued Ranieri.

Already on a yellow card, Artem Dovbyk was replaced by Matias Soulè at half-time and it seemed to make Roma less predictable, but their finishing was poor.

“If there is one quality of this squad it is that there are always three, four or five players in the opposition penalty area, but tonight we really couldn’t finish off those moves.

“It seems odd to be here telling people it was a good performance when we then lost 1-0,” concluded Ranieri.

While Roma had been hoping to climb their way back up for a place in the top eight, they are now just trying to lock down their spot in the play-offs as one of the top 24 teams.

The fixture list is not a kind one, as their final match is against Eintracht Frankfurt, but at least they have the home advantage after failing to win a single away game all season.