Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar insists he never discussed a move to Juventus over the summer and says it’s too early to see the Giallorossi as genuine title contenders ahead of their big game against Inter: ‘It makes me smile.’
Roma are preparing to host Inter at the Stadio Olimpico in the big match of Serie A Round 5.
Gian Piero Gasperini will hold a pre-match press conference today, while Svilar, one of the Giallorossi’s stars, released an interview with Corriere della Sera.
The 27-year-old was named Serie A’s best goalkeeper for the last two seasons.
“Do you know what the hardest part of my job is? It’s the one where I don’t do anything. In fact, the one where everyone believes I do nothing,” he said.
“I think. Which is harder to parry. It’s easier to always be stressed with interventions. There, you don’t have time to think; you rely on instinct. But in a dominant team like Roma, who play most of the game in the other half, I spend a lot of time alone with myself. And I have to think.
“And I think negatively; a goalkeeper has to do it. He always has to hypothesise the worst-case scenario. The risk is that negative thoughts will overwhelm you.”
How does he cope with it?
“On game day, I have a session with my mental coach,” Svilar replied.
“Always, I never skip it. Let’s do some visualisation, some breathing. Those sessions help me turn the negative thoughts into positive ones, or at least neutral ones. In short: I know the worst will come, but I am prepared to face it.”
Roma and Inter are the only teams to have secured four wins in the opening four games of the Serie A campaign.
“It’s a great match that we can’t wait to play, to compete against the strongest team in the league, the one that has been at the top in recent years.”
Roma finished third last season, so can they really challenge Inter for the Scudetto?
“It makes me smile. In this city, you play two or three good games and get excited, then you lose, and it’s the drama,” Svilar said.
“We must be balanced, stable. But we know where we come from and we know where we want to go.
“Look: it’s not like last season, we started by saying: ‘We want to finish third.’ But after 20-25 games we understood that Champions League qualification could be achieved. Here: we’ll figure out later if we’re really in the title.”
Svilar praised his former coach Daniele De Rossi, saying that he “changed my life” and “perhaps, without him, I wouldn’t even be at Roma.”
But obviously, there were words of praise for Gasperini as well.
“Do you know how the coach is really different?” asked Svilar.
“He leaves me free in my choices. We try something with our feet, even if it’s more difficult with the new rules. But we never want to take unnecessary risks. In today’s football, everyone wants to invent something by building up from the back. It’s exaggerated; mistakes cost points.”
Reports last summer said Roma turned down a €40m offer from Juventus for Svilar.
“I didn’t even have a chat about this thing,” the goalkeeper insisted.
“I’m not somebody who signs a contract until 2030 and then goes back on that decision the following year.”
