'You should control the ball' - Daniele De Rossi appears to take dig at Jose Mourinho after managing Roma to 2-1 win over Verona

In his very first match in charge of Roma, De Rossi managed to get back the team to winning ways as Roma edged out Verona 2-1 in the Serie A on Saturday. Romelu Lukaku and Lorenzo Pellegrini were on target for The Giallorossi while Michael Folorunsho netted one for the visitors.

After winning the clash, De Rossi took an apparent dig at the former manager as he claimed that the first lesson he imparted to the players was to have more control of the ball and dominate matches.

Speaking to DAZN at full time, the former Italy international said, "I really liked the first half, but if you do the same moves without the right pace, without moving the ball quickly and without remembering why you are doing it, then you are going to struggle.

"I believe you should control the ball and therefore dominate the game, it is one of the first things we worked on. However, if we do it quickly to get away from the opposition press, then it has meaning. However, if we keep possession slowly, then we don’t put the game to bed, we put ourselves to bed and fall asleep. We become too predictable, the opponents are well-prepared and know how to get through those situations if we don’t move the ball quickly."

Mourinho the team to their first major European title triumph in his maiden season where the club won the inaugural edition of the Europa Conference League in the 2021/22 season. In the succeeding campaign, he helped Roma reach the Europa League final where they lost to West Ham. The ongoing season saw a massive dip in form for the club which worsened in the past month. The defeats against rivals Lazio in the Supercoppa Italiana quarter-final and a loss against AC Milan in the Serie A finally led to the club parting ways with the veteran coach.

De Rossi's side are set to play a friendly match against Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabab on January 24 before they return to action in the Serie A on January 29 where they meet Salernitana.