Montella hails terrific Totti

Roma coach Vincenzo Montella heaped praise on captain Francesco Totti after the he guided Roma to a 2-0 win over Lazio in Sunday’s Rome derby.

Totti notched a terrific second-half brace to hand Montella victory in his first derby as coach, after the Italian took over Claudio Ranieri last month.

Totti has scored three times in four games under Montella, but the coach was quick to defer any credit to the veteran striker.

“It’s not thanks to me, Totti is his own person,” Montella said.

“When he plays, there are people who don’t want him to play, whereas when he doesn’t play, they would want him to play.”

“This is his destiny but he is used to it. He’s doing very well from a physical point of view and has proved it against Bologna and Parma and he has proved it very well today.”

“Therefore it is not thanks to me, since he has been doing very well from the physical point of view since I’ve joined this team.”

He added: “We have produced a better performance in the first half of the match compared to the second half, as far as the game is concerned.”

Lazio coach Edy Reja paid tribute to Roma and defended himself against criticism for substituting off star players Mauro Zarate and Hernanes with his side trailing 1-0 in the second half.

“Roma produced a good performance in defence with players such as (Nicolas) Burdisso, (Philippe) Mexes and Juan, who haven’t left us room on many occasions,” Reja said.

“They have played very well in defence and maybe we haven’t had the right attitude for a derby. The match hasn’t been good.”

“I tried to achieve a bit more physical presence, since Roma were defending very well and we hadn’t been able to pass through their defensive line.”

“Therefore I’ve tried something different with (Libor) Kozak and (Stefano) Mauri trying to create more since there were no other options.”

“These are our skills. This team doesn’t work on physical strength, but on agility and on the chances created from the midfield onwards. Today for example there has been a lack of this.”