'He's a little man, full stop' - Francesco Totti's wife slams Roma boss Luciano Spalletti
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Updated 26/09/2016 at 15:04 GMT
Francesco Totti's wife has surprisingly ranted about Roma coach Luciano Spalletti, branding him a "little man" for the way he has treated her husband.
Francesco Totti and his wife Ilary Blasi
Image credit: Reuters
Ilary Blasi was particularly unhappy with the way Spalletti sent the 39-year-old Totti home from training after being upset at an interview the legendary forward gave to RAI television.
Spalletti was reportedly annoyed at the striker saying he was not given enough respect at Roma and sent the club hero home from the club's Trigoria training ground.
Blasi made it clear that Totti merely wanted to be given more respect at the club and cast Spalletti as unreasonable and insensitive.
"All Francesco said in that interview which caused so much controversy was that he wanted to be respected," Blasi told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"He was right to do so – at that time, they [Roma] were not showing him any. Francesco is not a controversial person, he only talks when he touches the ball.
"He was sent away from his own home, and you can write that. I may not know a lot about football, but that was surreal; science fiction.
I couldn't believe it. You just don't do things like that. I would never have allowed myself to do such a thing.
"As soon as [Totti] arrived home, I told him that we would be going to the stadium that night anyway."
Blasi cited the reaction of the Roma fans, who unsurprisingly gave Totti a standing ovation after he was dropped for the Serie A clash with Palermo, as proving the support he had amid the controversy.
"That showed that the fans had not abandoned him," Blasi continued.
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Francesco Totti and his wife Ilary Blasi
Image credit: Reuters
'A little man'
Spalletti's a little man, full stop. It's the truth. He even said some ridiculous things. At such a difficult moment in somebody's life when a lad is taking a huge step [towards retirement], there are ways in which you should behave.
"It's right that he looks to the future and tries to plan without him, but I think that's still difficult at Roma, but I wish him well. He certainly could have been more delicate and Spalletti certainly wasn't that and he did not know how to manage him on a human level.
I judge people on this also, so I have to give him a low - a very low - rating.
"He [Totti] has got to feel [whether he can play on]. If he doesn't feel at ease, he would be the first to bury the hatchet. He's intelligent."
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AS Roma's captain Francesco Totti (R) and his wife Ilary Blasi
Image credit: AFP
OUR VIEW
On the surface of things, this is just a typical – and fairly common – spat between a player and the head coach. However, it is clear from Totti's standing within the game that this was always going to play out badly for Spalletti.
Such is the adoration for Totti from the Roma fans, Spalletti was inevitably going to be cast as the villain of the piece, but he is unlikely to be overly concerned by this latest criticism, particularly as he is presumably fully aware of his own stature.
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