Garcia defiant as Roma slump continues

Rudi Garcia insists he has no intention of resigning from his job at Roma, despite an embarrassing Coppa Italia exit against Spezia continuing the club’s miserable recent run of form.

After both sides failed to score in 120 minutes, the Serie B side upset their hosts at the Stadio Olimpico with a 4-2 penalty shootout win on Wednesday.

The result heaps further pressure on Garcia, who has now seen his team fail to find the net in their last three matches. Roma’s last victory in all competitions came on November 8, when they recorded a 2-0 triumph over city rivals Lazio in Serie A.

However, the Frenchman – who took up his position in the summer of 2013 – remained defiant in his post-match media conference. 

“I will not quit. I will stay on and fight to the death,” the former Lille boss said.

“I will speak to the players, but the truth is we have no excuses tonight.”

Although they have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League, Roma sit fifth on the Serie A table, seven points behind leaders Inter.

Garcia admitted that while he is pleased to have kept clean sheets of late, he must find a way to get the team scoring goals again.

“We haven’t conceded in three matches, but tactically we’ve lost our balance because we were scoring in buckets before and we’re not doing that anymore,” he added.

“We have to take risks and take full advantage of the chances that present themselves. 

“We need that desire to hit the back of the net in whatever fashion. These are the qualities that we’ve lost and we have to improve. There’s nothing else to do, we cannot give up.”