Garcia: Serie A no longer all about defending

Roma coach Rudi Garcia has hailed the attacking nature of modern day Italian football.

Serie A has often been described as a defensive-minded league, but clubs such as Roma, Napoli and Fiorentina have been scoring freely this term and are first, second and third respectively, with Garcia’s men leading the goalscoring charts with 25 after 10 games.

“There’s always been a culture of defending in Italy, but it’s good we’re seeing more goals. It makes a better show,” said the Roma coach.

“Goals are important but not conceding helps too. I like how teams are scoring more than before in Serie A.”

Roma sit atop of the Serie A table with 23 points, but Garcia is not getting carried away just yet.

“We want to bring this club and the city of Rome to the very top. In our own small way, we’ll try our hardest,” he added.

“As for the title race, Inter and Napoli are two great teams, but we can’t forget other clubs like [champions] Juventus.”

The Stadio Olimpico side face a tough task to hold on to top spot on Saturday when they take on Inter and Garcia is eagerly anticipating the trip to Milan.

He said: “Saturday’s game is exciting and that’s why we train every day: To play games like these. Inter coach Roberto Mancini is a huge name in football and a fantastic coach.

“Inter have a physically strong squad with the qualities to stop the opposition scoring. I don’t know what Inter we’ll see. They’ve used a few formations so far and we’ll see what they go for on Saturday.

“Inter have top-quality players. We’ve prepared well, so let’s make sure we’re ready and play our own game.”