DiBenedetto digs in for Lazio ´civil war´

Roma president Tom DiBenedetto has hailed the work ethic of club legend Francesco Totti ahead of the ‘civil war’ derby with Lazio next week.

There have been rumours of a fractious relationship between Totti and new manager Luis Enrique, but DiBenedetto said the 35-year-old forward had his full support.

“I am a great admirer of Francesco and I have been extremely pleased with how hard he has been working,” DiBenedetto said.

“The growth of the team has been especially pleasing. The players have taken to Enrique’s style of hard work and team play.”

“Everybody from Francesco Totti down has worked very hard. Francesco has probably worked harder than anybody. Unfortunately, he is out (injured) right now.”

Roma take on Lazio in the Rome derby on October 16 and DiBenedetto is aware of the expectation surrounding the two clubs’ rivalry.

“Obviously, Rome-Lazio is special,” he explained. “The other day (sporting director) Walter Sabatani asked me did I understand what Roma-Lazio was. He said, ‘What can you compare it to?’ I said, ‘a civil war’.”

“I think it is a match between two teams this year who are both very good and extremely competitive. We hope to win, I know both teams will play very hard and it will be very exciting.”

Benedetto completed his formal takeover of Roma in mid-August after agreeing to buy a 67 per cent stake in the club in April.

Enrique is also a new arrival at the Stadio Olimpicio this season, and DiBenedetto expressed his full faith in the coach.

“I was always confident about Luis Enrique. I believe that Luis is someone who is a tremendous competitor, extremely intelligent and very hard working who demands no more from his players than he gives himself,” he said. “I believe in Luis, so that hasn’t changed at all.”

Roma have enjoyed a mixed start to the Serie A season, with two wins, two draws and one loss from their opening five matches.

And DiBenedetto said it was too early to make judgements about what reinforcements the Serie A club will need to make in the January transfer window.

“It depends what we need. Frankly, we are quite pleased with the play of a lot of the players and how they have developed,” DiBenedetto said.

“We have 14 new players on our team and they have to learn about each other’s tendencies and abilities. We will see. I think at the moment we are quite happy with the players we have got.”