Spalletti Refuses to Accept Blame for Francesco Totti’s Retirement

Luciano Spalletti claims that it would be wrong to blame him for the retirement of Francesco Totti.

The Roma legend finally called it a day when he retired at the age of 40 last season. He has become a director at the club.

Spalletti is widely being criticised for relegating Totti as a bit part player when he came to the club last season. Totti, though, played a crucial role in a 3-1 victory over Inter Milan and fans have since claimed that the manager was extremely wrong in his decision to quit the club. Spalletti, though, says that he had no role in determining the longevity of the player.

The manager claims that he was only interested in the welfare of the Roma team and their results. He admitted that several names have been voicing their opinion about Spalletti, but he admitted that there was support from various sections of the Roma supporters too. The club managed a second place finish once again in the league last season, but they came extremely close to winning the league title from Juventus, who managed a sixth consecutive victory. Totti is regarded as a legend at the club after having represented the team from 1992 to 2017.

"They jeered me because they think I am the reason Totti retired.But I am not there [at Roma] now and he could have continued.Our paths have not crossed. If they had done, I would have offered all my friendship.The Totti fans jeered me, but I also received many positive messages from the Roma fans," said Spalletti. During his time at Roma, Spalletti was reasonably successful as a manager. However, just like many of his predecessors, Spalletti ended up without any trophies in his second spell at the club. In his first spell, he won the Coppa Italia and theSupercoppaItaliana.