APPIANO GENTILE - "When I was younger I played up front because I was really tall. I was taller than everyone and I was also the quickest back then. I played striker, I pushed the ball forward, chased after it and scored a lot of goals. Then, over time, the others grew too and I kept getting worse and kept moving further back!"
Andrea Ranocchia described how he started in football, before talking about his position: "I like playing centre forward. In my penultimate year at Perugia, aged 15, I went from playing attacking midfielder to defender in the space of two days. We were missing two centre backs and the coach, Montanelli - who I still thank and am still in touch with - told me to try playing further back and I've not moved from there since. The role of a centre back is evolving all the time because teams are starting to play from the back and so you need to have good technique too."
He shared some advice for his younger team-mates: "They need to keep enjoying improving on a daily basis. I'd also tell them to look at their more experienced team-mates and always work with passion."
In a three-man defence, as a centre back or on the right of the defence. Ranocchia explained which positon he likes the most: "I feel comfortable in all three positions. If your role is to mark an opponent, be it on the right or the left, you need to be very fit because you need to always attack the ball. Playing in the middle you need to think a bit more, it's even a bit more crucial if you will, because you need to plug the gaps left by your team-mates, as you're the last man. They're different, but I like both because I've played in both over the course of my career."
