Roma attacking midfielder Miralem Pjanic has admitted that Roma "had to change" their coach for the good of the club.

Pjanic said that he hopes the new coach Aurelio Andreazzoli can help the club return to the battle at the top of the table, which was the "goal".

"The priority is always Roma," Gazzetta dello Sport quotes him as saying. "We are in a difficult period. Our goal was to be in the top places in the standings, but now we are quite far apart. It's obvious that something had to change.

"In these situations, you always look for a manager. I hope that the new coach will change our fortunes. We became very negative, but we have the quality to do well.

"I think the main problem was the lack of balance. Personally I like playing attacking football, but the team comes first."

Roma are currently eighth, six points off the European qualification places.