Claudio Ranieri insists he did not join Roma to play beautiful football.

The Italian was asked about the comparisons with Zdenek Zeman exciting brand of football.

Zeman coached Roma between 1997 and 1999, lining them up in a 4-3-3 formation that promised goals and attacking football.

"I leave champagne football to Zeman. I believe that the lads here have worked more on defence than he ever did in his career. We will drink some champagne football a little later," Ranieri told football-italia.net.

The 'Tinkerman' was speaking at a Press Conference anticipating Thursday's game in the Europa League against CSKA Sofia.

Ranieri was unusually candid in his answers, making no secret of Roma's problems at the back.

"Speaking of cures, it's not like you can take some medicine for a bad defence and watch it recover quickly. We are moving from an old phase to a new one, it's normal that there is a little confusion, but I hope to continue getting results because this is the best medicine and I hope we'll improve going forward," Ranieri explained.

The former Juventus and Chelsea boss is wary of Roma's Russian opponents.

"We will have problems. CSKA are a team that plays like Catania, but with superior quality. They will make us suffer. I want to see the team react," Ranieri said.

Asked if Roma's problems lie in poor physical preparation, Ranieri replied: "I have never considered it insufficient. Every trainer has his way of doing the preparation. This team has played some great football games and if you don't have the right conditioning it's not possible.

"We have seen it with Fiorentina and in Palermo on a water polo pitch. We have suffered, it's true, in Catania, but we kept in the game for 90 minutes and then you can only do what you have in your legs.

"The team is well put together, but it has to get itself away from the negative emotional situations that have been brought about by a change of Coach."

Finally, Ranieri gave his opinion on whether Francesco Totti is playing too much.

"I will certainly evaluate every situation because on Sunday there is another big game and we are concluding a cycle in which we have played every three days, so I will have to consider what changes to make.

"They are valuations that I will do this evening also because I don't have a lot of players, seeing that some are out injured," Ranieri concluded.