'He's a little man, full stop' - Francesco Totti's wife slams Roma boss Luciano Spalletti

Ilary Blasi was particularly unhappy with the way Spalletti sent the 39-year-old Totti home from training after being upset at an interview the legendary forward gave to RAI television.

Spalletti was reportedly annoyed at the striker saying he was not given enough respect at Roma and sent the club hero home from the club's Trigoria training ground.

Blasi made it clear that Totti merely wanted to be given more respect at the club and cast Spalletti as unreasonable and insensitive.

"All Francesco said in that interview which caused so much controversy was that he wanted to be respected," Blasi told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"He was right to do so – at that time, they [Roma] were not showing him any. Francesco is not a controversial person, he only talks when he touches the ball.

"He was sent away from his own home, and you can write that. I may not know a lot about football, but that was surreal; science fiction.

"As soon as [Totti] arrived home, I told him that we would be going to the stadium that night anyway."

Blasi cited the reaction of the Roma fans, who unsurprisingly gave Totti a standing ovation after he was dropped for the Serie A clash with Palermo, as proving the support he had amid the controversy.

"That showed that the fans had not abandoned him," Blasi continued.

"It's right that he looks to the future and tries to plan without him, but I think that's still difficult at Roma, but I wish him well. He certainly could have been more delicate and Spalletti certainly wasn't that and he did not know how to manage him on a human level.

"He [Totti] has got to feel [whether he can play on]. If he doesn't feel at ease, he would be the first to bury the hatchet. He's intelligent."

On the surface of things, this is just a typical – and fairly common – spat between a player and the head coach. However, it is clear from Totti's standing within the game that this was always going to play out badly for Spalletti.

Such is the adoration for Totti from the Roma fans, Spalletti was inevitably going to be cast as the villain of the piece, but he is unlikely to be overly concerned by this latest criticism, particularly as he is presumably fully aware of his own stature.