Sampdoria boss Mimmo Di Carlo was surprised Francesco Totti was benched for the start of their victory over AS Roma.
Totti and Roma coach Claudio Ranieri rowed at the end of the 2-1 defeat over the skipper's limited role.
Di Carlo said: "It would have been a different game with Totti and Daniele De Rossi on the pitch from the start even if Roma still had a lot of quality above all in attack.
"I understand that for this reason Francesco felt unhappy, but if we always had to look at it this way no one would ever come on or go off."
