a somewhat lackadaisical effort. Following the criticism, Ménez stated, "I touched the lowest point of my career in that game away to Cagliari," and, "My teammates were right to criticise me." On 11 January, Ménez issued an apology to coach Ranieri and his teammates and brushed off rumours of him issuing a transfer request by declaring himself fully committed to the team. On 30 January, midfielder Simone Perrotta stated that Ménez simply needed a confidence boost. After appearing as a substitute for four consecutive matches after the Cagliari match, Ménez made his first start since December 2009 in a league match against Catania on 21 February. He capped the return by assisting on the game-winning goal scored by Mirko Vučinić. Ménez finished the campaign by starting eight of the final ten league matches as Roma finished the season in second place and qualified for the UEFA Champions League. In the 2010–11 season, Ménez began the season as a starter under Ranieri after his successful end to the previous season. Despite being a starter, however, Ranieri continued to undermine Ménez's durability as he consistently substituted the player out in every match he started. On 3 November, Ménez scored his first goal of the campaign in a 3–2 Champions League victory over Swiss club Basel. A week later, he assisted on a Marco Borriello goal in a 3–2 win over Fiorentina. On 13 November, for the first time in the season, Ménez played an entire match after playing in a 1–1 draw with Juventus. In the team's next league match against Udinese, he scored his first league goal and also assisted on a goal in a 2–0 win. After going scoreless in December, on 22 January 2011, Ménez scored the final goal in a 3–0 win over Cagliari. On 16 February, Ménez scored a goal in Roma's first leg of its Champions League first knockout round tie with Shakhtar Donetsk. Five days later, Ranieri resigned from his position as manager and replaced with Vincenzo Montella. Under Montella, Ménez appeared in the manager's first three matches as a substitute. On 13 March, he made his first start under Montella in a league match against Lazio, but was substitute out after 55 minutes. On 23 March, in an interview with French newspaper L'Equipe, Ménez admitted that he was frustrated with his playing time under Montella. The frustration reached its zenith when, on 21 April,