The Weekly Take, Issue 304: "Capitan Futuro" to "L'attuale Allenatore"

Not even three months ago, AS Roma’s season was in a clear downward spiral. The Giallorossi had slipped to ninth in the Serie A table having lost three of their past five matches. Over the six Serie A matches leading up to head coach José Mourinho’s firing on January 16, Roma had earned just five points. While there’s no doubt that Mourinho is one of the greatest to ever do it and is easily on the coaching Mount Rushmore, it was also obvious that “the game has passed him by” - he’s just not able to get it done at this level anymore.

Roma replaced Mourinho with Daniele De Rossi - a move clearly intended to appeal to the fans. A club legend who spent 18 years as a player for his hometown club, De Rossi was rather inexperienced in the dugout when he took over at the Stadio Olimpico. His only prior coaching stint had been a four-month gig at Serie B club SPAL between October 2022 and February 2023. To say that it did not go well would be an understatement - De Rossi was fired with SPAL in the relegation zone. With this in mind, there was understandably skepticism despite the element of sentimentality in play.

However, De Rossi has clearly banished that skepticism - in the 15 matches since he’s taken over, Roma have won 10 of which eight have been in the league. Arguably none have been more significant than this matchday’s Derby della Capitale 1-0 victory over Lazio. Gianluca Mancini scored the only goal of the match just before half-time to hand Lazio their fourth loss in their past six league matches. With the win, Roma close in on Juventus and Bologna in the chase for a top-four spot and a berth in next season’s Champions League.

All season long across various leagues, we’ve seen the importance of having the right person for the right club as the coach. Of course, there’s no example more obvious than Bayer Leverkusen, where Xabi Alonso is putting the finishing touches on what will surely go down as one of the, if not the single, greatest single-season coaching performances of all time. To potentially win the “Faux Treble” with an Invincibles league campaign - and with an underdog like Leverkusen to boot - is something that will undoubtedly rank among the greatest achievements in football history.

While not nearly at that same level, De Rossi has been the driving force of an impressive turnaround of his own. Mourinho’s preferred 3-5-2 formation was never really the right fit at Roma, considering the personnel at the club’s disposal. De Rossi, on the other hand, quickly moved to implement a 4-3-3 setup instead - a formation that evidently plays to Roma’s strengths. With this setup, Roma’s full-backs are given additional room for final-third play while simultaneously keeping a tight defensive line.

What’s more, De Rossi’s tactics have given players such as Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini more active roles on the attacking front - and this has translated into goals and wins. Dybala in particular looks like a player reborn; having been written off by many for quite some time, the Argentinian forward is now in his best form since his 2017-18 season at Juventus.

The flexibility that De Rossi has brought to Roma’s tactical approach has to be noted as well. Defensively, he’ll often have Roma pivot from four at the back to five, shoring up the backline with wingers often dropping deep. This is where Bryan Cristante, probably Roma’s most underrated player, comes in. The defensive midfielder’s versatility is exactly what Roma have needed when transitioning from defense to offense, sometimes taking on the role of a box-to-box central midfielder - and De Rossi has leveraged this versatility to great effect.

All of this being said, it’s still too early to say for sure if Daniele De Rossi is the real deal or if this is just the “new coach effect” in play with a regression to the mean on the horizon. That being said, things undoubtedly are on the upswing for AS Roma right now. Considering where Roma were when they hired De Rossi, a top-four finish - which now actually seems possible - would be an excellent result. 

The Weekly Take, Issue 289: The Revival Nobody Saw Coming

The latest edition of the Derby del Sole had an additional layer of importance with both AS Roma and Napoli in contention for the top four and berths in next season's revamped Champions League. Roma emerged with a crucial 2-0 victory. Substitute Lorenzo Pellegrini opened the scoring in the 76th minute. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Romelu Lukaku scored his eighth league goal of the season to secure all three points for the Giallorossi.

Despite having 60% of the possession, Napoli were never in control of the match, attempting just seven shots to Roma's 17 and seldom putting together a productive stretch of play. In addition, Napoli finished the match with just nine men following red cards received by Matteo Politano and Victor Osimhen.

If Roma were to make it to next season's Champions League, it would be their first time doing so in six years. While Roma have seen the likes of Bryan Cristante, Leonardo Spinazzola, Paulo Dybala, and Diego Llorente making key contributions, there's another name there which has to be noted: that of Lukaku.

After a dismal 2021-22 season at Chelsea in which his form completely fell off the cliff from the prior season, Lukaku was loaned back to Inter Milan where he had been so dominant before. However, this second go-around at the San Siro would see the Belgian centre-forward not even come close to the levels which he reached in his previous two-year stint at Inter. As a result, when Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge at the beginning of this season, he was unsurprisingly loaned out again - this time to Roma.

Lukaku's loan stint at Roma almost didn't even happen at all. Inter attempted to sign Lukaku permanently, but this never materialized. Rumours about a move to Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, and even Saudi Arabia had circulated before the deal with Roma was struck. Roma's loan acquisition of Lukaku was largely facilitated by Lukaku's interest in once again working with José Mourinho, who had coached him at Manchester United between 2016 and 2018. Despite this, many were skeptical of the move.

In a twist that very few could have seen coming, Lukaku is in his best form since leaving Inter for the first time back in the 2021 off-season. With 13 goals in all competitions as the season approaches its halfway point, Lukaku has spearheaded a Roma attack that - contrary to the stereotypical Mourinho team - has been heavy on goals with 30 in the league thus far, ranking Roma third behind Inter and AC Milan in this statistic.

Probably the main factor behind Lukaku's resurgence is that, at least right now, Roma are a team that suit a centre-forward like him. Full of capable playmakers like Dybala, Leandro Paredes, and Cristante, this Roma team is set up to make Lukaku able to function as the classic target man up front - the role in which he has largely thrived throughout his career.

While a seemingly minor point, Lukaku's interest in working with Mourinho should also be pointed out. During his time at United, Lukaku's best stretch of form coincided with Mourinho's tenure there. After Mourinho was fired in December 2018, Lukaku's form dipped dramatically, ultimately leading to his exit in the 2019 off-season. Although this is certainly not the main source of Lukaku's revival, it cannot be overlooked as a potential contributing factor.

That being said, the one question which has plagued Lukaku for much of his career continues to do so: can he turn it up when the pressure is at its highest? Time and time again we have seen Lukaku come up short whenever his team has most needed a big performance from him. The prime examples of this failure to deliver in the clutch were his own goal to lose the 2020 Europa League final for Inter and his shambolic display in Inter's 2023 Champions League final loss to Manchester City. Until he actually does produce in high-stakes matches, there will always be warranted skepticism around him.

Romelu Lukaku has had quite the career - one with a myriad of ups and downs, twists and turns, and wild swings in form. After a long spell in the footballing doldrums, he seems to be on the way back - but will it last? With how unpredictable his play, especially in recent years, has been, anyone who would make a definitive comment on that is daring indeed.

The Weekly Take, Issue 242: Falling Short of Expectations

At the beginning of this season, AS Roma's future appeared bright. Despite having finished just sixth in Serie A in 2021-22, Roma's outlook seemed relatively positive due to several factors: the signings of Paulo Dybala, Andrea Belotti, and Nemanja Matić; the opportunity to build on their UEFA Europa Conference League victory; and potentially even the prospect of English striker Tammy Abraham further improving from his breakout season. The Giallorossi were not only expected to contend for a top-four spot; some even went so far as to claim that they may have had an outside chance at a first league title in 22 years.

This has certainly not been the case. The chasm between Roma's pre-season expectations and actual performance was clearly displayed in their match against Napoli this past matchday. The latest edition of the Derby del Sole ended in a 2-1 Napoli victory. Victor Osimhen opened the scoring for the Serie A champions-to-be, allowing Napoli to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. A half-hour after play resumed, Stephan El Sharaawy equalized for Roma only for Giovanni Simeone to seal Napoli's victory with the winning goal in the 86th minute.

Roma's loss leaves them in sixth place in the league, 16 points behind Napoli. The only silver lining for Roma lies in the fact that every other presumed title contender apart from Napoli has struggled this season; this has allowed Roma to remain in contention for the top four and a spot in next season's Champions League. However, just about everything that could have gone wrong for them this season has.

Abraham has not even come close to replicating his form from last season. The Londoner has found the back of the net just five times in his 20 league appearances thus far this season - a far cry from his 17 in 37 a season ago. Though his exclusion from England's World Cup squad did initially raise some eyebrows, that decision appears to make much more sense now in light of his recent struggles.

With the exception of Dybala, Roma's off-season signings have not even approached the level of impact expected of them. Matić, Belotti, and Zeki Çelik have not been significant contributors this season, while loan acquisition Georginio Wijnaldum has barely even entered the field at all. Roma's reluctance to open up their wallets last summer has come back to haunt them in a big way. Even as the January transfer window comes to a close, Roma only made one signing during it - Ola Solbakken on a free transfer from Bodø/Glimt. While it may be true that Roma aren't exactly the wealthiest of clubs, they surely could have invested in a player who could have made a major difference to their campaign so far.

Additionally, rumours surrounding head coach José Mourinho may have destabilized the team. Mourinho has reportedly become dissatisfied at the Stadio Olimpico and has been linked with positions at Premier League clubs Chelsea and Newcastle United as well as the national teams of the United States and his home country of Portugal. It should not go unmentioned that Mourinho received the lion's share of the credit for Roma's success last season after several difficult years (both for Roma and Mourinho himself). This might also partially explain Abraham's steep decline this season: Mourinho was able to tap into Abraham's potential in a way that no other coach ever had, leading to his highly successful season in 2021-22. The prospect of Mourinho's departure may have thus contributed to his diminished output this season. It may also have caused the rest of the team to mentally "check out" to some extent.

While AS Roma have not necessarily taken a step back when compared to where they were last season, most would have expected them to be doing far better than they are right now. That said, for all their struggles, they still have a realistic shot at a Champions League spot next season and have a Europa League round of 32 fixture against Red Bull Salzburg which they should easily win. There's still plenty of time for Roma to turn their season around; however, something must change soon if what once seemed like such a promising season is to avoid coming to nothing.

The Weekly Take, Issue 144: Everything that Could Have Gone Wrong Did

In a match with major implications on this season's Serie A title race, Juventus eased to a 2-0 victory over AS Roma. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Juve in the 13th minute before a second-half Ibañez own goal sealed the Giallorossi's loss. Roma's loss not only left them nine points behind league leaders AC Milan; they also fell to fifth in the league and thus in position to miss out on Champions League qualification for the third season in a row.

Over the past few seasons, Roma's greatest moment was undoubtedly their iconic 2018 Champions League quarterfinal comeback to beat Barcelona. However, since then, not a lot has gone right for them. Their subsequent Serie A campaign saw them finish the season in sixth place, their worst league finish in six years. The mid-season firing of head coach Eusebio Di Francesco did not do much to improve the club's performance; his replacement Claudio Ranieri, in his second stint coaching Roma, could not lead them to a top-four spot and a Champions League berth.

The moment that signalled the closing of Roma's window as a genuine Serie A contender didn't directly involve them. In the 2018 Champions League final, Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 with the assistance of an absolutely dismal performance by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius. This absolute disaster of a performance prompted the Reds to search for a goalkeeper during that offseason; they finally settled on Roma's Alisson. Since then, the Brazilian has established himself as clearly the second-best goalkeeper in the world, only behind Atlético Madrid superstar Jan Oblak. Despite the high transfer fee he commanded, Roma have not even been close to compensating for Alisson's departure at all.

Alisson has not been the only key player to leave the Stadio Olimpico since 2018. During this period, Radja Nainggolan, Kevin Strootman, Kostas Manolas, and Aleksandar Kolarov all left the club. Of course, player departures from Roma cannot be fully covered without mentioning club legend Daniele De Rossi. After 18 years with his hometown club, De Rossi left for Boca Juniors on a free transfer in July 2019. Though already 35 years old and clearly on the decline by then, De Rossi's departure would surely have had a profound psychological impact on the team. The Roma captain provided leadership and stability which no one else at the club could possibly have.

To make matters worse, the career of a possible star in the making might very well have been derailed before the player had his chance to truly blossom. Since January 2020, Nicolò Zaniolo has suffered not one, but two ACL tears. The Tuscany-born attacking midfielder was named Serie A's best young player of the 2018-19 season after a breakout debut league season which saw him establish himself as a player who might someday emerge as Roma's heir to the great Francesco Totti. However, his progression came to a shuddering halt when he tore his right ACL in a league match against Juve. Astonishingly, not long after he return from the devastating injury, he would tear his left ACL in a Nations League match for Italy against the Netherlands. Even at just 21, it is almost certain that due to these injuries, he will never even approach his once-lofty ceiling.

On a related note, Roma's failure to invest in young talent might soon come back to bite them. At the moment, their two best players are 32-year-old Henrikh Mkhitaryan and 34-year-old Edin Džeko. Though Roma will bank on the continued improvement of Cengiz Ünder and Justin Kluivert when they return from their loan spells, it does not seem likely that either will reach the heights needed to lead Roma to a league title or another deep run in the Champions League (of course, they'd first have to make it back into the top four).

Roma's path back to becoming a genuine force in Italy has been made even more difficult not only by Juve's continued domestic excellence, but also by the recent resurgence of both Inter and AC Milan as well as the improvement of city rivals Lazio. A first league title since 2001 seems further away than ever before. Unfortunately, Roma fans could be in for a difficult next few years.

The Weekly Take, Issue 97: The Final Step Was Never Taken

It is seldom easy for any team to take that final step – the step which causes them to go from being merely a potential qualifier for the Champions League to one which is a perennial contender for league titles and from time to time, perhaps even Champions League titles.

Over the last decade, we have witnessed several teams take that step even if some were not always able to maintain their level of performance. Such teams have included Tottenham, Napoli, Liverpool, and Atlético Madrid.

However, one team which has failed to step up to that level has been Roma; this fact was again evidenced by their 2-1 Serie A loss to Juventus. From a statistical standpoint, one might automatically assume that Roma were in complete control of the match. They took 22 shots to Juve's six, had more possession and completed passes, and had 13 corners to Juve's two. Despite these facts, the numbers do not tell the true story of the match. Juve raced out to an early two-goal lead within the first 10 minutes through a Merih Demiral goal and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty. After scoring their second goal, Juve then switched tactics; they would let the Giallorossi go into all-out attack mode while they themselves soaked up the pressure from the Roman club. Roma did pull one back through a Diego Perotti penalty, but their chances of finishing the match with a draw always seemed unlikely throughout the proceedings.

Not only have Roma failed to ascend to the level of genuine contenders (which is something they had been expected to accomplish at some point), but they have actually regressed over the past two seasons. Last season, Roma finished sixth in Serie A with 66 points and missed qualification for this season's Champions League. With regard to both league position and number of points, it was their worst league campaign since 2013. Roma were also knocked out of the Champions League's round of 16 by Porto; this was particularly disappointing because most expected Roma to have had no trouble in defeating the Portuguese club. Even the firing of head coach Eusebio Di Francesco, who was replaced by Claudio Ranieri, could not put an end to their woes.

This season, Roma's struggles have continued. After 19 league matchdays, Roma currently lie fifth in the league with 35 points. They are on pace to again miss out on Champions League qualification. They even narrowly avoid a Europa League group stage exit, only qualifying for the round of 32 by one point; however, in saying that, it must also be noted that they surprisingly finished ahead of Borussia Mönchengladbach in doing so.

Roma's lack of success this season is even more notable when one considers the fact that on paper, they made many upgrades to their squad over the past off-season. Players such as Pau López, Amadou Diawara, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Leonardo Spinazzola, and Jordan Veretout had been expected to make more of an impact than they have thus far. The likes of Nicolò Zaniolo, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Alessandro Florenzi, and Justin Kluivert have also been underperforming throughout this season. Roma's only player to have lived up to expectations at this point of the season has been veteran centre-forward Edin Džeko.

The hiring of Paulo Fonseca during the off-season to replace Ranieri has not delivered the hoped results either. Ever since having arrived at the Stadio Olimpico from Shakhtar Donetsk, the Portuguese coach has had little to no impact on his new team. This is the first time that Fonseca has coached in a major league, and this lack of experience has been clearly exposed. The coaches of the four teams currently ahead of Roma in the league have over 20 complete seasons' worth of major-league coaching between them. Given this fact, the selection of Fonseca to coach a team which should be a fringe league title contender and a perennial Champions League qualifier was a strange one.

The progress of any football team is not always linear. Sometimes, a team peaks before a time when most expect such to be the case. At other times, a team unexpectedly reaches a new level beyond what most expect. Unfortunately for Roma and their fans, the events of the last two seasons seem to have shown that the club clearly belongs in the former category. Titles of any sort seem a long way off right now.

The Weekly Take, Issue 11: Crashing Back Down to Earth

After their earth-shattering comeback from three goals behind to beat Barcelona in the Champions League, many expected AS Roma to continue their run of form and carry that momentum through the Derby della Capitale against Lazio.

However, it was clear that the Giallorossi were unable to maintain the level of intensity and effort that brought them the victory against Barça as they laboured to a 0-0 draw against their city rivals.

For Roma fans, this would have been especially galling, because it’s one thing to show that sort of lack of urgency in any other match.

It’s quite another to do so in a derby against one’s rival team.

Furthermore, the dropped points see Lazio remain third, four points ahead of Roma. With the Serie A season ending soon, time is running out for Roma to gain ground on Lazio and qualify for next season’s Champions League.

This is also clear evidence as to why Roma have no chance to win the Champions League this season.

Of course, you could also point to the relative lack of star power in their squad, but let’s face it: if a team follows up an incredible victory like that against Barça with a lackadaisical, uninspiring performance in a derby, that speaks volumes about their ability to maintain focus in pursuit of the biggest prize in club football.

It should be noted that Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool – the three other teams that have advanced to the last four of the Champions League – all followed up their respective Champions League victories by winning their own league matches.

It may be true that physical and mental fatigue played a role in Roma’s diminished performance. This may be seen in Roma defender Kostas Manolas, who scored the winning goal that knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League, being substituted off near the end of the match due to injury, which may have been brought on by his efforts against the Catalan club.

But even so, derbies ought to be different. Derbies are often decided by which team just wants it more during the game, and Roma simply did not want it badly enough.

As was mentioned earlier, it is very possible that Roma could pair their season of overachievement in the Champions League with a league campaign that sees them missing out on next year’s edition.

This also brings me to my other point: Roma’s relative lack of star power, which is also a problem of their own doing.

In what will go down as a colossal blunder by the Roma front office, the Italian club sold Mohamed Salah to Liverpool in the off-season. Although not many eyebrows were raised by this transfer at the time, it could come back to haunt them in dramatic fashion, as Roma were drawn to play against Liverpool in the Champions League semifinals.

While Roma do have some solid players, such as Alisson, Radja Nainggolan, Kevin Strootman, Juan Jesus, Edin Džeko, and Stephan El Shaarawy, none of them are on the elite, game-changing level of the likes of Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Robert Lewandowski.

Roma will go into their semifinal against Liverpool as the clear underdogs, and for good reason – not only did they sell an emerging superstar to the team they are about to face, but they have also shown that they lack the sort of consistency that will lead them to a European title.

In fact, I will come right out and say it: Roma have no chance of victory over two legs in the semifinal.

This would also have been true if they had been drawn against Real or Bayern.

Among the four teams remaining in the competition, Roma have the least star power and are the least consistent. They also have relatively little big-match experience, unlike the battle-tested veterans in Madrid and Munich.

It is a shame that this season, in which Roma have surpassed many expectations, could end with them having absolutely nothing to show for their efforts – not even a place in next season’s Champions League.

Unfortunately, though, in spite of all they’ve done so far this season, Roma just do not seem to have what it takes to win it all.