AS Roma sent shockwaves through the football world when they announced the sacking of manager Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff earlier this week. Citing a lack of progress, the Portuguese was dismissed with immediate effect, with former Roma player Daniele De Rossi named as interim manager.
Mourinho joined Roma back in 2021 and oversaw a partial rebuild of the club, bringing in some talented players as well as experienced heads. He also won the UEFA Europa Conference League with the club in 2021-22 and was considered the perfect personality to manage the club. That was until things went south quickly this season.
That being said, let’s recap Mourinho’s tenure as Roma boss.
Jose Mourinho’s arrival & announcement as AS Roma manager
Prior to his second stint in the Italian Serie A, Jose Mourinho was Tottenham Hotspur manager between 2019-21. However, the club was going through a tough spell and made a rather shocking decision of sacking Mourinho, with equally poor timing. They did it just a couple of days before their EFL Cup final against none other than Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, which the club eventually lost.
However, Mourinho was in a job less than a month later, joining AS Roma in May 2021 as a replacement for the outgoing Paulo Fonseca.
The Portuguese manager aimed at making big changes within the first team in his first transfer window. He signed Roger Ibanez, Rui Patricio, Matias Vina, Eldor Shomurodov and Tammy Abraham for a combined total of around €90 million in his first window.
Part of his plans arguably worked as Jose Mourinho ended his first season with AS Roma having achieved two landmark objectives. The first was ending the club’s 11-year trophy drought by lifting the Conference League title. The second was personal, as Mourinho became the first manager in history to win the UEFA treble of Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
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The 2023-24 season and Jose Mourinho’s final weeks at AS Roma
AS Roma finished sixth in Serie A with 63 points in Mourinho’s first season, just a point behind fierce rivals Lazio, and outside of the automatic Champions League spots. The club remarkably had the exact same record in Jose Mourinho’s first two seasons. On both occasions, they finished sixth with 63 points, having won 18 games, drawn nine and lost 11. However, their goal difference dropped from +16 in 2021-22 to +12 in 2022-23, mainly because of the goals drying up up-front.
Roma are currently reeling in ninth in Serie A with 29 points from 20 games, with eight wins, five draws and seven defeats. They have scored 32 goals this season but have conceded a worrying 24 goals, which is worse off than all but one team above them (Napoli, 25).
AS Roma’s hierarchy had put all contract renewal talks for Jose Mourinho on hold despite his existing deal set to expire in June 2024. Their wariness about the Portuguese was accurate as Roma have won just once in their last five games, losing thrice. Those defeats came against the club’s closest rivals Juventus, Lazio and AC Milan. This accelerated the club’s decision to part ways with their manager.
Jose Mourinho’s record at AS Roma
Total Games Managed: 138.
Wins: 68.
Draws: 31.
Defeats: 39.
Additional stats:
- Jose Mourinho’s 1.70 points per game average is the worst record by a Roma manager since 2013.
- This season’s 29 points from 20 games is the lowest tally by the club at this stage of the season since 2002-03, when they accumulated 27.
- His win percentage (49.3%) ranks the worst among all clubs he has managed, with Tottenham (51.1%) and Manchester United (58.3%) coming closest.
Although his sacking was harsh given the relationship he had with his players, AS Roma ultimately made the best decision for their future by appointing De Rossi.
On that note, let’s take a look at the new manager’s credentials.
Daniele De Rossi’s appointment as AS Roma manager
Following Jose Mourinho’s departure from the role of manager, AS Roma moved quickly to announce former player and club legend Daniele De Rossi as the new interim manager.
Having only previously managed SPAL, De Rossi only have 17 games of managerial experience under his belt prior to taking up the Roma hot-seat. In those games, he had a 0.88 points per game average, winning just three, drawing six and losing eight. While this is extraordinarily low for a managerial role, the fact that it is temporary will give the club’s fans some respite. A typical Italian, De Rossi used a traditional 3-4-2-1 formation and is likely to bring that forward with him.
As a player, however, Daniele De Rossi was as fine as they get. He was a traditional central midfielder who contributed significantly on both ends of the field. He was great at defending with his strong tackles, positional awareness and strength. When needed, he also made the occasional drive forward or played a line-breaking pass to put teammates through on goal.
Considered one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, De Rossi’s box-to-box approach saw him compared with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
Daniele De Rossi made 616 appearances for AS Roma, scoring 63 goals and providing 60 assists during that time. He also picked up 13 red cards and was booked a whopping 151 times. Whilst playing for the club, he won two Coppa Italia cups and one Supercoppa Italiana.
Verdict on AS Roma’s managerial situation
Considering Daniele De Rossi’s lack of experience, Roma may struggle to achieve consistent results immediately as the new manager will have a lot of groundwork to lay.
Additionally, several of the younger players in the first team shared a great relationship with Jose Mourinho and will take time to get accustomed to such a massive change with suddenness.
However, like all big clubs do eventually, AS Roma will bounce back.
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