No person has been more outspoken about the difficulties of managing Roma than former Giallorossi manager Fabio Capello. You can find several interviews from the former England manager about the pressure of managing in the Italian capital, but here’s the perfect summation about the environment that awaits you in Rome:
“After we conquered winning the Scudetto, the celebrations continued for six months. I kept telling the players that we had a duty to continue to work, but the Roman media continued to praise us and we no longer played my football. I had five wonderful years in Rome, but you can see how difficult it is to win there. It’s a fantastic place but it takes you all the way up to the stars then back down to dust within a week. If you are not used to bearing these difficulties in Rome, with the radios and newspapers, everything becomes more complicated”.
Capello’s words perfectly encapsulate the difficulties that come along with managing the Giallorossi: a club whose supporters have sensationally high expectations despite the club having won the league only three times. You can imagine then what type of environment Roma is when things aren’t going well, which is where the club currently finds itself.
The Giallorossi haven’t won a match since their 4-1 victory against Sampdoria on 11 November – marking a five match unbeaten streak – and currently sit 8th in the Serie A table behind the likes of Atalanta and Torino. To call Roma’s season anything other than “disastrous” is far too generous. You could point to a variety of problems plaguing the Giallorossi this season: poor attitudes, injuries or players out of form, however, it all begins and ends with manager Eusebio Di Francesco.
The Italian tactician has simply not been able to “get-through” to his team and it has shown on the pitch. The Giallorossi are sloppy, careless during tense moments and lack the mental edge that’s required of a top-level club. Even more damning are the dozens of statistics that reinforce just how badly Roma have been this season.
Here are just a few of the notoriously bad numbers from this season:
- Roma have lost 7 points in the final ten minutes of their minutes
- The Giallorossi have conceded 6 goals in the final ten minutes in Serie A this season, which is second worst in all of Serie A
- Roma have 3 wins, 6 draws, and 17 defeats under Eusebio Di Francesco in matches in which they trailed
These are only a few of the several statistics that highlight just how poor Roma have been under Eusebio Di Francesco. It’s abundantly clear that they lack the discipline and proper mentality — making it clearer than ever that a managerial change is necessary.
Back in the summer of 2016, Roma president James Pallotta admitted that he waited too long to sack former manager Rudi Garcia and labeled it a lesson learned — which makes his backing of Di Francesco even more puzzling.
This time, though, there isn’t a manager waiting in the wings to come and save Roma as Luciano Spalletti did. Even worse, Pallotta’s reluctance may ultimately cost his team a Champions League spot.
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