José Mourinho was announced as the new coach of Roma on May 4, 2021, a day that changed the recent history of the club and started a process of transformation, or perhaps it would be more correct to say of evolution, of the Giallorossi club and of his entire fanbase.
Roma fans have completely adopted the Special One, who has become part of the Giallorossi family by right, asking for complicity since the first press conference, in which he was clear: the squad needs reinforcements, because it is inferior to other teams that finished higher in the standings last season, it will take some time to catch up with the others and it would have to be a three year-project. At least a couple of years to build something, one market session after another and one transfer after another.
UPS AND DOWNS
In these first months of Mourinho there have been many lows, such as the defeats with Bodo (historic for Roma and for José himself) and that shock with Juventus (after going 3-1 ahead), and highs, like the victory in Bergamo over Atalanta.
Roma must grow, they must find solidity and stability: too many defeats this season, especially in Serie A, especially those against Verona and Bologna, or the misstep against Sampdoria at home, other victories are needed to rise in the standings and concretely aim for the fourth place.
It will not be easy, because Milan, Napoli, Atalanta and Juventus last season finished ahead of the Giallorossi and also with wide margins: Mourinho must do his utmost to help Roma improve their roadmap because the club's goal is to return to the Champions League as soon as possible and, if possible, also win some trophies. In this sense, a target could be the Conference League, a competition in which the painful 6-1 defeat against Bodo Glimt came.
Roma in the loss to Bodo-Glimt
The team is currently sixth in the standings and compared to its direct competitors it is a bit behind, but in addition to the direct responsibilities of the Portuguese coach and his boys, there is also the impact that some referees' choices have had on the path of the team in this first part of the season, such as those in the derby, in the matches against Milan and Juventus, the one against Venezia…in short, Mourinho's return to Serie A was not welcomed in the best possible way by the refereeing class, amidst controversies and strong statements. Even Roma has chosen to hire the former referee Gianpaolo Calvarese as a consultant, to have always updated and precise explanations on the regulations and the choices of the referees.
TACTICAL AND PLAYER IMPROVEMENT
From a tactical point of view, the team has yet to find a definitive scheme, due to absences and defections and the characteristics of a squad that has been poorly built over the years (missing a real regista for years now, as well as a top tier defensive midfielder, the last one was Daniele De Rossi) and which is difficult to send on the field in a fruitful way.
Mourinho has so far alternated between 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-1-2, with the latter being the preferred pattern for many of the players in the squad, especially the attackers, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Nicolo Zaniolo and Tammy Abraham. The coach's work, however, is concentrated not only on the pitch, but also on the mental and character development of a team that has not grown in recent years.
While the other teams were starting and carrying out their own projects (Atalanta, Milan, Naples, Inter, all teams that today are reaping the fruits of the work of the past years), Roma stopped, amidst bad choices of sports directors and coaches unable to build something lasting and stable: Monchi's errors, Eusebio Di Francesco's dismissal, the parenthesis Claudio Ranieri, Paulo Fonseca, Gianluca Petrachi and Guido Fienga, a series of characters who for one reason or another have not been able to put down foundations for the future, neither from the point of view of mentality, nor from the technical one. Rebuilding and building, these are the missions that the Friedkin family has entrusted to the Special One.
Pellegrini - Mourinho's star man
Since arriving in Rome, Mourinho has contributed to the growth of several players, or in any case he is impacting in a decisive and evident way on the development of their careers: we speak in particular of Lorenzo Pellegrini, captain of Roma, Tammy Abraham and Nicolò Zaniolo. The first is the protégé of the Special One, who has filled him with praise since he arrived, the phrase "if I had three Pellegrinis I would play all three as starters" is now famous.
Lorenzo has been growing for several seasons now, for performance he has been among the best players in Serie A for several years, but with Mourinho the standard of his game has reached very high levels: goals, assists, free-kick goals, key passes and presence on the pitch as a top player. His natural talent and Mourinho's work are a great match.
Tammy, the English striker, is playing well and is scoring a lot, already 17 goals since his arrival in the capital, he is growing in terms of play and participation in the game and the impression is that next season Roma will be able to count on a striker able to solve every game.
As for Zaniolo, the situation is more complex: the Italian jewel is back from two serious and long injuries that slowed his growth, Mourinho is working hard on him, he often pampers him even in public declarations (Nicolò in Italy is given few fouls and for this reason Mourinho said "if I were him I would go away"), he changed his role by bringing him to the penalty area and leaving him less field to cover: the results are being seen and Zaniolo's performance is constantly growing. Another player who owes a lot to Mourinho is Felix Afena-Gyan. The young Roma forward was launched by the Special One, who then gave him space with continuity.
Mourinho is working for the present, but also for the future. In these first months, Rick Karsdorp has also grown and said he has put aside some bad habits since the Portuguese coach has arrived, but Mkhitaryan has also benefited from his arrival, as he has been employed in a new role for him, as a midfield interior.
WHAT MOURINHO MEANS TO ROMA
The coaches, however, are not only concerned with the field, only with tactics and only with developing the players at their disposal. Or rather, the normal coaches yes, the great coaches instead do something else.
The best coaches in the world, on the other hand, do what José Mourinho does: unite the fanbase, unite all the fans, compact the environment and guarantee trust in the club, work in first person in bringing players and defending the team, always. Mourinho brings with him experience, charisma, culture of work and trophies, all things that are lacking in Rome and thanks to which in a very short time he has become an almost divine figure in the eyes of the Giallorossi fans, even before (the hope of everyone) to win trophies.
Mourinho has united Roma fans and it is something that few in history have managed to do, few players, very few coaches. Mourinho asked for time and complicity, he managed to create an empathy that was rarely seen in the Eternal City: never chants against the team, never boos, not even after defeats or after negative matches and this must be considered as a victory, because football is feeling, not just money and trophies, and if you walk through the streets of Rome or if you go to the stadium to watch a Roma game in the air there is only love. A continuous explosion of love, pride, a sense of belonging.
The Roma players are behind their manager
AS Roma is love, it is the relationship with its fans and the love that pervades every single match of Mourinho's team is a victory for the coach. If there is a man able to "change" the Giallorossi team, make it a winning team and push the environment to ask for more from his team, it is the Special One. His continuous requests to the club to improve the squad, his words that match after match push the management and the owners to do everything possible to improve the squad and make it successful, are something that has rarely been seen in Rome. Indeed, the last time it happened Roma won the Scudetto with Fabio Capello.
It is no coincidence that two important reinforcements arrived in January, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and especially Sergio Oliveira, who would hardly have arrived with another coach. The Roma fans sided openly with Mourinho: social campaigns and many banners to show closeness to the coach, love for him. On Twitter the hashtag #ConMourinhoperlaRoma went crazy for days, one of the most beautiful banners was undoubtedly the one that read "con Mourinho fino all'inferno" ("with Mourinho even into hell"). Roma have started a journey of at least three years, and it will not be easy, it will not be immediate, a lot of money and important purchases will be needed, but the fans have embraced José Mourinho's project and, it is known, Roma fans are faithful like no one else.
The club has chosen to entrust the keys of the team to a winning manager, with great experience, who will have the task of bringing the team to success both through the field and through everything that happens outside it, he will have the task of evaluating the value of the players in the squad, selecting the suitable and best profiles to achieve success, as was the case with Abraham, in the shortest possible time.
Mourinho is the man of hope for Roma fans, for a different present and a future of victories. Brick after brick. After all, as the story says, Rome wasn't built in a day.
