In Italy, a country where football is elevated to the rank of art and where the ball takes the form of a romantic figure, there are certain eccentric stories that hit the Calcio news. We remember Maurizio Zamparini, president of Palermo, who announced the sale of the club to Saudi billionaires, promising an investment of 5 billion euros, during a press conference in the presence of three actors paid to play fake Saudi sheikhs in front of journalists. Or in 2014 when the leaders of Parma were excluded from the Europa League after confusing the deadline for paying taxes in Italy (30/06) with that of UEFA (31/03). But also this image of Aurelio De Laurentiis insulting the leaders of the Lega at the announcement of the official championship calendar before fleeing on a Vespa driven by a Neapolitan supporter. You will have understood that if there is one championship that offers us crazy stories to sleep on, it is Serie A. And these small absurd “traditions” remain present in the landscape of Calcio this season.
Indeed, what is happening at AS Roma currently is Kafkaesque surrealism. It’s no longer a secret, but the Roman legend, Daniele De Rossi, was dismissed on September 18 after a disappointing start to the season given the XXL summer transfer window, marked by the arrivals of Matias Soulé, Mats Hummels, Samuel Dahl, Artem Dovbyk, Manu Koné, Enzo Le Fée, Alexis Saelemaekers and Mario Hermoso: “AS Roma announces that it has relieved Daniele De Rossi of his position as head coach of the first team. The club’s decision is adopted in the interest of the team, in order to be able to quickly get back on the right path, at a time when the season is only just beginning. To Daniele, who will always be at home within the club, a big thank you for the work accomplished in recent months with passion and dedication.then indicated the Roman club in its press release. He had been Roma coach since January and finished in sixth place last season. To the rescue came Croatian coach Ivan Juric. Highly respected in Italy, the native of Split had all the makings of the ideal doctor to bandage the wounds of an injured Wolf.
Exit Juric, return of De Rossi?
He has been in Rome for less than a month and he has taken 7 points out of 9 in Serie A. But behind the encouraging numbers lie bad thoughts. Despite two wins and two draws in his first four matches in the league, Ivan Juric is already… in danger. Indeed, as we revealed to you last weekend, the man who was appointed head of AS Roma on September 18 to replace Daniele De Rossi would already be in the hot seat, even though he remains undefeated in Serie A The defeat against Swedish club Elfsborg in the Europa League has reignited protests from Roma fans, already angry after the dismissal of De Rossi. They even threatened to kill members of the management. THE Corriere dello Sport wrote that the Friedkins, owners of the club, expected an immediate reaction from Ivan Juric and a change of pace from the Roman team. But according to information from the Italian newspaper La Repubblicathe Roman management has decided to keep the Croatian tactician for the moment. Unfortunately, behind the scenes, a major project is being hatched, and not the least important one. Indeed, with the departure of Lina Souloukou, president and general director, a backpedal is possible since she was at the very origin of the decision to dismiss Daniele De Rossi.
Always according to La Repubblicathe Roman locker room found it difficult to forget De Rossi, because the players had become attached to their coach and maintained a real close relationship with him. So the Friedkin family could decide to dismiss Ivan Juric and recall Daniele De Rossi. The managers, behind his departure, are no longer at the club, anything can happen. The Croatian signed a contract until June 30, 2025 and today earns 2 million per season. Daniele De Rossi had reached an agreement for a three-year contract at 3.3 million per season. Calling on a third coach would be financial madness for a club which must pay attention to costs. In the event of the dismissal of the former Torino coach, the most plausible choice would be to recall Daniele De Rossi, still very popular with supporters and players, who is ready to pick up the phone and say yes for a hero’s return Roman. A situation which is in some way reminiscent of that experienced by Davide Nicola at Salernitana in January 2023 when the management decided to dismiss him on Monday before offering him the position to his own succession on Thursday.
