The Roman Wolf no longer howls. The summer, however, foreshadowed very good things with a transfer window masterfully managed by French leader Florent Ghisolfi, which notably included the arrivals of Matias Soulé, Mats Hummels, Samuel Dahl, Artem Dovbyk, Manu Koné, Enzo Le Fée , Alexis Saelemaekers and Mario Hermoso. On paper, the Giallorossi had the material to have a very good season, while the Roman club has been chasing titles for several years – the last national successes dating back to the Scudetto in 2001 and the Coppa 2008. The Roman legend, Daniele De Rossi was fired on September 18 after a disappointing start to the season. To the rescue came Croatian coach Ivan Jurić. Highly respected in Italy, the native of Split had all the makings of the ideal doctor to bandage the wounds of an injured Wolf. Unfortunately, everything did not go as planned.
Furious at the decision to dismiss an icon of the club, the ultras of the Giallorossi were quick to express their anger, to the point of pushing the president and general manager Lina Souloukou towards the exit, tired of the death threats she received since the departure of Daniele De Rossi. Ivan Jurić therefore arrived in a climate that was far from stable. And despite rather convincing results in its first managed meetings (two victories and a draw in the championship, i.e. 7 points out of 9 possible), the popular disapproval placed the owners of the Friedkin family in a very delicate position, that of working with the The shadow of De Rossi hovering in everyone’s minds. Everyone has been talking about the Roman legend since his ouster. Players, supporters, journalists… Nobody seems to have mourned the departure of De Rossi, which does not make the work of Ivan Jurić and his staff any easier.
A bench in the blur zone
If Ivan Jurić benefited from convincing results for a time to save his position, this is no longer the case. AS Roma cannot get their heads above water and drowning is more than ever expected. There remain serious problems in the content produced, particularly in defense. In six days played under the direction of the Croatian coach, the Romans have conceded a total of 11 goals, including eight in the last three matches. The losses against Fiorentina (5-1) and Hellas Verona (3-2) last week left their mark and highlighted the problems of the Roman rearguard. The quarrel between Gianluca Mancini and Ivan Jurić, who came to blows, proves that there is indeed a rift between this group and this staff. Offensively, AS Roma relies mainly on individual opposing errors to score, such as the missed pass from Karol Linetty of Torino, who offered Paulo Dybala a free goal during his team’s victory (0-1): “You don’t have to ask me this question, for me the team did well, we did better than Turin. Today we made mistakes and there were mistakes from the referees that we paid for. I’m looking forward, I’m interested in performance», Explained Juric yesterday at a press conference after the defeat against Verona. In the midst of this slump, the discretion or even the total silence of Florent Ghisolfi questions in Italy. The former DS of Lens and Nice is having a hard time putting out the fire.
Moreover, when asked about his former student whom he trained, Gian Piero Gasperini from Atalanta defended his friend Ivan Jurić: “Ivan is a good coach, he knows how to work, if he is supported and can produce results. It’s a very difficult situation in Rome, he is also alone and completely abandoned, he does everything he can to do everything he can“. For many weeks, rumors circulated in the Italian press, notably an improbable imbroglio in the columns of La Repubblica which mentioned a possible return of Daniele De Rossi, sacked but still under contract until June 2027. Calling on a third coach was then described as 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 was to recall Daniele De Rossi, still very popular with supporters and players, who is always ready to pick up his phone to accept a return as a hero Roman. However, water has flowed under the bridge and the echoes seem to have changed. Indeed, several candidates are now being considered and AS Roma could have a third tactician in three months. Claudio Ranieri would be in pole position. The profile of Roberto Mancini, recently sacked from Saudi Arabia, is also checked. Paulo Sousa, Edin Terzic, Graham Potter and even Frank Lampard have been mentioned in the rumors. Even if Jurić led training this Monday morning, everything suggests that the native of Split will leave in the coming hours…
