Why Roma under Daniele de Rossi are better than Roma under Jose Mourinho

Only weeks have passed since Jose Mourinho was sacked by Roma, but interim boss Daniele de Rossi has made a quick impact at the club.

Under the Italian, Roma seem to be display a sense of tactical identity which was barely seen under Mourinho, under whom the plan either relied on individuals or it was very result-driven than process-driven, especially towards the end of the Portuguese tenure.

Roma lacked consistency under Mourinho because of the inability for the side to have a distinct tactical plan, especially since the attacking individuals the ex-manager relied on were somewhat not always fit.

But numbers under De Rossi show a sense of consistency, as the win over Monza lifted them into a Champions League spot today. They are fifth in the table and that could yield them a Champions League spot in what would be a big achievement.

Under De Rossi, Roma have three times in three away games. Under Mourinho, it took them ten games to win three away games. They have now won three games in a row twice already under De Rossi. They won three on the trot only once this season and twice last season, but those spells were followed by immense periods of dropping points regularly and that let the side down.

Roma have lost only once in the league so far and that defeat came against Inter, who are unbeatable at the moment. While beating the likes of Verona and Salernitana isn’t an achievement for Roma, they weren’t doing that under Mourinho. They lost to Verona earlier and were held by Salernitana. Under De Rossi, they’ve beaten both and also beat Ivan Juric’s unpredictable Torino, which was meant to be a big test for De Rossi.

They have scored ten times in the last three games, which was something that was unheard of under Mourinho. And there is a method to the system and the players seem to be nailed into those specific roles as well. 

While Mourinho’s comments made everyone feel that Roma weren’t a team that could do more than it was doing under the Portuguese, De Rossi is proving that wrong. 

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN