AS Roma’s latest defeat to Venezia plunges Jose Mourinho into a mini-crisis
The months of October and November have been really difficult times for Jose Mourinho and AS Roma. From winning six matches at the start of the season, the Giallorossi have now won just twice in the last two months.
It’s not just the results that have been poor, but the general performance of the team has also been drab and uninspiring in recent weeks.
When Mourinho was appointed Roma boss, no one expected him to turn the Giallorossi into title contenders overnight. But fans didn't expect things to be this bad at this stage of the season.
The international break affords the Portuguese manager and his side some leeway. But results will have to improve quickly if Roma are to finish in a respectable position in Serie A.
Venezia add to Roma’s misery
Roma currently sit in 6th position in the league but their performances have been getting worse with each passing week.
A 2-1 defeat to AC Milan was followed by a 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt. Most recently, the Giallorossi suffered a shocking 3-2 defeat to relegation battlers Venezia on Sunday.
The club just can’t seem to catch a break. There are simply too many players underperforming, which is a conundrum the manager has to bear with.
Mourinho has achieved success at almost every club he has managed. However, Roma are perhaps the club with the least budget that he has taken charge of. It remains to be seen how he will dig the club out of this hole.
Mourinho facing mini-crisis
There’s a thin line between a team in turmoil and one that is in crisis. Roma are currently on that thin line and it can be concluded that they’re currently facing a mini-crisis.
A run of one win in their last seven matches is certainly very worrying. Even worse is the fact that Mourinho seems clueless over how to turn things around.
His press conferences suggest he knows what is wrong with the team but doesn’t understand what else to do to get his players to do the right things on the pitch.
“We created many opportunities, many half-chances and when you get into dangerous positions and don't make the right final ball, that is frustrating,” Mourinho said after the defeat to Venezia, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“We did it about 20 times, with attacking players like [Jordan] Veretout and [Lorenzo] Pellegrini near the forwards, but we didn't make the pass. How is it possible to create so much and then not score?"
“We conceded the first goal on a set play that we had practised yesterday and still got the defending wrong,” said the Roma boss.
Mourinho took the Roma job as a long-term project and that means his job is currently not at risk currently. However, he needs to get the team winning again to get the fans on his side. Anything less, and this could develop into a full-blown crisis.