How Tammy Abraham is single-handedly keeping AS Roma’s European hopes alive
Tammy Abraham has scored goals wherever he has gone, but very few expected him to hit the ground running after joining AS Roma last summer.
The 24-year-old was signed at the behest of manager Jose Mourinho, who saw in Abraham a player with the quality and attitude to develop into a top striker. While Abraham was a peripheral figure at Chelsea, the Portuguese manager saw Abraham as his ‘new Drogba’, and so far the Englishman hasn’t disappointed at all.
On Sunday, the striker netted his 20th goal of the season, scoring the only goal in Roma’s 1-0 Serie A win against Atalanta. Abraham has taken the Italian league by storm and could only get better.
20 goals in his first 36 games for the club for Tammy Abraham...
The only strikers to make a better start to life at Roma: Rodolfo Volk (30 goals in 36 apps), Pedro Manfredini (29) and Gabriel Batistuta (21).
⚽️ 20 goals in his first 36 games for the club for Tammy Abraham...
🔙 The only strikers to make a better start to life at Roma: Rodolfo Volk (30 goals in 36 apps), Pedro Manfredini (29) and Gabriel Batistuta (21).
#ASRoma https://t.co/FJRwR0fiXb
A man on a mission
No English striker has scored more goals than Abraham this season. Only Ciro Immobile (20), Dusan Vlahovic (20), Giovanni Simeone (15) and Lautaro Martinez (14) sit ahead of the Roma forward (13) in this season's Serie A scoring charts.
When Abraham moved to Italy, he was determined to prove his doubters wrong. For a player who was never really given a chance at Chelsea despite his impressive goal-per-game record, he needed to go somewhere else to make his mark.
Fortunately for Abraham, he found a home at Rome and a manager who believed in his talent. He has fitted in seamlessly into the Roma team and is making a name for himself.
The 24-year-old is a man on a mission, and his goals have given the Giallorossi a huge lift, both in Serie A and in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
TAMMY | 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 🔥 TAMMY | 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 ⚽️
Another match-winner for the No. 9 - his 20th goal of the season so far!
#ASRoma | @tammyabraham https://t.co/pgpjWBsU84
Tammy Abraham thriving in Europe
In a season where Roma haven’t been overly impressive in attack, Tammy Abraham’s goals are single-handedly keeping their European hopes alive.
He scored in back-to-back victories against Spezia and Atalanta, propelling the Giallorossi to sixth in the league. He has also netted six times in six games in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
“He is doing well, but he can do better. The team needs him to do better,” Mourinho said of Abraham after his first six months in Italy, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
The manager continued:
“A foreign player who was born raised and done in a different football, in a different society. It's not easy to leave England, but he is doing well. I have hope in him, but he has the potential to do even more.”
Roma are currently six points behind fourth-placed Juventus. Although qualifying for the UEFA Champions League seems a step too far, attaining a UEFA Europa League spot is well within Roma's reach. As long as Tammy Abraham continues to score goals, Roma will fancy their chances of accomplishing that.