It is time for AS Roma to look beyond Jose Mourinho
AS Roma roped in one of football's all-time managerial greats, Jose Mourinho, in the summer to elevate them to Champions League football. With more than two-thirds of the season played, they sit well outside the top-four and look to be settling for a Europa League finish at best.
Last year, under the guidance of Paulo Fonseca, Roma finished seventh in the Serie A standings and qualified for the Conference League group stages. His sacking was inevitable as his side fell short of the club's ambitions.
Jose Mourinho's appointment brought a lot of optimism to the fanbase and the club's hierarchy, given his imperious track record in Italy. He has won every piece of silverware in Italy in addition to a Champions League victory during his time at Inter Milan.
Supporters, though, failed to analyze his recent past, which included spells at Manchester United and Tottenham. As it stands, Mourinho has not won any silverware in his last three-and-a-half seasons in charge before taking over at Roma.
The competitiveness of the Premier League is incredibly high compared to that of Serie A. However, it cannot be denied that Mourinho's results did not match the amount of money his clubs had spent on transfers.
Breaking: Roma confirm the appointment of Jose Mourinho as their new manager ahead of the 2021-22 season 🤯 https://t.co/SllH5dpFRY
Incredible rise followed by a spectacular downturn
The Italian side hit the ground running under Mourinho, winning their opening three encounters in Serie A. The chemistry between Tammy Abraham and Lorenzo Pellegrini seemed to be the final piece in the puzzle that would take Roma to the top.
🗣️"I want to know why you shit yourselves against the greats. Are you scared? Then go to Serie C where you won't find the pressures of top football. You are people without balls. The worst thing for a man!"
-The outburst of Mourinho [in the dressing room] after Inter game https://t.co/hxiEmerCwW
However, reality soon sunk in as lowly-ranked Hellas Verona came back from behind to seal a 3-2 win against the odds, handing Mourinho his first league defeat of his second stint in Italy. This was the beginning of what eventually led to Roma's staggering slowdown.
By mid-October, they had lost two more games, albeit to stronger opponents in Lazio and Juventus. A week later, the club was on the receiving end of a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Bodo/Glimt in the Conference League.
The manager escaped criticism as several of his first-team players were missing from action. This was followed by disappointing losses to Venezia and Bologna.
Mourinho barely improved Roma
It was imperative for the Rome outfit to bridge the gap with the top-four by registering resounding wins against lower-ranked teams. However, they have failed to compensate for their performances against top-division teams.
In their six outings against top-four opponents this season, Roma have picked up just one point by virtue of their 0-0 draw against Napoli. The club have already lost one-third of their matches so far and have the joint second-lowest scoring record among the division's top-ten teams.
Roma currently sit sixth in the Serie A table, three points off Champions League qualification and 11 points behind league leaders Inter Milan.
The Mourinho experiment has neither improved the performances of the club against top-division teams nor in the division overall. They stand to miss out on a European finish as well. It is high time to look beyond Mourinho, who is definitely past his prime.