Many experts and pundits alike were shaking their heads when Roma announced the appointment of Daniele De Rossi after favouring the former club legend instead of José Mourinho. However, after just two months into his managerial stint, perceptions have changed into showering praise for Daniele De Rossi. Today, his team was relentless in attack as they played like fearless Romans and intimidated their English opponents with non-stop frontal attacks, exposing The Seagulls’ shaky defence. Stephan El Shaarawy was one of the standout players on the night, as he provided two assists in the second half to wrap up the game and the tie.
Daniele De Rossi Has 8 Wins, 1 Draw and 1 Defeat in First 10 Games
Besides EL Shaarawy, Paulo Dybala continued his fine form under Daniele De Rossi as he opened the scoring by taking in Leandro Paredes’s sublime pass before rounding the keeper. Romelu Lukaku then got himself in the act as he capitalised on the usually reliable Lewis Dunk’s loose touch and fired past the exposed Jason Steele. It was the Belgian’s 10th goal for Roma as he looked to secure a permanent move to Daniele De Rossi’s side since he is still contract-bound with Chelsea.
The unrelenting Romans then continued their relentless pursuit in the second half, as they got their third after Gianluca Mancini got a toe on the end of El Shaarawy’s cross after Brighton failed to clear their lines from a corner. It did not take long for Bryan Cristante to ensure celebrations throughout Rome, as he scored five minutes later with a powerful header from another delightful El Shaarawy bursting run and cross. It’s the first time Roma has scored four goals in consecutive matches since October, as they hope to do one better this year in the competition.
While performances on the pitch were 9/10, Daniele De Rossi earned a 10/10 for the superb turnaround after taking charge of his long-time club. In his ten games in charge of the club, he had only lost to Inter Milan, the outright best club in Italy and UEFA Champions League finalist, while recording eight wins and one draw. Moreover, he has changed Roma from Mourinho’s philosophy of counter-attack to his brand of attacking football, which has definitely earned plaudits from the Director and fans alike.
FT: Roma 4-0 Brighton.
Roma since Daniele De Rossi took over:
10 games:
8 wins
1 draw
1 loss
30 scored
13 conceded— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 7, 2024
Daniele De Rossi Exclaimed His Players Are Near-Perfect
Daniele De Rossi was a warrior on the pitch, but he felt embarrassment crept up in his post-match interview after numerous questions quiz him about how he changed his beloved club around. “It’s embarrassing to be asked that question. Every team, even the very best, has highs and lows during the season. I haven’t done anything out of this world. It’s just that everything has fallen into place and is going the right way. I’m very happy.”
As for what he may have changed, the Italian replied: “I said this to the lads on my first day, and I’ll never tire of repeating it: They’re fantastic players. They’re winning the games they’re supposed to win. They’re scoring goals because they are top-quality going forward. We have players that any coach and any club would dream of having. There’s nothing special in what I’m doing. I try to coach them and push them hard in training because I’m convinced you need excellent fitness levels to play this type of football – any football in this day and age, for that matter. You have to put in lots of legwork.”
When asked about his players in this match, Daniele De Rossi replied: “My players were almost perfect. I won’t say perfect because there’s no such thing as perfect, and they’d stop working and trying to improve. But they were fantastic closing down, fantastic with the effort they put in, because I don’t know how much off-the-ball running Dybala and Lukaku were used to. They worked their socks off, and that’s what I want to see. I saw Dybala making sliding tackles left, right and centre. If you don’t have that sort of attitude in games like this, you can end up getting stuffed. However, as I said, I don’t think we deserved quite this margin.”
Roma Revolution In Sight
The prospect of a turnaround is not uncommon in football, as we saw teams like Arsenal and Liverpool flourish under new management. However, it’s a long-term process filled with anguish and delight. Thus, Roma fans should keep their expectations of the club to moderation since they themselves are most familiar with the saying: “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
For a detailed inquisition on Daniele De Rossi’s side, follow https://www.asiasport.com/ for daily news coverage and high-definition highlights of I Giallorossi in action.
Daniele de Rossi has got AS Roma 𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 👨🍳🔥 pic.twitter.com/k0ULnzVkYZ
— 433 (@433) March 7, 2024
