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By Jonathan Lewis | 28th Feb 2023
The opening few months of the 2022/23 Serie A season has been a rather challenging period for Jose Mourinho and his Roma side.
After a string of underwhelming performances and calamitous defeats, many fans of the Italian game will be quick to question as to whether the ‘Special One’ can bring European football back to the Stadio Olimpico after such a disappointing start.
Mourinho’s Journey to the Capital
During his near two-year stint in the Roma hotseat, Jose Mourinho has enjoyed a fairly divisive spell in the capital.
Mourinho has established himself as one of the greatest and most successful managers to ever live which has culminated in numerous European and domestic honours at various high-profile clubs. Take a chance and play poker online.
During his various tenure across Europe’s most elite clubs, Mourinho has quickly grown an incredible reputation as one of the most respected names in world football.
After taking the vacant job as the manager of Italian giants Roma, the Portuguese gaffer has already delivered some European glory as he became the first manager to ever win the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and the newly furbished European Conference League.
Roma remain as one of the nation’s most beloved and well-supported clubs with ‘I Giallorossi’ developing several renowned names over the years.
Arguably the greatest player in the club’s history remains to be former Italian striker Francesco Totti, who made a name for himself both on the pitch for his scoring prowess, and also off the pitch for his brand deals with various play poker online gaming endorsements.
Totti has also taken up an executive role at the club since his retirement from play as the Director of Football.
Mourinho’s appointment was one of Totti’s most notable moves since taking up the role with this being a clear intent to create a winning mentality in the squad of players and to challenge for silverware.
In the short time following this appointment, the Jose Mourinho era has brought its fair share of controversies and questionable antics, yet the club’s success in the Conference League has certainly silenced a fair few critics.
However, after a challenging start to the new Serie A season, various queries are beginning to arouse surrounding whether Mourinho is truly capable of getting Roma back into Europe for next season after a poor start to the campaign.
Assessing Roma’s squad
There is certainly an abundance of talent present in the current squad of players at the club which includes names of vast experience and technical brilliance that could play a pivotal role in the club’s ambitions in retaining their European status.
The club’s biggest arrival in the summer transfer window came in the form of Argentinian international Paulo Dybala from bitter Serie A rivals Juventus.
During his brief period at the club, Dybala has showcased several glimpses of quality that were present during his stint in Turin as he has currently racked up a respectable seven goals and three assists in twelve league games.
Dybala’s arrival at Roma was a clear sign that the club had great aspirations to build a team capable of challenging for Serie A glory with the Argentine also featuring predominantly at the recent FIFA World Cup, which Argentina inevitably ran out as winners.
One of the more worrying news coming out of the capital resides in the future of Italian wonderkid Nicolo Zaniolo with growing concerns residing on whether he will sight a move out of Rome.
There are numerous reports lingering about stating that Premier League giants Spurs, and Arsenal are emerging as strong candidates to sign the 23-year-old who has remained as one of the club’s most electric talents.
The main struggles with this Roma team likely stem from the inconsistency that is present with English striker Tammy Abraham who has failed to rekindle his prior goalscoring form that he displayed last season.
Abraham’s form has been a major worry for the club and given the recent string of good form that their neighbouring Serie A rivals have enjoyed recently; Roma will be hoping that Tammy will be capable of returning back to his goalscoring ways as soon as possible.
Are Roma expected to be active in the January window
With the deadline now veering ever closer to the conclusion of the January window, Roma are running out of time to welcome any fresh new talent to their squad.
Roma have yet to spend any sort of money in the January window with the only major headlines emerging from the capital being the aforementioned deal for Zaniolo’s exit.
It seems unlikely that Roma will be willing to spend a fortune on any players unless they do reach a consensus to sell the Italian international and scout out any potential replacements.
Whatever decision the club reaches, a deal of this magnitude could greatly affect the waning chances that the side has for returning to Europe next season.
It appears that Mourinho will have to work some typical Jose magic to get this group of players ticking in the crucial periods during the concluding moments of this season.