On the field and off, Daniele De Rossi feels like a breath of fresh air for Roma after the Jose Mourinho sideshow turned sour, writes Susy Campanale.
The Stadio Olimpico crowd was treated to a fantastic game of football on Saturday evening, as the lead twisted and turned between two attack-minded teams, the result in doubt until Alessandro Bastoni scored deep into stoppages with the sixth goal of the night. A great deal of that was down to one man, as while Jose Mourinho was a black hole of negativity, an emotional vortex sucking the joy out of the sport on the touchline, Daniele De Rossi shows what the Roma spirit really is.
Can you imagine if Mou had been on that bench, would his team have come out fighting like that from the very start, pinning Inter back and forcing the runaway league leaders on the defensive? Even less likely is having the self-appointed Special One using the kind of words that De Rossi did both before and after this match. That is where the true difference lies and why sacking Mourinho was the best decision the Friedkins could’ve made.
In the build-up, De Rossi focused not on how decimated his own squad was, on how very strong the opposition seemed, on the practical impossibility of the task they were faced with. Instead, he assured that “every team is beatable” and there was no reason why Roma couldn’t be the ones to prove that against the Inter juggernaut. What a blessed relief to hear words of encouragement and positivity after Mourinho’s endless moaning about the lack of resources, culminating in his plea: “I am not a magician. I am not Harry Potter.”
The facts are that this is a good Roma squad, more than capable of challenging for a top four spot now that Napoli are floundering. They have an excellent youth academy to draw upon, plenty of internationals in the side, and must be encouraged to believe in themselves rather than be treated as a millstone around the neck of a legendary coach. No, Mourinho, this Roma side was not holding you back. You were holding them back.
Even more refreshing was hearing De Rossi in his post-match press conference assuring that he would not have considered Marcus Thuram’s offside position to be interfering with play on the Francesco Acerbi goal. After almost three years of non-stop sackcloth and ashes at every single refereeing decision – or scheduling choice, or the weather, or anything else that could be blamed rather than his own errors – what a blessed relief to have a Roma coach who did not seek an alibi.
De Rossi had his own fair share of red cards as a player and was known to lose his temper on occasion, but he now realises the responsibility of the new role and wants to set that example not just for his squad, but the fans too. Whereas Mourinho’s ranting and raving – which he was still going on about in an unrelated interview just before his dismissal – after the Europa League Final resulted in referee Anthony Taylor and his family getting chairs thrown at them in the airport the next day, De Rossi refuses to tap into the victim mentality that the Portuguese coach instead fuelled with paranoid ravings.
What a wonderful sight to have a Roma coach who so clearly and loudly believes in his players, his club, his fans and his future. Mourinho always acted as if he was slumming it at the Olimpico, but De Rossi would rather be nowhere else.