Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti returns to the Stadio Olimpico to face Roma on Sunday and Gazzetta looks to his ideal XIs in the capital.
Spalletti’s first spell at Roma was from 2005 until 2009, when the Certaldo-born coach won two Coppa Italia and one Supercup, going close to winning the Serie A title in 2008.
His most brilliant tactical intuition was to change Francesco Totti’s position, playing him as a false 9. Thanks to Spalletti, the former captain was even more prolific and became the second-best goalscorer in Serie A’s history with 250 goals, 30 fewer than all-time leading scorer Silvio Piola.
However, his rapport with the ex-No.10 collapsed during Spalletti’s second spell at the club between 2016 and 2017. The boss was appointed to replace Rudi Garcia in January 2016 and remained at the club until the end of 2016-17 when Totti retired.
During his final season at the club, Spalletti set a new record of points (87) and goals (90) in a single campaign for Roma.
Totti and De Rossi are the only two players who worked under the Tuscan boss during his two spells at the club.
The 63-year-old coached many other great players in the capital across his two spells, including Christian Panucci, Amantino Mancini, Simone Perrotta, Antonio Rudiger, Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah.
Check out his ideal Roma XIs from today’s edition of La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
Roma 2005-09 (4-2-3-1): Doni; Panucci, Juan, Mexes, Tonetto; Pizarro, De Rossi; Mancini, Perrotta, Taddei (Vucinic); Totti.
Roma 2016-17 (4-2-3-1) : Szczesny (Alisson); Rudiger, Manolas, Fazio, Emerson; De Rossi, Strootman (Paredes); Salah, Nainggolan (Totti), Perotti (El Shaarawhy); Dzeko.