Roma Welcome Chaos Home After Daniele De Rossi’s Shock Exit

You have to hand it to Roma, it’s been a while since they’ve embraced chaos.

This is a club that once cycled through four managers in a single season back in 2004/05 and nearly fell into financial ruin. There has been plenty of despair and disappointment for the radio shows dedicated to the club to comb over since their last Scudetto success in 2001. In a country obsessed with football, the Giallorossi face scrutiny on an unparalleled scale.

Of course, some of that scrutiny has been invited through the front door. Take the latter stages of the Jose Mourinho era for example. The Portuguese coach raged against everyone and everything, including referee Anthony Taylor in a parking lot under the Puskas Arena in Budapest after the Europa League final. Incensed after their defeat by Sevilla, Mourinho gave a very public appraisal of what he deemed poor officiating by the Englishman. That had a knock-on effect of Taylor being accosted by Roma fans at the airport on the way home. 

In the aftermath of Mourinho’s eventual dismissal, things had been tranquil. Development on a new stadium was slowly progressing, and Daniele De Rossi had stopped the slide on the pitch.

However Roma and dysfunction are old friends, and now they’ve been reunited. The first step was the decision to sack manager — and club idol to boot — De Rossi on September 18. To say the dismissal was unexpected would be an understatement. Yes, Roma’s start to the season hadn’t been the best, with no wins from four games, but there was a general feeling De Rossi needed time to implement his new signings, with many arriving in the final weeks of the transfer window.

Performances had been disjointed, and the 2-1 home defeat by Empoli was jarring, but the 41-year-old had earned the right to be given time, considering how he turned fortunes around last season. Other indicators pointed to a decision add odds with the club’s vision. Roma had spent money for the first time in three years last summer giving the impression the owners, the Friedkin Group, were willing to back De Rossi this season. They’d also handed him a three-year contract. 

Yet time wasn’t given, and he was shown the door. Cue fury from Romanisti.

Banners were displayed in support of the coach outside Trigoria, the club’s training ground, while fans stood underneath De Rossi’s apartment chanting songs. The direction of their anger turned towards CEO Lina Souloukou, who it’s believed didn’t hold the greatest of relationships with De Rossi, and had been the one to agitate for his removal following the bad start to the season. 

Souloukou had been overseeing Roma’s day-to-day operations since April 2023 and according to reports, had been cagey in offering De Rossi a contract extension in light of his work in the second half of last season. Moreover, the pair reportedly clashed on summer transfer strategies. 

Such was the backlash from Roma supporters that Souloukou found herself needing police protection around the city. There was internal strife too, with it reported that senior players, including Gianluca Mancini and Lorenzo Pellegrini, went to see Souloukou in an attempt to stop De Rossi’s sacking. She was forced to resign.

The season wasn’t yet five games old and Roma had no manager and no CEO. Fury has also been directed at the Friedkins, with ultras unfurling a banner during the victory over Udinese accusing the American owners of not ‘respecting our values or our legends’.

There had been a premonition of sorts from none other than Francesco Totti, a man who knows a thing or two about Roman machinations. Totti spoke to Roman daily Il Messaggero days before De Rossi’s sacking and hinted that should results not turn around, his former team-mate could end up bearing the brunt of it. “Without [qualifying for] the Champions League, De Rossi will go earlier; he won’t get until the end,” Totti said. “Daniele is the lightning rod, and he’s the one who would pay, but I repeat that, luckily, he knows everyone and everything.”

Former Torino coach Ivan Juric has been brought in to replace De Rossi and, while the Croatian is a respectable manager in the Italian game, his appointment doesn’t scream ambition, nor is he a big enough name to satisfy Romanisti discontent. 

Yet Juric has had a positive start, with Roma earning their first win of the season against high-flying Udinese. Many of the summer signings were relegated to the bench, with the new head coach opting for a 3-5-1-1 system. Artem Dovbyk scored in consecutive games with a smart finish, and Tommaso Baldanzi scored his first Roma goal in Serie A as they cruised to a 3-0 win.

The result eases the tension in the capital a little, yet the waters have been muddied further with the news that the Friedkins have bought Everton. Roma fans are now wondering whether the owners will shift priorities to the Premier League side, with a new stadium ready to go on Merseyside, as opposed to the arduous struggle of trying to build a new one in the Eternal City. 

It all adds to uncertain times at Roma. A new CEO is needed, and even sporting director Florent Ghisolfi, who only joined the club last summer, could be on unsure footing, with his major ally Souloukou now gone.

Hardly ideal preparation for their Europa League campaign and their opening match with Athletic Bilbao. But what more would you expect from a club defined by chaos.