It can be outright frustrating to be a fan of Roma. Last season saw them morph into a top European team especially in the Champions League, where they outwitted the likes of Chelsea and Atletico Madrid before conquering mighty Barcelona on home soil to reach the semi-finals for the first time in their history, in the Champions League era.
Now the right thing to do after such a splendid season was to build on the club’s progress made last season, however Roma being Roma, they love doing things the hard way. It was downright ludicrous for the club to offload some of its biggest names in the form of Radja Nainggolan, Alisson and Kevin Strootman.
What’s worst is when one considers the fact that Nainggolan was sold to a direct rival in Inter. Significantly this represents the problem that encapsulates the Giallorossi; their gross lack of ambition. Indeed this season has seen them suffer as the team is struggling to recapture the form of last season.
Being thrashed by Real Madrid may be okay but a loss to Bologna and it’s easy to see why the fans are livid with the club’s hierarchy. Eusebio Di Francesco is an excellent coach but even he must admit that the board hasn’t helped him by offloading the spine of the team.
Their latest win over Frosinone and more importantly Lazio will give the Lupi some form of reprieve and the jury is still out as to whether they can continue this good run of form. But all in all these wins only paper over the cracks within the club.
For Roma to truly establish themselves as a top European side, they must re-assess their transfer policy. They must question from within whether they want to remain a selling club or be a club that is ambitious enough to win important trophies. This is a team that has more runner-up finishes in the history of Italian football than any other but history is subjective and can be altered should there be maximum effort.
Conversely, Roma's squad has exciting young talents like Justin Kluivert, Cengiz Under, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolò Zaniolo while Daniele De Rossi and Edin Dzeko provide experience. Di Francesco does have a healthy mix of youth and experience to spur this team to greater heights should he find the right balance. However what’s wrong is if those aforementioned players depart the capital next season.