Roma 2017/18 season review: Part 2
- Matthew Klimberg
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Players like Kevin Strootman, Alessandro Florenzi, and Stephen El Shaarawy served as microcosms of the season itself. All could be strong in short stints, but, as a whole, remained inconsistent from August until May.
While Roma was able to defeat Barcelona and Liverpool by a combined score of 7-2 at Stadio Olimpico, their lowest point of the season came in the dead of winter. Between December and January, the Giallorossi earned only 10 of a possible 27 points in Serie A, and dropped their only Coppa Italia match to lowly Torino.
Napoli’s stunning run this season proved that Serie A is no longer Juventus’ monopoly. Though the Bianconeri wont their seventh straight Scudetto, and fourth straight double, their dominance was less familiar than in the past.
As Inter and AC Milan descended into obscurity since 2012, clubs like Napoli, Roma, and Lazio have closed the gap between Juventus and the rest of Italy. And now that Inter and AC Milan are both back in Europe, the competition in Italy is only set to increase.
If Roma is to compete in the ever-strengthening Serie A, and maintain Champions League profits in the future, they’ll need to prevent the loss of points to clubs like Sassuolo, Chievo Verona, and Genoa.
Understandably, the stretch between December and January had fans on Twitter calling for first-year manager Eusebio di Francesco’s job. However, Pallotta and Monchi maintained the course with him and the rest is now history.
It’s hard to imagine Luciano Spalletti or Rudi Garcia orchestrating the club’s second-half comebacks against Barcelona and Liverpool like di Francesco did. The former Sassuolo leader instilled a belief in his players that no manager after Claudio Raineri had been able to. Though it took him some time to cater his style to that of his players, he earned the right to steer the ship next season without constraints.