Roma look to a new chapter

Last week, Zdenek Zeman became the ninth coaching casualty of the season in Serie A as he got fired by Roma after only six months in the job.

The sacking came in the wake of Roma’s embarrassing 2-4 defeat at the hands of Cagliari at the Olimpico.

This was Zeman’s second stint with Roma following his two-year reign in the late 1990s, when he led the side to fourth and fifth place finishes.

Roma, now under the charge of interim coach Aurelio Andreazzoli, 59, started the season with aspirations of a top-three finish.

But, at present, they lie in eighth, nine points adrift of bitter city rivals Lazio in third place.

Roma were not involved in Euro club competitions this season so Zeman only had the Serie A and Coppa Italia to focus on.

In the cup competition, the Giallorossi enter the semi-final second leg at Inter, scheduled for April 17, with a 2-1 lead. However, in the league it was a completely different story.

Many reckon that Zeman should have done much better with the players he had available in his squad as Roma recorded 10 wins, four draws and suffered nine defeats with the Prague-born veteran as coach.

Those are indeed modest statistics for a club that boast players of the calibre of Francesco Totti, Daniele de Rossi, Mattia Destro, Pablo Osvaldo and Miralem Pjanic.

That the Giallorossi have a suspect defence is there for all to see. They’ve let in 42 goals in 23 games – almost an average of two per game.

Moreover, Roma dropped too many points at home which derailed their plans of Champions League football next season.

Besides, away from their Olympic Stadium, Roma have seldom left their mark.

With Zeman, Roma alternated from top performances against the likes of Inter and Milan to embarrassing defeats like the ones conceded to Juventus and Napoli.

Since the turn of the year, Roma are still winless in the Serie A, collecting only two points from a possible 15.

Perhaps, Zeman’s biggest mistake was having fallen out with some of his senior players, particularly De Rossi, Osvaldo and Pjanic.

De Rossi, among the best central midfielders in the Serie A, was often overlooked by Zeman in his selections. In the winter transfer window just ended, De Rossi was on the brink of moving elsewhere but his love for the team and the fans was what probably convinced him to stay.

In similar vein, Zeman’s decision to drop keeper Maarten Stekelenburg in favour of the inexperienced Mauro Goichoechea this season, came back to haunt him on several occasions, including last Friday.

The Uruguayan shot-stopper committed a series of blunders that ultimately paved the way for Roma’s third home defeat of the season.

In the end, the Roma chiefs did not have an alternative other than to show Zeman the back door and start all over again.

This time last year, Roma were also travelling in circles under Luis Enrique. The Spaniard was retained but eventually Roma finished seventh and outside the Euro zone.

But this season the stakes are higher because Roma will suffer a huge financial blow if they fail to book a place in Europe again.