De Rossi prophet in Rome? Like Gattuso at Milan: when the flag waves on the bench

De Rossi prophet on the Roma bench

Daniele De Rossi experiences a magical moment. And it's all deserved. He who was 'Captain Future' as a player (great player…) in the heart of the Giallorossi midfield and who today has become the prophet of the Roma bench. Arriving in January, after the dismissal of Jose Mourinho, he was able to turn the team around like a sock. Roma immediately changed gear in the championship, maintaining an average of almost the championship and projecting themselves into the Champions League zone. The balance sheet says 17 matches between Serie A and Europa League with 12 wins, 3 draws and only 2 defeats (one of which was irrelevant on the Brighton pitch).

De Rossi and the masterpiece Roma against Milan: checkmate for Pioli

The masterpiece (tactical and overall preparation) achieved in the Europa League is recent history: two quarter-final matches that saw Dybala and his teammates checkmate Stefano Pioli's Milan. Caging his arrows on the left (Theo Hernandez – Leao) and containing the other tenors (from Loftus Cheek to Pulisic, passing through an Olivier Giroud always harnessed by the defenders and… the only time he saw the light the Frenchman struck the crossbar a stone's throw from the goalkeeper).

De Rossi, Roma and the Europa League dream. Final dream with Gasperini's Atalanta

Open stage applause for De Rossi, while Roma now dreams of completing the feat they only came close to achieving (with the defeat on penalties in the final against Sevilla) a year ago: winning the Europa League. Objective within reach, even if there will be obstacles on the road that leads to glory: the semi-final against the super Bayer Leverkusen (triumph of the Bunbdesliga, ask Bayern Munich to believe it…) is difficult and then who knows, maybe a derby in the final against the Atalanta of the magician Gasperini (Marseille permitting).

De Rossi prophet in Rome? Like Gattuso at Milan: when the flag waves on the bench

A story, that of the Capitoline coach, which recalls that of his former national teammate: Ivan Gennaro Gattuso. Ringhio was promoted as Milan coach (in that case he was coaching the Primavera) with a bit of general skepticism. In the space of a few weeks he won over everyone – the team and its fans – the Rossoneri's heart since he was a child, bringing enthusiasm back into the environment and coming close to qualifying for the Champions League in the medium term (which for that Milan was a small scudetto). He left after less than three years, with many regrets from the Rossoneri supporters. Then ups and downs between Naples (where he won an Italian Cup anyway) and experiences abroad (Valencia, Marseille). And who knows, perhaps, if he had stayed, he would have been the one to lead Milan to the Scudetto as a coach.

Daniele De Rossi was called to Trigoria with just 17 years of experience (at the helm of Spal where he had only collected 3 victories between the championship and the national cup) demonstrating that he was still ready to take advantage of the right experience. Above all as a leader of his people. And the hope of the Giallorossi fans is that now Roma led by Mister Futuro will never stop writing a beautiful fairy tale even as a coach.