Why Roma sacked Jose Mourinho, and why he still splits opinion\u060c<\/p>\n
And so he left. Again in its third season. Once again, under a cloud. Once again, opinions are divided.<\/p>\n
Roma's decision to sack Jose Mourinho was made on Monday evening by the club's owners, the Friedkin family, and communicated to the manager \u2013 and to the world, which had focused much more attention on the club since his arrival in 2021 \u2013 before training on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
His contract was due to expire in June and, while he had indicated on several occasions that he was happy to extend it, the club had put all discussions on hold until the end of the season. It's the kind of timing that makes you wonder why they couldn't have waited, and leads you to conclude that there must have been a reason to act now.<\/p>\n
Were they right to do so?<\/strong><\/p>\n To answer this, you need to move past the question of whether or not Mourinho deserves the sacking or whether or not he did a good job, and get into the reality of Roma's current situation. And here's the reality: Mourinho was not sacked because he lost his dressing room or because the fans were calling for his head: while support for him had cooled among some of the fan base, in especially on social networks and on the omnipresent sports radio stations in Rome. , the fans present at the match flatly (and loudly) continued to support him. Rather, he left because the Friedkins are businessmen and they made a business decision.<\/p>\n According to Swiss Ramble, Roma lost 184 million euros ($200 million) in 2020-21 and 219 million euros ($238.1 million) the following year, Mourinho's first at the club. Record losses in 2021-22, when they were among the biggest net spenders on transfers in Europe, meant they had breached UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules and been subject to a settlement agreement which limited their expenses.<\/p>\n Indeed, the club had gambled that by investing heavily in the team (first on transfer fees, then on expensive veteran free agents, giving the club the third highest payroll in the league) and on Mourinho himself (the second highest paid coach in the country). Serie A) would offer consistent football<\/a> in the Champions League. This, in turn, would generate revenue, both in terms of prize money and commercial deals. Instead, they finished sixth in their first two seasons while winning the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2021-22 and reaching the Europa League final the following year.<\/p>\n – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)<\/strong><\/p>\n Now Roma are ninth in Serie A, five points behind fourth place. They are absent from the Coppa Italia (losing the derby to Lazio, which never helps) and have won just one of five games since Christmas, a comeback victory against Serie B side Cremonese in Coppa Italia.<\/p>\n To save this campaign, Roma must qualify for the Champions League. They can achieve this either by winning the Europa League (not easy: punters have them sixth favorites, at 16-1), or by closing the gap to fourth place by five points (and, given the new format of the Champions League, fifth place might even be enough.)<\/p>\n Perhaps Mourinho could have achieved this, but then that would have posed a different problem. As his contract was expiring and they were not going to discuss a new one until the end of the season, that would have meant negotiating a new deal with Mourinho benefitting from all the leverage of Champions League qualification. And that would have meant either an even more onerous contract (both in terms of salary and managerial power) or Mourinho leaving elsewhere, leaving behind no compensation and a rabid fan base.<\/p>\n It is therefore better to play on the percentages and make a clean break. Club legend Daniele De Rossi steps in as interim replacement and, given his relationship with the fans, one would assume he will get their support. For all the criticism of Mourinho's results-oriented and not easy-on-the-eyes style of play, they are actually fourth in expected goal difference and they have a fairly manageable run of matches coming up: Verona and Cagliari at residence. , Salernitana far. The task facing De Rossi is therefore difficult, but far from impossible.<\/p>\n