As Rudi Garcia and his players celebrated under the tifos and ultras of Curva Sud on Friday night, the headlines were already being written. “Unplayable”, “the strongest team in Europe’s top leagues”, “a winning machine”. Roma’s remarkable start to the season has attracted the attention of the continent’s sporting dailies and leaves them poised to make their first real title challenge in years.
They have now won eight from eight, scoring 22 goals along the way (tied with Bayern Munich and second only to Barcelona among Europe’s top leagues) and conceding a single goal.
To borrow the American expression, these simply aren’t your father’s Roma.
Garcia has brought fundamental change to a club which has languished in recent years, been overtaken by their bitter rivals and fallen out of the conversation for title races and even Champions League contention.
The Frenchman arrived having led Lille to their first league title in decades and, in the process, having uncovered the talents of one Eden Hazard. Garcia made an immediate impact. In his first press conference with the notoriously fickle Roman press, he slammed all those who picked out individual players for criticism and had demanded resignations following a string of unimpressive seasons as Lazio fans.
The story of his Roma’s unbeaten start must be viewed in the context of another tumultuous off-season in the Italian capital. The end of last season saw comprehensively outplayed in the Derby to end all Derbies in the cup final. Local hero Daniele De Rossi appeared certain to leave the club after falling out with the fans and previous manager Zdenek Zeman. While star players Daniel Osvaldo, Erik Lamela and defender Marquinhos all left Rome as the club’s new owners felt the financial strain of the excess of the Sensi era.
However, those departures have allowed Garcia and sporting director Walter Sabatini to mould a new team in its coach’s image.
The summer’s first buy came at the back, where Moroccan international Mehdi Benatia brought surety to an understrength back four. Benatia remains unknown outside of Italy but has shone this season, becoming the crucial factor in Roma’s defensive metamorphosis - which has seen them go from conceding an average of 1.44 goals per game over the past two seasons to just 0.12 this term.
Further up the pitch, acquiring highly-rated Dutch international Kevin Strootman came as a surprise to pundits. Combative and industrious, Strootman was regarded as a target for teams far above Roma’s pay grade, not least Manchester United.
It’s perhaps unsurprisng that Garcia needed to battle to persuade the 23-year-old that moving to the Trigoria training camp was the best course for his fledgling career. It's a persuasion which has paid dividends. Strootman now finds himself in a midfield trio arguably among the strongest in Europe.
While the world has long known about Daniele De Rossi, his contributions in recent seasons have fallen short of his own high standards. Under Garcia, he has returned to his best; scoring a long range winner on the opening day and adding a crucial goal-saving clearance against Napoli.
But De Rossi has not been Roma’s standout midfielder so far. That honour falls to Bosnian international Miralem Pjanic. The former Lyon man was targetted by Tottenham in the summer, and his contributions this season will surely turn the heads of bigger clubs in the months ahead. He’s chipped in from long range, glided home spectacular free-kicks and unlocked room into which Garcia’s wide-players to roam.
That width is without doubt key to Garcia’s early success. The responsibility to fill the boots of Erik Lamela fell to Roma’s youth product Alessandro Florenzi. The utility player, most comfortable in midfield has played a starring role, scoring four goals so far this year.
On the opposite flank, Arsenal castaway Gervinho has flourished under the guidance of the coach who first brought him to the attention of Arsene Wenger. He’s offered a goal threat, direct running and forms part of a breakaway threat which has been exploited to devastating effect by the ageless Francesco Totti.
And therein lies the most remarkable feature of Roma’s resurgence. For all of the changes at the Stadio Olimpico since the arrival of the American consortium 2 years ago, the 37-year-old captain remains imperious.
His contribution has been particularly deadly this season, with three goals and six assists to his name already. His ingenuity has attracted the attention of Italy manager Cesare Prandelli, who says there is no doubt he will try to persuade Totti to end seven years of international retirement if he stays fit and in form until the end of the season.
Er Capitano’s fitness now threatens Roma’s perfect record Next up for the Giallorossi is a trip to an Udinese side unbeaten at home with Totti already ruled out with a hamstring injury. Totti’s understudy on the bench Marco Borriello will not fill the fans with confidence but his dedication to the cause has been cited as the club’s secret.
The striker had joined Roma as a marquee signing under the previous owners, securing a massive contract which the club has been trying to unsaddle ever since.
However, his return from an unsuccessful loan spell at Genoa has earned the respect and admiration of his teammates. De Rossi himself remarked that the victory over Napoli was a tribute to Borriello's hunger and work ethic in the face of derision from the notoriously hostile fans and a lack of playing time.
And it is that spirit which will be needed if Roma are to continue their challenge through the winter and into the spring, when the club will inevitably taste the sting of defeat and the noise and doubt sewed by the notoriously fickle Roman press and fans.
But if there’s one thing which Roma fans have learned under Garcia’s leadership, is that he’ll handle it his way.
