Key Takeaways
- Roma have won only once in six matches and slipped to sixth in Serie A.
- Claudio Ranieri says Gasperini was the club’s fourth-choice coach, sparking a public row.
- After 33 rounds Roma have 58 points, the same total they posted in four of the last five seasons.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s honeymoon at AS Roma is over. Supporters who once waved banners telling him to stay away from Trigoria now wonder if the club should wave goodbye to him instead.
The Giallorossi have collected one victory from their last six outings. A 5-2 thrashing by Inter and a 1-1 draw with Gasperini’s old club Atalanta have left the side sixth, outside the Champions League places and only three points clear of eighth.
Off-field noise is growing louder. Claudio Ranieri, the former coach who became a senior adviser, told DAZN that Gasperini was “option number four” last summer. Ranieri claims he gave the owners “five or six names” and “three said no”. The remark reopened a wound first shown at the coach’s unveiling, when Ranieri admitted, “I didn’t like him either.”
Gasperini hit back by complaining the squad was not strengthened enough. Ranieri countered that every signing was approved by the coach. The spat has left the training ground tense and results have followed the mood.
Roma were third on 27 February. Since then they have exited the Europa League to Bologna and leaked eleven goals in four league games. Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Atalanta showed fight – Mario Hermoso volleyed home after Nikola Krstovic’s opener – but the same defensive gaps remain.
Statistics underline the stagnation. With five rounds left Roma have 58 points. Last season, after 33 matches, they had 57. The figure was identical in 2022-23, 2021-22 and 2020-21. The last real leap came in 2017-18 when Eusebio Di Francesco’s team reached a Champions League semi-final.
Gasperini, 68, walked out of a recent press conference in tears when recalling his profitable nine-year spell at Atalanta. He hinted that harmony there ended after a US consortium bought majority shares in 2022. Observers ask whether he already regrets leaving Bergamo for a new challenge in the capital.
Injuries have not helped – Wesley’s hamstring problem is the latest – yet Financial Fair Play limits restrict January spending. Still, the club craved visible progress. At present they are running on the spot, while the coach and his adviser trade barbs in public.
If the slide continues, Roma may need a ninth different manager in nine summers. For now Gasperini stays, but the clock is ticking and the boardroom rift shows no sign of healing.