Cautiously Optimistic Since 2007
If there is one thing we can say with certainty about Roma’s summer mercato now that the season is over and Champions League football has been secured, it’s that Gian Piero Gasperini is going to want more attacking options. The Giallorossi may have ridden Donyell Malen’s remarkable second half of the season into the Champions […]
As much fun as it is to dream about the acquisitions Roma will make to strengthen Gian Piero Gasperini’s squad ahead of the Giallorossi’s first Champions League appearance in nearly a decade, the sobering fact remains: Roma must sell first. Before Tony D’Amico can bring in shiny new toys for GPG in July—as we’ve seen […]
The 2025-26 season is over, and it ended on a high note for Roma as the Giallorossi finished in third and qualified for next season’s Champions League. In this episode, we put a bow on the season, debate which players Roma can afford to lose, set expectations for Europe, and discuss the latest transfer rumors. […]
When it comes to the transfer game, you take all the help you can get. With Roma in the midst of another front-office transition, replacing former Director of Sport Frederic Massara with Atalanta’s Tony D’Amico, whose arrival may be delayed until June 30th, navigating the already challenging transfer waters might prove difficult. In times like […]
Cast your mind back to last Saturday. Whether you were picking out new patio furniture, attending a graduation party, or just giving your lawn an overdue mowing, you likely felt a sense of unease silently stalking you as you carried out your weekend errands. That specter wasn’t a latent sign of an impending breakdown. It […]
The word transformative is tossed around a lot in sports journalism, typically when describing the effect of a new player or manager on any given club. While we’re no strangers to hyperbole—I once claimed that Roma would be foolish to ever sell Mattia Destro—when it comes to Donyell Malen’s impact on Roma in 2026, transformative […]
When Roma finally landed Gian Piero Gasperini last summer, it felt like the tables were about to shift. No more falling victim to the Luis Muriels, Duvan Zupatas and Josip Illicics of the world. No more embarrassing 3-1 defeats. No more standing around flat-footed while Atalanta tore us to shreds. No, now it was our […]
Roma Roundtable Season Review: Forwards Roma Roundtable Season Review: Midfield Roma Roundtable Season Review: Goalkeepers & Defense
During yesterday’s review of Roma’s goalkeepers and defense, we waxed poetically about the combined brilliance of players like Mile Svilar, Evan Ndicka, and Wesley França. And tomorrow, we plan on doing the same when we cast our eyes towards Donyell Malen and the forward. However, today’s review focuses on a slightly more confounding section of […]
Gian Piero is renowned for his high-flying, attack-at-all-costs approach to football. Sure, he doesn’t line up eight to 10 men at the midfield stripe for the opening kickoff like a certain Zdeněk Zeman, but Gasperini made his name on overwhelming opponents in the final third. While we did see plenty of that brand of football […]
It took nearly eight years and another 38 rounds of play, but thanks to Sunday’s thrilling victory over Hellas Verona, Roma will finally return to the Champions League. In grand Roma fashion, it wasn’t easy and tested the limits of our nerves, but thanks to stellar performances from Paulo Dybala and Mile Svilar, the Giallorossi […]
I don’t think it’s any stretch of the imagination to say that this was the most nerve-wracking match we’ve experienced in several years, save perhaps for Roma’s ill-fated Europa League final against Sevilla in 2023. After an up and down (and all around) season, Gian Piero Gasperini and the Giallorossi scratched and clawed their way […]
After 37 weeks of play, it all comes down to this: A win over Hellas Verona and Roma returns to the Champions League for the first time in eight years. While it’s been a typically chaotic season for the Giallorossi, full of stops and starts, the past few months have given us newfound confidence that […]
Roma find themselves in what feels like a unique situation for all the time I’ve written for Chiesa di Totti: they truly have their fate in their own hands. Thanks to the events of the thirty-seventh match day, the Giallorossi are tied on points for third place with A.C. Milan, and a win tomorrow against […]
“Kone has recovered, he trained with us all week, he has a few minor ailments, he’s not quite 100%, but he’s definitely available. I don’t know if he’ll start or start during the match, but he’s available. The rest of the team is feeling the heat and the temperatures, so we need to be good […]
While we’re a few days out from Roma’s thrilling 2-0 win over Lazio in the Derby della Capitale, we couldn’t help but bask in the glory of the Giallorossi’s victory, one that lifted Roma into fourth place and, more importantly, in control of their own destiny. Despite the swell of emotion and positivity that followed […]
Please accept our apologies, but due to a brief internet outage at CdT HQ, we’ve been a bit behind on the news and rumors this week. Aside from the oh-so-predictable pendulum swings in the Paulo Dybala renewal story, the latest “twist” would see La Joya venture off to the English Premier League, the rumor mill […]
While the job isn’t quite done yet, by virtue of defeating Lazio 2-0 in yesterday’s Derby della Capitale, Roma is a hair’s breadth away from ending their eight-year Champions League drought. Thanks to yesterday’s Gianluca Mancini-inspired victory and Fiorentina’s shocking 2-0 win on the road over Juventus, Roma will enter the final matchday in fourth […]
It was a day of firsts and potential lasts at the Stadio Olimpico this afternoon. With a week of scheduling controversies finally settled, Roma and Lazio went toe-to-toe under the midday sun in one of the more consequential Derbies della Capitale we’ve seen in several years. While Lazio had nothing to play for and few […]
After a scheduling controversy that can only be classified as quintessentially Serie A, Roma and Lazio will kick off the penultimate round of the 2025-2026 season at noon local time. With five other fixtures beginning at the same time, all of which have enormous European implications, there will be no time for table watching. Fortunately, […]
“It’s a consideration because, yes, I believe that some players, but in all teams who were born and raised in a team they belong to, have to play in derbies, they experience them in a particularly different way, than, for example, a player who arrives in his first year, perhaps from outside, and who has […]
Well, it’s derby day again, and with that comes an inexplicable several days of back and forth on timing from the city government and a god-awful 6:00 AM Eastern start time for many Americans. Thank Totti I’m not on the West Coast right now. Still, sleep deprivation feels like a small price to pay when […]
Stephan El Shaarawy first joined AS Roma in January 2016. That feels like ages ago; it was a completely different world then. Roma participated in the Champions League, Rudi Garcia had just been fired, and Spalletti was back as coach. James Pallotta was the President. Back then, Carpi and Palermo were in Serie A, and […]
After a two-month hiatus, the pod is back. And we’re just in time to cover the critical final two matches of Roma’s 2025-26 season. After looking dead in the water about a month ago, the Giallorossi have turned things around and still have hope of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. It all begins early […]
In her 1989 hit, Gloria Estefan warned us that love cuts both ways, that we “Can’t be together, can’t be apart. We’re heading straight into a broken heart.” While the former Miami Sound Machine frontwoman was addressing the swings and roundabouts of a rocky relationship, we can apply those same lessons to the impending end […]