Cautiously Optimistic Since 2007
“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 […]
Yesterday’s victory over Parma, which featured both a stoppage-time equalizer and a match-winner, was one of the wildest finishes we’ve seen in quite some time. Despite the combined heroics of Devyne Rensch and Donyell Malen, Sunday’s win left a few lingering questions, chief among them: Will this victory be a springboard to fourth place or […]
Thanks to consecutive victories over Bologna and Fiorentina (plus a little help from the table), Gian Piero Gasperini and Roma have thrust themselves back into the Champions League conversation. Entering today’s Round 36 fixture against Parma one point behind 4th-place Juventus and two points ahead of 6th-place Como, Roma had only one objective: victory. With […]
Roma hasn’t gotten any help on the table this weekend, but that doesn’t make today’s fixture against Parma any less critical. A win today and Roma’s Champions League hopes will remain alive for another week, while anything short of victory will likely be the final nail in the coffin. Still, with the Giallorossi riding high […]
There is something comfortingly familiar (and disappointingly familiar) about where Roma find themselves as this season draws to a close. Champions League qualification is still dangling just close enough to inspire belief, yet just far enough away to remind supporters how many missed opportunities came before it. After last week’s emphatic 4-0 dismantling of Fiorentina, […]
“Dybala has been training regularly for a couple of weeks now, and so he’s improving. It’s not so much a question of condition, but rather a question of regaining the strength in that leg, the shooting power. Angeliño has truly had a season that was unexpected by everyone, a very difficult one. Perhaps for the […]
Now that Roma has thrown its full weight behind Gian Piero Gasperini, showing former Senior Advisor Claudio Ranieri the door and preparing to replace Sporting Director Frederic Massara, the club is fully committed to Gasperini’s vision. While transfer season hasn’t descended upon us yet—not that it ever really takes a break—Roma’s first genuine target of […]
There was never going to be room for all of them. Not after all the tension that played out behind the scenes and in the press over the past few months, not after the increasingly public disagreements between Claudio Ranieri and Gian Piero Gasperini, and not after Gian Piero Gasperini practically spent the last month […]
How often have we seen Roma waste chances to climb up the table after their rivals lost points earlier in the round? We don’t have an exact figure, but for your sanity, I don’t suggest running the numbers. With visions of Fiorentina dancing on Roma’s Champions League graves filling our heads, many Giallorossi supporters spent […]
We’ve definitely been too liberal with our use of the phrase “must-win” in these spaces this season, but with such thin margins between victory and defeat (and, consequently, between the Champions League and Europa League), Roma seldom had the luxury of brushing off a fixture. However, past hyperbole aside, there was no denying the importance […]
Roma’s on-again, off-again Champions League pursuit is alive and kicking. Having the luxury of closing our Matchday 35 with a Monday night fixture, Gian Piero Gasperini and the Giallorossi had to be smiling as they saw Como and Juventus, the two clubs immediately ahead of them on the table, drop points this past weekend. With […]
The Giallorossi are getting healthy and the timing couldn’t be better for Gian Piero Gasperini and Company. The Giallorossi have four matches remaining and with draws for Como and Juve over the weekend, Roma can move up the table and within striking distance of a top four finish. A win on Monday against Fiorentina at […]
Roma and Fiorentina take center stage tomorrow, closing out Matchday 35 with a Monday night fixture at the Stadio Olimpico. While the Viola have occasionally batted the Giallorossi for a spot in Europe, our purple-clad pals have fallen on hard times this season, spending most of it near the relegation zone. However, thanks to an […]
With the Gian Piero Gasperini-Claudio Ranieri meldorama firmly in the rearview, I’d dare say things have grown quite dull in the Romaverse. With no backroom controversies to discuss and no match until Monday evening, we’re left grasping at straws. Earlier this week, we discussed Paulo Dybala’s rumored agreement with Boca Juniors (which was quickly denied […]
For a typical football club, the future of an increasingly injured, 32-year-old forward headed toward free agency wouldn’t cause much of a stir, but Roma is no ordinary club, and Paulo Dybala has never been an ordinary player. Since arriving in the capital four years ago, the man affectionately known as La Joya has delighted […]
Lost amid the hoopla and fallout from the Gian Piero Gasperini-Claudio Ranieri feud, which led to Ranieri’s dismissal, was another, arguably more important footnote: Director of Sport Frederic Massara may be next on the chopping block. Brought back for his third stint with the club, Roma was banking on the third time being the charm […]
[The following is a guest post from Zach Lowy of Breaking the Lines. For more of Zach’s work, be sure to follow him on social media] From Antonio Conte to Luciano Spalletti, from Massimiliano Allegri to Carlo Ancelotti, Italy has produced a handful of the best coaches of the past decade. But while his trophy cabinet […]
Yesterday’s 2-0 win over Bologna may ultimately prove too little, too late for Roma’s Champions League hopes. Nevertheless, it was an encouraging performance against a club that has given Roma fits over the past few seasons. With the city still buzzing from the Claudio Ranieri-Gian Piero Gasperini feud that led to Ranieri’s dismissal, Roma should […]
With the Gian Piero Gasperini-Claudio Ranieri feud dominating this week’s headlines, Roma would have been forgiven for being a bit distracted ahead of today’s Round 34 fixture against Bologna. Normally, a manager and a senior advisor airing their differences publicly wouldn’t have a dramatic effect on the squad, but with so many of Roma’s current […]
It’s another good-news, bad-news situation for the Giallorossi as they face 8th-place Bologna on the road today. On the positive side of the ledger, Paulo Dybala and Wesley França have returned to the matchday squad after extended absences. Whether they start or not, having these two back in the mix gives Roma a fighting chance […]
Despite my hopes and dreams, the noise surrounding the Giallorossi hasn’t stopped. It didn’t stop after the Europa League collapse, it didn’t stop after the slide down the table, and it certainly didn’t stop after the fracture between Gian Piero Gasperini and Claudio Ranieri finally spilled into the open, resulting in both Ranieri and Ricky […]