Daniele De Rossi’s managerial tenure at Roma was off to a perfect start as the Giallorossi squeezed past relegation-battling Hellas Verona. It wasn’t a top-notch performance from last season’s Europa League finalists, but it was enough to earn them a 2-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma flew out of the traps, taking an early 1-0 lead through Romelu Lukaku. When Lorenzo Pellegrini doubled the home side’s advantage in the 25th minute, it seemed like they’d cruise to a landslide victory in their first post-Jose Mourinho outing in Serie A.
However, Roma lost the cutting edge as the game progressed. Milan Djuric skied the ball from the spot midway through the second half. But Verona did manage to cut Giallorossi’s lead in half in the 76th minute through Napoli loanee Michael Folorunsho.
Anxiety crept in as the final whistle approached, but Roma survived on De Rossi’s touchline debut. It was a perfect response to last weekend’s disastrous 3-1 defeat at Milan. More importantly, they’ve temporarily whittled down the gap on fourth-placed Fiorentina to only two points.
In contrast to Mourinho’s approach, Roma dominated possession in De Rossi’s first game charge, having the ball at their feet 62% of the time. That’s the philosophy the former midfielder is looking to instill at the Olimpico.
“I believe you should control the ball and therefore dominate the game, it is one of the first things we worked on. However, if we do it quickly to get away from the opposition press, then it has meaning,” the new Roma boss said, as quoted by Gianluca Di Marzio.
“However, if we keep possession slowly, then we don’t put the game to bed, we put ourselves to bed and fall asleep. We become too predictable, the opponents are well-prepared and know how to get through those situations if we don’t move the ball quickly.“
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