AS Roma Appoint Jose Mourinho As New Manager
Italian club Associazione Sportiva Roma have appointed former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jose Mourinho as new manager.
In a statement the club said: “The club are delighted to announce an agreement has been reached with Jose Mourinho for him to become our new head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season.”
Roma had earlier announced that current head coach Paulo Fonseca will leave at the end of the season.
What has he said?
In a statement Mourinho said: “Thank you to the Friedkin family for choosing me to lead this great club and to be part of their vision.
“After meetings with the ownership and Tiago Pinto, I immediately understood the full extent of their ambitions for AS Roma. It is the same ambition and drive that has always motivated me and together we want to build a winning project over the upcoming years.
“The incredible passion of the Roma fans convinced me to accept the job and I cannot wait to start next season.
“In the meantime, I wish Paulo Fonseca all the best and I hope the media appreciate that I will only speak further in due course. Daje Roma!”
Why Mourinho?
Mourinho is one of the most decorated managers in football.
He was sacked as manager of Tottenham Hotspur after just 17 months in charge, however.
Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs manager in November 2019 but could not guide the club back into the Champions League and left with them sat seventh in the Premier League table.
He was more successful at Manchester United, winning the League Cup and Europa League during his time at Old Trafford, but was sacked in December 2018 with the club 19 points behind eventual league champions Liverpool, despite spending nearly £400 million on 11 players.
But Mourinho enjoyed long periods of success at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid and his appointment will be considered something of a coup for Roma, who are seventh in Serie A.
Why is Fonseca departing?
Fonseca walked into a tough situation at Roma. The club had just missed out on the Champions League and faced a difficult restructure in light of some expensive mistakes in the transfer market under Monchi.
Owner Jim Pallotta then began takeover talks with the Friedkin Group which stalled when the pandemic hit and re-started over the summer.
A vacuum also opened up at the club when Monchi’s successor Gianluca Petrachi was dismissed from his post which left Fonseca vulnerable. All the uncertainty did not make for an easy job.
Roma have played some slick football and reached a European semi-final under the Portuguese but his record in big Serie A games and the likelihood of the team missing out on the top four again has persuaded Roma’s new owners to break with what they inherited and make their own coaching appointment.
How did Fonseca respond?
“In these two years we have experienced ups and downs, but I have always given my best for this club and for this city, which has welcomed me very well,” said Fonseca.
“I want to thank all the Roma fans, the people who work with us in Trigoria, the players, those who have supported us on this path, in particular Dan and Ryan Friedkin for their continuous support since they arrived and (general manager) Tiago Pinto, a excellent professional, whom I wish the best in his path in this club.
“We still have very important games to win this season and we will give our best as always.”