ALVISE CAGNAZZO: Tammy Abraham has looked a shadow of himself since Roma’s tactical shift

As Jose Mourinho continues to inspire a technical revolution at Roma, one player is struggling to keep up: Tammy Abraham.

The former Chelsea star has slumped from the form he showed 12 months ago after becoming the most prolific English striker in the history of Italian football last season.

Abraham nearly single-handedly dragged Roma to Europa Conference League success with his clinical goals under Mourinho.

With 17 Serie A goals in 37 appearances during his debut campaign in Italy, the English forward boasted an exceptional statistical record, beating legends Vincenzo Montella and Gabriel Batistuta in their first year in the Italian capital.

Incredibly, Abraham has one statistic in common with Batistuta: the 25-year-old scored his first goal for Roma on the second day of the championship, just like the Argentine star, and from then on he started to score an impressive plethora of goals.

Yet at the start of the 2022-23 season, everything seems to have changed.

Mourinho has chosen to change his football style at Roma by taking a much more technical and less direct approach.

And it was clearly a challenge for Abraham to understand the new mechanisms and situations within the system on a tactical level: he seems to lack consciousness as the focal point of the side.

Since the rebranding, Roma have attacked the field in width rather than length and this shift has punished Abraham’s serve in abundance.

The striker used to take advantage of the movement behind his opponents and the passages of midfield to score.

A year ago, he won the hearts of the Roma faithful by carrying the team on his shoulders. Today, he displays a meek and haunted demeanor whenever he misses a goal or gets a clumsy pass with his back to goal.

Dybala signing ruined Abraham

The presence of highly technical players such as Nicolo Zaniolo and especially Paulo Dybala has thwarted Abraham’s attacking role. Although he struggles in tight spaces, the goalkeeper is expected to play fast triangles football all too often.

While Mourinho has made the most of Dybala, Abraham lacked the same productivity as last season. In reality, no partnership has emerged between the couple yet.

It spoke volumes that the Portuguese boss benched the striker last weekend in one of Roma’s most important games of the Serie A campaign against Inter.

Mourinho opted for a front three of Dybala, Zaniolo and Lorenzo Pellegrini and triumphed 2-1 in San Siro. Frankly, Abraham is no longer considered irreplaceable as he was the last campaign.

Andrea Belotti, who also came off the bench alongside Abraham on Saturday, has taken minutes away from Abraham since his arrival this summer and Roma no longer need an attacker planted motionless in the penalty area.

Mourinho now wants a team that knows how to manage the ball without obsessively looking for vertical passes. Roma must have more tactical solutions than they showed last year to improve as a football club.

But Abraham’s biggest problem, however, is Dybala: the feeling on the pitch between the two doesn’t seem to work.

Although Abraham and Dybala are very good friends off the field, this great band has not yet rewarded a fruitful offensive partnership.

Zaniolo seems much more useful than the England striker when he plays close to Dybala and Roma have automatically chosen to rely on the Argentine’s left foot rather than Abraham’s right to strike the right balance.

Dybala outscores Abraham and has become much more ruthless than the former Chelsea star.

Hope at World Cup diminishes for Abraham

Abraham could well play with stress and tension because he is afraid of losing his sport in the national team.

The upcoming World Cup in Qatar is getting closer every day and his poor athleticism has had a negative impact on Mourinho’s current opinion of the striker.

Abraham should immediately try to adapt seamlessly to Mourinho’s new way of playing. Throughout his career, Dybala has always taken advantage of strong attackers close to him, such as Mario Mandzukic and Gonzalo Higuain.

Abraham is probably experiencing the saddest moment since he decided to leave Chelsea and wear the Roma shirt.

According to Repubblica, Abraham received several offers from Premier League clubs this summer, with Newcastle particularly eager to sign.

If he continues to score sporadically at Roma, Abraham will struggle to make Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the World Cup, or at least play a marginal role for the Qatar national team.

The attacker has to do more and he has to do it quickly.