ALVISE CAGNAZZO: Jose Mourinho has worked a miracle by turning Roma into one of Italy’s top sides

Roma have become something of a sporting marvel this season thanks to the intuition of Jose Mourinho, who has turned a mediocre team into a top side on their way to Champions League qualification.

At the Stadio Olimpico, Mourinho is like a bloodthirsty dictator who takes every opportunity to bind the faithful of Giallorossi around his spiritual guidance. A host of controversial altercations with referees, as well as the recent shooting at Antonio Cassano, have set in motion a Roma fanbase now dreaming of winning the Europa League a year after their Conference League victory last May.

Without the Special One on their bench, Roma would never have tied Chris Smalling to a new two-year deal and Paulo Dybala would never have accepted such a low financial offer to play for the club. Mourinho has built an aggressive, selfish team that puts opponents to sleep like a snake pounces on its prey.

If they remain competitive until the end of the season, the credit will fall solely to a coach who, after his failure in the Premier League with Tottenham, chose to rebuild his own standing with a team of average financial and football strength where he has become an influential figure both on and off the field.

The Giallorossi have transformed from mediocre to one of the top teams in Italian football

In the transfer market, Eldor Shomurodov has been his only mistake so far. Still, Ola Solbakken, the Norwegian star on track to become as strong and consistent as Tottenham’s Son Heung-min, looks like the perfect player for his football philosophy and still has plenty of room for improvement.

Even Nicola Zalewski, the Italian-Polish winger promoted to the first team by Mourinho, has been one of the most pleasant surprises for the Roma boss, who seems to have found Alessandro Florenzi’s heir in the academy.

Mourinho’s decisions have always been made to strengthen the character of an emotionally weak team. Rui Patricio, Smalling, Nemanja Matic, Dybala and Tammy Abraham have all agreed to stay at the club or renew their contracts just for his presence, allowing him to improve the personality of the whole squad.

The team everyone fears

Every team is now afraid to play against Roma. There are many reasons for that, including their great tactical organization under Mourinho.

His three central defenders – Roger Ibanez, Gianluca Mancini and Smalling – often form an insurmountable wall and the midfield is finally blossoming thanks to the strength and tactical intelligence of Nemanja Matic, another top player who came to Italy at the end of his brilliant Premier League career . .

While they are certainly not the best in Italy, Roma are certainly one of the worst teams in Europe due to their newfound enthusiasm after last year’s Conference League victory.

Midfielder Nemanja Matic (above) has helped make Roma a team everyone fears

Roma have shown they have an excellent relationship between technical and tactical resources, which helps them achieve solid results on the pitch. They don’t play nice football, which can be annoying at times, but even when they play poorly, they collect precious points in their chance to qualify for the Champions League.

Mourinho also erased Nicolo Zaniolo’s mind and instead built his team around Dybala, sacrificing Abraham in the process, to guarantee 53 points and 16 wins with 39 goals scored and 26 conceded – an outstanding return that saw them finish third in the Series A standings behind Napoli and Lazio.

Will Mourinho stay?

Mourinho feels good in Rome and is comfortable in his environment, but whether he stays after the end of the season or not depends on qualifying for the Champions League.

In just a few years at the club, the former Tottenham boss has become a leader of the people at the Olimpico, and his gesture in this month’s victory over Sampdoria silenced Roma fans when they called rival manager and former Lazio started insulting captain Dejan Stankovic heavily. .

Mourinho is a coach with great communication skills, who sometimes flares up in controversy but always manages to put Roma first.

But Mourinho’s future depends on whether they qualify for the Champions League

Immediately after that game against Sampdoria, Mourinho terrified the supporters by being open to his ideas for the future.

His contract with AS Roma expires in 2024, but the Portuguese coach has hinted that that may mean little.

“From a contractual point of view, I have a one-year contract, but football is football and sometimes contracts are not the most important thing,” he said.

There are still 45 calendar days to set his goal of qualifying for the Champions League and Mourinho will announce a final decision on his future soon after.