Roma sack Mourinho with club ninth and keen on De Rossi
THE GUARDIAN – Roma have sacked their manager José Mourinho with the club ninth in Serie A. The decision follows Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Milan and last Wednesday’s Coppa Italia exit in the derby against Lazio.
“AS Roma can confirm that José Mourinho and his coaching staff will leave the club with immediate effect,” the club said in a statement. “Further updates on the new first-team coaching staff will follow imminently.”
Daniele De Rossi is Roma’s preferred choice to replace Mourinho and talks have been opened. De Rossi played more than 600 games for the club from 2001 to 2019. The former midfielder’s only experience as a manager was a short stint in Serie B with SPAL that ended last February but he has worked as a coach with Italy under Roberto Mancini and held age-group roles in the Italian Football Federation.
Mourinho took charge of Roma in 2021 and led the club to their first trophy in 14 years by winning the Europa Conference League in 2022. He also reached the final of last season’s Europa League, losing on penalties to Sevilla.
Roma have one win from their past five matches – against Cremonese in the Coppa Italia – and also lost to Juventus in that spell. Mourinho departs with the club facing a Europa League tie against Feyenoord next month having been second in their group behind Slavia Prague.
Mourinho finished sixth in each of his two full Serie A seasons with Roma. The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager, who will be 61 this month, leaves with the club five points behind fourth-placed Fiorentina and 22 points behind the leaders, Inter.
Roma’s owners, Dan and Ryan Friedkin, thanked Mourinho “for his passion and efforts” and said: “We will always have great memories of his tenure at Roma but we believe that an immediate change is in the best interests of the club.”