Roma are finally safe in the knowledge of who’ll be leading them into the 2025-26 season after Gian Piero Gasperini was announced as the club’s new head coach.
Gasperini has signed a three-year contract with Roma after his departure from Atalanta, one of only four clubs who finished above the Giallorossi in 2024-25.
Now, the preparation for Roma’s new era can truly begin. This could be a defining period in the club’s evolution – not to mention history, given that Gasperini is now scheduled to be the coach who leads Roma into their 100th anniversary year in 2027 – and we can presumably expect fireworks.
Gasperini’s work with Atalanta twice saw him named the Serie A Coach of the Year, so although there are never any guarantees about how a manager will fare in a new club, Roma will be hoping they are in safe hands.
Here are some of the reasons to be optimistic about what’s in store for Roma under Gasperini.
Style of play
Gasperini’s Atalanta sides stood out in Serie A for their energetic approach, utilising a system where their players suffocated their opponents with the amount of ground they covered.
His teams played on the front foot, getting fans up from their seats with their attacking intent.
And the 67-year-old has confirmed in his first interview with club media that he intends to replicate his characteristic style at Roma.
He explained: “My teams have always played in a certain way, with intensity, aggression, but not only that, we have always been a team that has scored a lot of goals, that has always thought about scoring one more goal than the opponent rather than conceding a few less even if in recent years we have improved a lot in the defensive phase. So, the characteristics after so many years in Serie A are known, I would like to put them into practice in Rome too.”
But while there may be a change in approach for a team who earned a lot of 1-0 wins in 2024-25, the formation should suit Roma’s players well. Many are used to playing with a back-three setup, the basis of Gasperini’s structure. A few roles will need to be reinforced with suitable dynamism, but all being well, it shouldn’t be too dramatic a transition.
Strong foundations
Roma are emerging from their best second half of a season in terms of points gained in Serie A in almost a decade after going on an incredible surge up the table under Claudio Ranieri.
Ergo, no Roma coach has inherited a team with such upward momentum for a long time. Not Ranieri, not Ivan Jurić, not Daniele De Rossi, not JosĂ© Mourinho… you get the drift.
And the first press photos of Gasperini at Trigoria show an actively supportive Ranieri. It may just be PR, or it could be a clear representation of the improved structure Roma are trying to build.
They could have lost all their momentum if Ranieri passed the reins into the wrong hands, but it looks like he will at least be aiding the transition – not that Gasperini needs too much help after a lengthy career in coaching himself.
While Gasperini will have to impart his own ideas onto the group – although some, like Gianluca Mancini and Bryan Cristante, are already familiar from working with him before – this Roma side have shown what they are capable of over the past few months. The new boss will simply need to find the right missing ingredients to ensure sustainable success.
Achievements with Atalanta
Over the past nine seasons in Serie A, since Gasperini’s appointment in Bergamo, Atalanta have gained three more points than Roma with their cumulative tallies.
While they never quite became absolute heavyweights, they were certainly cruiserweights in the battle for supremacy in Serie A.
Atalanta’s track record under Gasperini would have been unthinkable before him. He led them to their first ever Champions League qualification and backed it up three more non-consecutive times, also by virtue of winning their first ever Europa League trophy.
If that’s where he could take Atalanta, Roma have to hold high hopes that he can take them to the promised land in their own right. Winning the Europa League and/or finishing in the top four have to be the initial targets again for his debut season.
Gasperini got Atalanta aiming higher than their expectations. Now it’s time to steer a club who have fallen below expectations in many of their recent seasons back in the right direction and aiming high again.
Serie A coaching changes
There’s a strong case to be made that Roma now have the second best coach in Serie A after Antonio Conte at Napoli.
This off-season has already seen an incredible number of changes in Serie A dugouts. Other than Conte’s Napoli, of the teams that finished above Roma in 2024-25, Inter are replacing Simone Inzaghi with the inexperienced Cristian Chivu, Atalanta have replaced Gasperini with Jurić – who was out of his depth in Rome – and Juventus seem stuck with the underwhelming Igor Tudor.
Realistically, some of those coaches aren’t on the same level as Gasperini and, while they can’t be ruled out – nor can the likes of Massimiliano Allegri taking the Milan job, Maurizio Sarri returning to Lazio or even Vincenzo Italiano sticking with Bologna be overlooked – those teams’ competitive futures will be in the balance.
When Roma were chasing down a Champions League spot in 2024-25, there was only really one – at a push, two – of the four places to try and catch. As everyone starts afresh in 2025-26, it feels like as long as Florent Ghisolfi succeeds in the transfer market, it’s all up for grabs.
Gasperini should be able to outwit enough of his opposite numbers to give Roma a genuine shot at not just breaking into the top four, but hopefully being consistent contenders in there.
His own adrenaline
Embed from Getty ImagesThe intensity won’t just manifest itself on the pitch. Gasperini himself appears highly motivated for this new challenge, despite committing to the club until he will be 70 years old thanks to his contract until 2028.
“I chose Roma because it’s a great challenge,” he said. “I need a significant challenge to come into a setting full of passion. I’m very excited by the opportunity given to me by Ranieri, the club and the ownership. It’s that rush of adrenaline I need.”
After nine years in the same setting, it would be understandable for Gasperini to want to take a back seat and recharge, but he appears to be fired up for this new test of his abilities.
Roma will be the biggest club he has coached since an ill-fated stint with Inter in 2011. While he has proven his true worth since then, this is a big stage for him to emphasise it.
Of course, there’s always a risk when someone has long-term success at a different club, it could be down to an environment that can’t be replicated. But this is Gasperini’s chance to truly exert his influence and showcase his capabilities in the dugout.
This could go horribly wrong. It could go alarmingly well. There might not be an in between.
But measuring the mood around Serie A right now, Roma can class themselves as one of the clubs with the biggest reasons to be optimistic.
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