De Rossi exit cloud over Roma
Print Edition
AS Roma will continue its push for a place in next season鈥檚 UEFA Champions League at the weekend amid the fallout from the sudden announcement of stalwart midfielder Daniele De Rossi鈥檚 departure.
Roma takes an unbeaten seven-match run to Sassuolo on Saturday but that the match has almost been forgotten following Tuesday鈥檚 news that 35-year-old De Rossi would be leaving the club at the end of the season after 18 years鈥 unstinting service.
Fans were angered that De Rossi was not offered the chance to renew his contract while the timing of the announcement, two weeks before the end of the season and only one day after De Rossi himself was told, was also criticized.
Yesterday, coach Claudio Ranieri 鈥 who himself will leave at the end of the season 鈥 said he would have chosen to keep De Rossi. 鈥淎s coach, I would have said that I still want him, because I know the sort of player, man and a captain he is,鈥 he said. 鈥淚n football, there are so many ways to be a leader, he is the ideal one for a coach.鈥
Addressing a news conference, he added: 鈥淚s anyone here interested in the Sassuolo game?鈥
Rome鈥檚 chief executive Guido Fienga admitted on Tuesday that the matter was not dealt with in the ideal way.
鈥淭here were some off-field issues and we had several problems. The club are aware of the mistakes they鈥檝e made. There鈥檚 a lot of self-criticism going on right now,鈥 he said.
De Rossi himself said: 鈥淚f I were a director, I would have offered me a new contract.鈥
Banners have appeared around Rome criticizing the club and its United States-based president James Pallotta and, on Wednesday, around 100 Roma supporters braved torrential rain and gathered outside the team鈥檚 training headquarters for more protests.
They were met by Ranieri and De Rossi himself and several Italian media reported that De Rossi told them he did not want trouble and would continue to support the club.
鈥淭he club acted in the worst possible way,鈥 said former Roma forward Marco Delvecchio, who played alongside De Rossi early in his career. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 treat club symbols that way.鈥
Inter Milan midfielder Radja Nainggolan made an apparent reference to his own departure from Roma last season, when he was unhappy at being put up for sale. 鈥淲hat to say about DDR? It鈥檚 a story we鈥檝e already seen,鈥 the Belgian said on Twitter.
De Rossi has been restricted by injury to 14 Serie A starts this season but he has still had a galvanizing effect on a young, inconsistent Roma team when he has played.
With two matches to go, Roma is sixth with 62 points, three outside the top four where it needs to finish to qualify for the UCL.
Atalanta, which is currently in fourth place with 65 points and lost to Lazio 0-2 in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday, has a tough match away to champion Juventus while fifth-placed AC Milan, ahead of Roma on their head-to-head record, hosts relegated Frosinone.
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