Roma’s spooky season shows no signs of abating as a haunting return to Verona for manager Ivan Juric dealt another chilling blow to the Giallorossi’s already fragile Serie A campaign. Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Juric’s former club left Roma languishing in 11th place and heaped further pressure on the embattled Croatian tactician, whose tenure at the Stadio Olimpico appears increasingly tenuous.
A Homecoming Horror Show
For Juric, the trip to Verona carried deep personal significance. “Whenever I say: ‘I’m going home’, I mean I’m going to Verona,” the 47-year-old admitted in the buildup, having previously guided the Scaligeri to consecutive top-half finishes during his stint at the helm from 2019 to 2021. But any hopes of a triumphant return were swiftly punctured by a calamitous opener gifted to Verona striker Casper Tengstedt.
Despite Roma twice clawing their way back to parity through goals from summer signings Matías Soulé and Artem Dovbyk, defensive frailties once again proved their undoing. Verona center-back Giangiacomo Magnani was afforded the freedom of the penalty area to restore the hosts’ advantage, before Abdou Harroui sealed the victory on the counter-attack late on.
The manner of the defeat will be especially galling for Juric, who watched his side repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot with individual errors. “Unfortunately, in football mistakes can be costly,” he lamented post-match. “Both those the players make and the referee.”
Friedkin’s Folly?
Yet while Juric was keen to accentuate the positives of an otherwise “dominant” Roma display, the stark reality is that his side have now shipped 11 goals in their last four Serie A outings. Such defensive generosity is anathema to a club harboring Champions League ambitions, and Juric appears increasingly unlikely to be granted the time to oversee a turnaround.
Indeed, reports in the Italian media suggest the Friedkin Group, Roma’s American ownership, are already sounding out potential replacements, with Paulo Sousa and Claudio Ranieri among the early frontrunners. It would mark a staggeringly swift fall from grace for Juric, handed the reins just two months ago following the shock dismissal of club legend Daniele De Rossi.
That decision, taken just three months after De Rossi had been handed a contract extension, incensed the Giallorossi faithful, with sections of the fanbase even threatening to boycott matches in protest. Juric, a respected but unspectacular coaching journeyman, was always likely to face an uphill battle to win hearts and minds in the capital.
“The financial context helps explain why the club might have felt compelled to fire De Rossi, who won only one of his last 11 competitive games in charge.”
– A Roma insider speaking on condition of anonymity
Scares and Sackings
A summer of lavish spending, including the €100m outlays on the likes of Soulé, Dovbyk and Enzo Le Fée, has thus far failed to yield a new dawn for Roma, with marquee arrivals such as Mats Hummels and Mario Hermoso barely featuring. Financial pressures were exacerbated by the club’s failure to offload prized asset Paulo Dybala, now likely to depart for a cut-price fee in January.
All of which leaves the Friedkins facing an unenviable dilemma as they approach the final international break before the World Cup: pull the trigger on yet another managerial sacking in a desperate bid to salvage their Champions League hopes, or keep faith with Juric and risk the ire of an already mutinous fanbase?
As Halloween gives way to the business end of the season, it is Juric who may find himself haunted by the ghost of managerial appointments past. For all his insistence that Roma are on the right track, the stats make for grim reading: no wins in five, one clean sheet all season, and a side seemingly incapable of holding onto a lead. A daunting run of fixtures awaits, starting with the visit of Champions League-chasing Atalanta to the Olimpico on November 12th.
Fail to navigate that test, and Juric may find himself joining De Rossi, Mourinho and the legions of Roma managers whose tenures have been cut brutally short. In a city where football passions run high and patience is a rare commodity, even a famous old boy can quickly wear out his welcome.
A Graveyard for Gaffers
For now, the Croatian insists he retains the full backing of his players, even as the vultures circle over Trigoria. “I’ve seen the spirit, the team is there and they’re giving everything,” Juric insisted, striking a note of defiance in the face of mounting speculation over his future.
Yet with Roma already six points adrift of the top four and facing the very real prospect of a first season without European football in eight years, the margin for error is wafer-thin. Even a club as storied as the Giallorossi cannot afford to stand still in the face of underachievement, and Juric would not be the first manager to find himself on the chopping block mere months into his reign.
As the leaves turn and the nights draw in, Roma find themselves in the grip of an all-too-familiar autumnal chill. For Juric, the task is stark: exorcise the demons of this Halloween horror show, or risk becoming just another ghost at the Eternal City’s coaching graveyard.
