"Either choose him or choose me": aut aut aut in Rome
“Either choose him or choose me”: the message to the Friedkins seems to be just that. Roma still hopes to qualify for the next Champions League but there is little serenity in Trigoria. Claudio Ranieri is avoiding any contact with Gian Piero Gasperini. Tensions between the two exploded publicly after Ranieri’s statements in the Roma-Pisa pre-match, when the senior advisor had responded to Gasperini’s veiled criticism of the market: “Both last year and this year I was asked which profiles to take. Every player who arrived was viewed and approved by me and, this year, by the coach. We brought Malen and Wesley to Rome, but not only them: all the others were also chosen through a shared process. It is too easy to reduce everything to those two names. Ferguson, for example, we both wanted him.” Words that, though uttered with a smile to dampen tempers, actually certified the rift.
It should be remembered, moreover, that Gasperini was not Ranieri’s first choice for the Giallorossi bench. Before veering to the coach from Grugliasco, the club had contacted three Spanish coaches (Cesc Fabregas, Unai Emery and Ernesto Valverde) all three of whom later proved unattainable for different reasons. It was only after these unsuccessful attempts that the Friedkins decided to bet on Gasperini, a choice that Ranieri himself had publicly justified with the desire to build a long-term project, on the model of what he had done at Atalanta.
The absence of a guide and the distance between the parties further stiffened the situation in Trigoria, accentuating internal tensions. In this context, sporting director Massara has remained defenseless: he enjoys Ranieri’s trust, but not Gasperini’s, as was moreover understood in the last soccer session. The relationship between ds and coach has never taken off and has contributed to frictions even with the senior advisor.
The point of no return, according to many observers, matured in the wake of the heavy 5-2 loss suffered against Inter, a defeat that had crossed the ocean to the Friedkin offices, convinced that the team needed a deep shake-up and not mere adjustments. Since then, the climate in Trigoria has progressively deteriorated, with the American ownership watching and pondering a future that could lead to a real re-founding of the squad.
