Roma Host Bologna in Jurić’s Last Chance Saloon

It’s not being overly dramatic to define the current mood around Roma as dire. The Giallorossi look set to sack their third manager of the calendar year following this match, as reports suggest that Ivan Jurić lost his chance to continue past the international break by drawing Union Saint-Gilles earlier this week. In addition, reports suggest that Roma’s superstar, Paulo Dybala, has been excluded from the squad for tomorrow’s match by Jurić, much to the shock of one Paulo Dybala. It's not exactly the best working environment and certainly not conducive to creating beautiful football.

Still, the football continues, even if Jurić seems to have one and a half feet out the door. Reports suggest that Roberto Mancini may be Roma’s next manager if Jurić departs, and a win tomorrow would at least give the former Azzurri manager a bit more of a head start on pulling the Giallorossi out of mid-table ignominy.

The only trouble is that compared to Roma, Bologna is having a more typical season through its first eleven match days. Clocking in at ninth place heading into match day twelve, I Rossoblú are currently ahead of Roma in the table, with 20-year-old Argentine forward Santiago Castro providing much of the club’s attacking verve to date. Castro’s four goal contributions this season may seem paltry, but the only Roma player who matches him in that respect is Artem Dovbyk.

As with so many of Roma’s recent matches, something has to change on the creative and offensive front for the Giallorossi to get three points out of this one. While that’s not all there is to it, it’s certainly a large chunk of the problem.

What To Watch For

Who Replaces Paulo Dybala?

Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images

As I mentioned before, Paulo Dybala will be absent from tomorrow’s match. Reports suggest that La Joya is quite surprised to be left out of the squad due to injury issues, as he had been planning on being available to play against Bologna. Relatedly, I’ve noticed that under Jurić’s reign, the Giallorossi have often said a star player is injured when Jurić simply does not want to play them. Food for thought there, if you’d like it.

Regardless of why Dybala won’t be playing tomorrow, it seems set in stone that he won’t be taking the field at the Stadio Olimpico. With that in mind, who is going to provide the creative verve for this side? I’ve gone on record as being disappointed in Dybala’s lack of availability this season, and I still believe it’s a factor in Roma’s attack, which has been so underwhelming. Still, he is clearly the superstar of this side, and his talent needs to be used whenever he can play.

Without Dybala, I imagine Jurić will turn to Tommaso Baldanzi and Matias Soulé to take on some of the creative load. I’ll be very interested to see how Soulé looks without Dybala on the pitch, as the young Argentine winger has officially scored his first Roma goal and may need more space to roam to truly hit another level as an offensive player. Roma may not be completely doomed without Dybala, but this match does become ten times harder to win if La Joya is stuck on the bench.

Can Someone Please Play Watchable Football?

Photo by Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images

Which brings me to the second thing to watch for in this match — can Roma play exciting football again? I’m not optimistic about Ivan Jurić’s chances to bring back good football before he departs from Trigoria; his style of play has been completely underwhelming as Roma’s manager, and while some of the lifelessness of the offense can and should be blamed on the squad, in terms of pure offensive ability, Jurić has been handed a Maserati and drives it like a Ford Focus.

If Roma plays exciting football tomorrow, I think most of the onus for creating that excitement will fall on Roma’s new-look midfield. It’s not a coincidence that Niccolò Pisilli is the sole Roma player selected by Luciano Spalletti for the Azzurri’s upcoming slate of matches, and it’s not a coincidence that Manu Koné has quickly established himself as a core piece of Les Bleus moving forward. Those two players, alongside Enzo Le Fée, will likely be the core of Roma’s midfield moving forward.

While it’s not necessarily always in Koné or Pisilli’s wheelhouse to act as creative players setting up the likes of Artem Dovbyk and Matias Soulé, with Dybala out and Pellegrini horrendously out of form, that responsibility will likely fall on them tomorrow. If they can take that responsibility and run with it, it could open up a whole new world of tactical possibilities for the Giallorossi. More than that, it could make me excited to watch a Roma match again.

Match Details

Date: November 10

Kickoff: 15:00 CET/9:00 EST

Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Roma

Referee: Gianluca Manganiello