Zbigniew Boniek: “De Rossi’s dismissal was pure madness.” | OneFootball

Former Roma player and UEFA executive Zbigniew Boniek weighed in on the capital club’s decision to dismiss Daniele De Rossi.

Two weeks into Ivan Juric’s tenure at the club, the Polish director is still in shock.

“For me it was pure madness,” Boniek told Teleradiostereo. “I liked Mourinho, but it seemed to me that the time had come for a change. In the end, the problem was also the relationship with all of Trigoria. Then the team also suffered. With Mou, you have to have a long-term project.”

“However, De Rossi was the symbol of Rome, and in January he was asked for help in a difficult moment. It’s hard to explain if you then send him away after 4 matchdays with a 3-year contract. It’s inexplicable.”

“He could have even won with Udinese. He was kicked out after two games where the team played well. He played very well against Juve and should have been 3-0 up in the first half against Genoa, then due to a foolish mistake by Pellegrini Genoa equalized in the 95th minute. Something else surely happened, otherwise it’s inexplicable.”

“From Mou to Juric the comparison doesn’t hold up, but I don’t want to be offensive. I always liked the Croatian manager in the teams he coached.”

“They were teams that ran, that put great intensity on the pitch. With Venezia, Roma played too calmly, and there’s little to take apart from the result”.

I don’t know if they can get to the Champions League, I hope so, then it depends on how many teams can go there from Serie A. I think Roma will get into the top 6. But there were some problems related to the market. Roma started the market by spending 50 million for two players who I don’t know if they make the difference.”

“I like Pisilli a lot, but we never give young guys time to grow, like with Bove. He’s a guy with legs, brains, he fits in well, but let’s give him time. Between Le Fée, Bove and Pisilli I don’t see any differences, for example, but let’s see.”

“Zalewski? Zalewski is one of the biggest Romanisti. He loves Roma. This story is absurd, I hope he fits into the team as soon as possible and with Juric he can have a lot of space.”

“I think someone made a mistake. I also told him that the time has come to do something more. He has to mature, I believe in him 100%.”

“I don’t understand how you can leave a player out of the squad like that,” he continued.

“I don’t know about Souloukou, she’s a CEO and she shouldn’t be in charge of the sports area. She wanted to do everything, she even took charge of negotiating the players’ prices.”

“I don’t know if there’s anything else behind the scenes, she’s very good at managing the club but she made mistakes managing the sports part too. She didn’t take into account that it’s a team from the most beautiful city in the world and it’s a particular environment.”

“Pellegrini is the captain, people expect a little more from him. If I could talk to him I would tell him that he can’t always fall to the ground after a contact, and that people expect more because they know he has the quality to do so.”

“They expect charisma, character and that’s why people are annoyed. He must realize that he has to go further. You have to be tougher, if he hurts you you mustn’t show it.”