Roma taking huge gamble with Jose Mourinho hire

The same day Jose Mourinho was fired by Tottenham, everyone was reeling from the announcement of the European Super League. It was hard to see where he might land next.

He wasn’t without a gig for very long when it was announced he was joining talkSPORT as their pundit for the Euros starting in June. Still, it was a step down from being the Spurs manager.

The question on everyone’s mind was whether or not Mourinho’s time as a top level manager was finally over?

We got an answer to that question as, seemingly out of nowhere, AS Roma announced that Mourinho would be taking over as manager come next season.

"“We are thrilled and delighted to welcome Jose Mourinho into the AS Roma family,” club president Dan Friedkin and vice-president Ryan Friedkin said.“A great champion who was won trophies at every level, Jose will provide tremendous leadership and experience to our ambitious project.“The appointment of Jose is a huge step in building a long-term and consistent winning culture throughout the club.”Source: AS Roma"

Mourinho signed a three-year deal that theoretically ties him to the Italian club until June 2024.

Roma betting on Mourinho could come back to bite them in the face

Given how his last managerial stints have ended, it is not surprising a lot of eyebrows were raised when Roma announced Paulo Fonseca’s replacement.

Mourinho used to be a winning manager. His pragmatism used to be a strength and his use of a siege mentality used to spur on his teams. Now, they’re significant weaknesses.

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He can no longer be seen as someone who builds a “consistent willing culture” or someone who is a long-term hire. His reputation precedes him and has become a ticking time bomb.

According to The Guardian, Mourinho has been given assurances that he will have control over transfers and time to succeed at the club. Other than early in his career, he’s never really had to build a team from the ground up.

He’s always had the tools and players at clubs like Inter, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United and, to a lesser extent, Tottenham.

All of these clubs have had good players that Mourinho was simply unable to get the best out of.

It is unlikely he’ll have unlimited funds to spend so he’s going to have to be meticulous in who he goes out and buys. Roma are putting significant trust in Mourinho’s ability to pick the right players.

In many respects, this could be Mourinho’s final chance to prove he still has what it takes to be seen as a “big club manager.” Roma are seemingly giving him everything he wants. He’s not going to be able to complain about his squad as he’s going to have final say if they join the team or not.

He has everything riding on this – and so do Roma.

Roma currently sit in seventh place in Serie A and will likely miss out on Europa League places. That could be an advantage as they’ll only have the league to focus on.

As for Mourinho, he somehow gets another opportunity to manage a well-known side. Things will either go well the first season before it goes off the rails or it will go off the rails immediately. At this point, anything is possible with Mourinho as manager.