Under Paulo Fonseca, Roma spent much of last season in a 3-4-2-1,
with Edin Dzeko or Borja Mayoral playing ahead of Mkhitaryan and Pedro.
Jose Mourinho will inherit a side suited to his coaching. The first half of Roma 2020-21
was certainly better than the second, but initially they established themselves as a
fine counter-attacking team. That veteran unit of Mkhitaryan, Pedro and Dzeko broke and scored
goals in patterns which anyone familiar with Mourinho’s coaching would have recognised.
No surprise; Fonseca cites his fellow Portuguese as a major influence on his
own career and – inadvertently – he has helped to lay the groundwork for one of his idols.
But there are still issues for Mourinho to confront on his return to Italy.
All three of those players are over 30. Dzeko is 35 and only started 20 games last season. And
while Mayoral’s form was a welcome surprise and he still has 12 months left on his two year loan,
he doesn’t seem obviously suited to a coach who has preferred more physical,
complete forwards in the past.
So, while Dzeko’s best days are behind him, the Bosnian is still a good guide
for what Roma are looking for – an imposing, mobile player capable of goals and quick
creative decisions. Roma also conceded more goals than any other side in top half of Serie
A last season, so if that player can also be an asset without the ball then all the better.
Scorer of 53 Bundesliga goals in three seasons for Wolfsburg,
28 year-old Wout Weghorst has been deserving of a big move for some time.
In some ways he’s similar to the player Dzeko was during his prime: he can finish with both
feet and – at 6ft5 – is excellent in the air. He also scores goals with power and finesse
and his movement is excellent. That’s a key component for any Mourinho centre-forward.
In addition to which, Weghorst has scored his goals from a 4-2-3-1 formation,
which is similar to the system likely to be installed at Stadio Olimpico.
It would still involve an adaption, because Wolfsburg are not a counter-attacking side
and Weghorst is more used to pivoting a team who like to control the ball,
but he’s a capable passer over long distances and his short-range distribution is also good,
even if it tends to be on the conservative side.
Add in Weghorst’s encouraging defensive contribution and his obvious worth at set-pieces,
and Roma would have a player capable of replacing Dzeko and working in their current system,
but also of combining with a purer goal-scorer like Mayoral if necessary.
Age counts against Weghorst, though, so perhaps a more efficient use of money might be Tammy
Abraham, who has fallen out of favour at Chelsea and who will be leaving the club this summer.
There’s a bargain to be had.
Abraham will be available for loan at least, giving Roma the chance to try before they buy,
with the possibility then of a lower fee to make the move permanent in a year’s time.
Ideal, perhaps, because Abraham still has plenty to learn.
The good points first: he’s an able finisher who is still improving.
He already scores goals from close range and breaking situations, in addition to which both
his defensive work-rate and contribution inside his own penalty box would please Mourinho.
His creativity likely wouldn’t, though, and Abraham is a long way from being the
kind all-round centre-forward that Harry Kane was under the Portuguese at Tottenham. Nevertheless,
he’s a very coachable player with an extremely high work-rate, making him
the kind of personality that Mourinho would respond well to and perhaps the kind of player
with just enough experience to be viable, but not so much as to be set in his ways.
In fact, adaptability has been one of his key strengths. Before breaking through at Chelsea,
Abraham made his name through a succession of loan deals, each of which involved a different
coaching style and situation, but which all ended with a very healthy goal return.
Whether he’ll ever be truly prolific at the highest level is questionable,
but then neither has he yet come close to realising his potential.
Alternatively, Roma could head in a new direction entirely. Mourinho had a strained relationship
with Mkhitaryan at Manchester United and Pedro will turn 34 at the end of July. With
Dzeko potentially leaving the club, it creates the opportunity for a fresh start in attack.
If, for instance, Mourinho wanted to install a 4-3-3 and entrust Borja Mayoral as his No.9,
perhaps Borussia Monchengladbach’s
Marcus Thuram could be a valuable addition on the left-hand side.
Harry Kane was Mourinho’s main success at Tottenham, but the form of Son Heung-min
was excellent too. Thuram isn’t as versatile as the South Korean,
but he’s a direct, dynamic and skilful player who suits counter-attacking play,
who combines well with other forwards and who can beat defenders one-on-one. He’s also a source
of goals. 18 in two Bundesliga seasons isn’t prolific, but it’s healthy and – as with other
inside forwards who’ve moved inside over the years – it’s been suggestive of greater things to come.
The market has also softened for him. Gladbach had a mixed season this year and Thuram was one of a
few players to suffer after it was announced that Marco Rose would be leaving the club.
The season before, though, his production stood comparison with players like Timo Werner and Kai
Havertz and marked him out as one of the most dangerous young forwards in Germany.
2019-20 might have been an anomalous spike in performance.
Or 2020-21 may have just been a temporary setback.
Regardless, it’s rare for some many European clubs to be as short of money as they currently are and
that makes even a theoretical talent like Thuram much more available than he would otherwise be.