AS Roma have appointed Paulo Fonseca as their new manager. The Portuguese manager joins the Italian giants after three seasons at Shakhtar Donetsk. Fonseca will take over the vacant position after the end of Claudio Ranieri’s interim role.
AS Roma Appoint Paulo Fonseca as Their New Manager
It’s official – Paulo Fonseca will be the new head coach of #ASRoma!
Welcome Paulo! ?
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) 11 June 2019
An Up and Coming Manager
Paulo Fonseca had a modest footballing career in Portugal. His professional managerial career started at C.D. Aves in the Portuguese Second Division in 2011/12. Fonseca did well enough in the following three years to eventually land the biggest job in Portuguese football at Porto in 2013. Unfortunately, things did not pan out as expected. Fonseca was sacked after only nine months at the helm. However, he recovered well in his career. In fact, Fonseca won the 2015/16 Taça de Portugal with Sporting Clube de Braga, beating Porto in the final.
Paulo Fonseca’s first job abroad was a pretty tough one at FC Shakhtar Donetsk. In fact, he had the difficult task of replacing the legendary Mircea Lucescu in 2016. The Romanian led the Ukrainian Premier League for 12 seasons. However, Fonseca proved to be an able replacement. Under his leadership, Shakhtar Donetsk have won both the Ukrainian Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup three years in a row. Notably, Fonseca had a memorable victory against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in 2017. So, he is not exactly a complete unknown. Actually, his attacking style has impressed many.
Paulo Fonseca Appointed to Work with a Limited Budget
AS Roma have appointed Paulo Fonseca as their new manager to work with a limited budget. They failed to qualify for the Champions League this season. So, Fonseca will not have a significant transfer kitty. In fact, James Pallotta probably looked at Fonseca’s record of improving his squad at Shakhtar Donetsk without spending too much money before deciding on him. Fonseca improved Bernard, Fred, and Taison significantly. Certainly, the potential is there to replicate that at Roma with the presence of exciting talent like Nicolo Zaniolo, Justin Kluivert, and Cengiz Ünder.
Ability to Handle Pressure
As mentioned before, Paulo Fonseca had to handle enormous pressure when he started at Shakhtar Donetsk. The legacy of Mircea Lucescu was not easy to follow. The Romanian manager even has a statue coming up there. Fonseca did really well to follow that act but he now has to face a different type of pressure. The Romanisti are not an easy bunch of fans. In fact, they are among the most impatient sets of fans. How the man born in Nampula, Mozambique handles them will be interesting to follow.
Goals of the Season
Paulo Fonseca’s primary task will be to bring back Champions League football to the eternal city. It will not be easy with Roma’s squad needing an overhaul. Fonseca will have to oversee a huge transition at the club. The departure of Daniele De Rossi has left a huge hole with the leadership of the squad. However, this also presents an opportunity for Fonseca to stamp his authority and mould the squad to his playing style.
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