Roma Enjoying the Rapid Growth of Their Talents

Roma have been hit by a few injuries early, but their results have remained pretty steady, and the absences have given coach Gian Piero Gasperini the chance to field more youngsters than usual. They have answered the bell for the most part, Corriere dello Sport points out.

For instance, Emanuele Lulli and Niccolò Pisilli made the stat sheet midweek versus Cagliari and have been regulars so far. The former has been a true revelation, as he’s fresh off their youth academy. He was supposed to head to Avellino on loan but stayed because the Giallorossi couldn’t sign another wing-back in the summer. He’s been seriously pushing Nahuel Molina for minutes. The club quickly rewarded him with a new contract until 2021.

Instead, the midfielder has been filling in for Manu Koné and has scored four times already. Rodrigo Mora is still finding his footing after joining Roma in the summer, but he bagged a pivotal goal in such a game. The capital club has a lot at stake with him, as his acquisition could be worth up to €50M. Still, Gasperini is bringing him along slowly, despite Paulo Dybala being sidelined at the moment.

Given some rotation and the fact that Kostantinos Koulierakis, Santiago Castro, Wesley, and Matias Soulé aren’t too old despite being more seasoned, the Giallorossi XI had a 25,8-year average on Wednesday. Among the top Serie A teams, only Como boast a younger lineup.

Our Take on Roma

Injuries and a packed schedule create these kinds of opportunities; then, coaches and talents have to be ready to seize them, and not everyone does, but Gasperini is a master of player development, which isn’t always a straight line and sometimes requires pumping the brakes.