The change in direction given to Roma by new coach Daniele De Rossi is a matter we happily leave to the football experts. There is, however, a very interesting question in this change of bench, which goes beyond simple footballing expertise: the impact that the new leadership style imprinted by the young novice coach had on the team. José Mourinho, one of the most successful coaches in the history of football, has built part of his fortune – in addition to his great ability to construct and manage football tactics – also on a very particular style of management of his teams. The Portuguese was a leader who, in a scientific and programmatic way, constantly tried to catalyze all attention, whether negative or positive, on himself. Controversies with referees, dialectical wars with opponents, market demands towards his own club: with a muscular and almost outrageous style, in each of these areas, the Portuguese strategist opened daily battles with bladed weapons against the unfortunate interlocutors on duty. . These struggles have not even spared its players: with rare exceptions, they have been singled out as mediocre, inadequate players or, at most, inadequate for physical reasons. Choice probably dictated by tactical reasons (former Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech said that in the locker room the coach made certain statements to his players, warning them that they were purely tactical and did not correspond to his thoughts) . A choice which immediately gave positive results.
Comparison of leaders
Mourinho has in fact created a compact group in Rome, very solid and capable of obtaining important results in Europe, where temperament has more weight in deciding the final matches. This choice to place oneself at the center of the world, even at the cost of devaluing the team's contribution, however, generated excessive stress on the group: the strong pressure and constant criticism reduced the self-esteem of the team. players and, perhaps even, their ability to throw their whole heart over the obstacle, with the result that their performance on the field was greatly affected. With the arrival of Daniele De Rossi on the Roma bench, there was not just a tactical change: a diametrically opposed style of leadership and communication entered the field. The controversies with the referees are over, to remove a powerful alibi from the players, who could no longer use the most popular argument among all the losers in the world: “We lost because of the referee”. The new coach did not stop at this reasonable choice.
While his predecessor spent much of his press conferences talking about the mediocrity of his players (to highlight the miraculous results he was achieving), De Rossi chose the opposite direction. At each press conference, he discusses the CVs of his athletes, magnifies their ability to stay on the field and exalts the overall value of the team, going so far as to exalt footballers who, just a few weeks ago, were publicly Presented as a symbol of inability to play football, the case of Celik, the Turkish full-back, is sensational. To complete the job, De Rossi always makes sure to share the responsibility for mistakes – he takes them on himself, without discount – with the credit for victories, which he always attributes to his players. It is also a choice that is the opposite of his predecessor, who had always taken care to publicly place the responsibility for defeats on the players: we all remember the purge of 6 players after the defeat against the Norwegian amateurs Bodo or again from that of the Karsdorp side after a bad draw at Sassuolo.
Management of work groups
This change of direction is not only interesting from a strictly sporting point of view. Work groups, whether in professional sport or in corporate life, are difficult to manage, coordinate and motivate. In the social model in which postwar generations grew up, command in the workplace was a power that was exercised in an authoritarian manner. You had to lead people, without worrying about convincing them. The sensational impact of Daniele De Rossi on the Roma bench may have technical reasons but, in our opinion, it also depends on the fact that the young coach has understood that this management style is no longer suited to the context current work. Anyone who wants to succeed in sport and in life today cannot limit themselves to giving orders. People must be convinced, motivated and empowered: results that can only be achieved by using levers other than simple authority.
Read also:
