Gian Piero Gasperini’s first season in charge of Roma certainly had its ups and downs, but it crucially ended on a very positive note as the capital club ended an eight-year absence from the UEFA Champions League. Having consistently overachieved during his decade in charge of Atalanta, the 68-year-old tactician will now look to take the Giallorossi to heights they haven’t scaled in a long time.

Perhaps the biggest reason Roma’s 2025/26 campaign had a happy ending was the mid-season signing of Donyell Malen. Coming on loan from Aston Villa, he scored on debut and went on to bag successive braces in his first month. Despite spending less than half the season in the Italian capital, he wound up as the team’s outright top scorer.

Roma were crying out for such a goal-scorer in the first half of the season. While they very much were in the Champions League race at the midway point of the season as they sat level on points with the fourth-placed side, their limited attacking output of 22 goals from 19 games was holding them back. They netted 37 times in the subsequent 19 games, thanks in no small part to Malen’s contribution of 14. Many others chipped in with a few, but nobody else’s season tally crossed six.

Even so, the Giallorossi’s results remained quite inconsistent. In fact, even after Malen’s arrival, they failed to string together consecutive league victories until the final five matches of the season, which they won all of to sneak into the top four at just the right time. They were also knocked out of the Europa League by Italian counterparts Bologna, having exited the Coppa Italia just days before their new Dutch forward landed. Their defence had a couple of lowlights during this stretch, including a 3-4 loss in the Europa League Round of 16 second leg and a meeting with Inter in which they leaked five goals.

Roma’s attack was averaging close to two goals per game in the second half of last season, so they were undoubtedly being held back at the other end of the pitch. Now in the early rounds of the new campaign, their defence has held its own. They have kept three clean sheets and conceded just thrice after five league games, making theirs the joint second-best defensive record in Serie A currently.

Gasperini is renowned for his extremely player-oriented defensive approach. Unsurprisingly, then, Roma’s pressing numbers stand out in the underlying metrics. Per Opta Analyst, they lead the league in terms of pressed sequences, high turnovers and shot-ending high turnovers. They also have the highest start distance and second-lowest PPDA, suggesting they have been a successful high pressing team so far.

While these are all encouraging signs, there are quite a few caveats we have to consider before getting carried away. For one, we are only five games into the season, and Roma have benefitted from the way the fixture schedule has lined up. Inter are the only team from the current top half that they have faced, resulting in their only dropped points thus far. Moreover, the other sides they came up against were not doing a good job of playing out from the back on the whole, thus boosting the Giallorossi’s pressing numbers. The defending champions, on the other hand, put up 2.86 xG on their visit to the capital, accounting for over half of Roma’s present xG conceded tally.

Having watched some of their tape, I feel Roma are better at containing opponents in their high block rather than proactively pressing. They set their player-oriented shape up well to be prepared to pounce on any loose passes or slight missteps, but don’t seem quite as good in inducing such mistakes by making the first move. They look comfortably good enough against inexperienced and/or lower-quality opposition, but some of the better teams may look to beat Roma at their own game by press-baiting them and then trying to spring artificial transitions. How well they do in those scenarios, as well as how well their deeper block holds up under greater pressure, may well determine whether theirs will be a title-level defence.

Another reason why Roma rank so highly in the pressing metrics is that there simply aren’t a lot of high pressing teams in Serie A. As this visualisation shows, the majority of Italian top-flight sides defend deeper and/or more passively. Gasperini’s side, meanwhile, rank fourth in terms of both opposition pass completion % in the build-up and defensive line height.

On the flip side, what this means for Roma’s attack is that they have to face a lot of low blocks over the course of the season. This is where a striker like Malen proves useful, not so much because of his ability to score against deep defences, but instead by offering a direct outlet for the team to look for before the opposition defence settles into shape. Four of the Dutch striker’s goals last season came on fast breaks. This term, Roma are fifth in Serie A by Opta Analyst’s direct speed metric, and joint second by their count of direct attacks. Malen’s speed and intelligent runs in behind prove quite useful in this regard, as does his ability to carry the ball at speed.

Where the former Dortmund forward lacks is in terms of his presence in the box. He has developed good movement to get quality shots, but his limited height of 5’10” will always prevent him from being a proper target. With that in mind, Roma’s decision to sign Santiago Castro, with Artem Dovbyk going the other way to Bologna, doesn’t make a lot of sense. The Argentine striker is a good box crasher as well, but lacks both the stature to be a big target and pace to be a like-for-like Malen replacement.

In any case, Roma won’t be spamming crosses against low blocks. They are also limited by their left wing-back profiles, as all options are right-footers. They can create a different dynamic through countermovements with a left-footed inside forward like Matías Soulé, but won’t be as threatening going down the line.

Indeed, slick combination play will be crucial if Roma are to break down the blocks that most of the bottom half teams put up against them. Their inside forward options – which also include Paulo Dybala and Rodrigo Mora – will need to step up in such games as they thrive in tight spaces. Their ability to threaten off the dribble by both creating and shooting will be necessary on a good few occasions. Malen’s short link-up play will also prove handy, though his main responsibility will be to ensure that he is at the right place at the right time inside the box.

All told, Roma seem to have the ingredients to put a title charge together, but have little margin for error. Their heavy reliance on Malen can be a point of weakness should his impact wane for some reason. Gasperini will generally need the individual quality of his forwards to shine through, though he has a proven track record of getting the most out of his attacking stars. He will also need his defence to sustain a high level of performance over the course of a busy campaign.

All things considered, the Giallorossi should be the main challengers for Inter’s crown, but have to be seen as second favourites for now. The defending champions also have the upper hand in terms of experience, so knocking them off their perch will be a very tough challenge.

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