Coppa Italia: Lazio Defeat Highlights Problems at Roma

These are desperate times in the Italian capital; at least in the red half. Roma's 0-1 loss to Lazio in the final of the Coppa Italia means that the Lupi are without a trophy again this season and out of Europe for the next. Not exactly acceptable results for the big-budget American "project".

A lot of money has been spent since the Boston-based conglomerate, now headed by James Pallotta, took over Roma from Rosella Sensi two years ago. There's been a huge turn-over in playing staff and three controversial coaching appointments in the shape of the untested Luis Enrique, the unstable Zdenek Zeman and the unheard-of Aurelio Andreazzoli.

On top of that, the man they sent packing to give Enrique the job, Vincenzo Montella, is now among the most admired young coaches in Europe. To say the managerial situation at the Olimpico has been handled poorly would be an understatement. 

The overhaul of Roma's squad has been less than successful, too. There's no doubting that some improvement has been made, but it's more scattered an approach to team-building than most would think wise. The Giallorossi went from being the oldest squad in Serie A to one of the youngest in a single season, with an influx of young hopefuls. 

For every Erik Lamela and Miralem Pjanic, there's at least one contrasting failure.

Bojan Krkic, Simon Kjaer, Fernando Gago are just some of the names who've been brought in and then unceremoniously shipped out after disappointing seasons, suggesting that the club's recruitment policies are not quite as focussed as Walter Sabatini might like us to believe.

And the fact that Jeremy Menez and Mirko Vucinic have left the club to win titles elsewhere and the saga surrounding Daniele De Rossi's threatened departure last summer hints at internal problems as well. It's not just the fans who doubt this team's ability to win silverware—it's key players. 

Menez' abrasive character irked some at the club and a perceived lack of commitment on the pitch caused problems with supporters. Similarly, the way in which Vucinic handled himself in negotiating a move left him with few friends in the capital, but even still, no club with major ambitions should be losing experienced internationals who cite a lack of ambition at the club as their reason for heading elsewhere. 

The Coppa Italia final was a chance to draw a line under a difficult period in the club's history. An opportunity for an undoubtedly talented young squad to prove their worth on the big stage and the club's new management to show that all their work was not for naught. And all against Roma's oldest rival.

The derby is always an important fixture for the Giallorossi and the Biancocelesti, but this was arguably the most significant of all.

In 158 editions, the Rome derby had never been in the final of a tournament. Nor had there been so many other factors at stake. Roma had the chance to become the first club to win the cup 10 times. The winner qualified for next year's Europa League. The bragging rights associated with not only securing such a windfall for your own team but simultaneously denying it of your rival to boot. 

Instead, the best Roma could muster was a flaccid semblance of competitiveness. 11 talented individuals on a pitch will always manage the occasional show of singular facility, but as a unit the Giallorossi looked far short of the title-contender label they'd been stuck with back in August and, in truth, more like a side completely undeserving of such an occasion.

The entire performance was one governed by fear and an inability to cope with the occasion. One could go into great length in dealing with the shortcomings, but in the interests of brevity and due to the fact that there can be surely no more succinct criticism to level at Roma, it's enough to simply say that Lazio were the deserved winners.

That should worry the board. Vladimir Petkovic has achieved more with less than any coach in recent Roma history. And though he's not always popular with some sections of the Lazio support, the same is true of Claudio Lotito.

The Lazio president operates on a tight budget and plucked Petkovic from relative obscurity in the Swiss league, not least because he was cheap. The Bosnian coach's appointment raised plenty of eyebrows in Italy last year, but Lotito's gamble has paid off, in stark contrast to similar ones taken by his Roma counterparts.  

The Italian entrepreneur's realistic approach to club governance is antithetical to the current Roma regime. The talk from Trigoria is bombastic, hyperbolic and detached. A seemingly endless stream of announcements come proclaiming marketing firsts and branding changes flies from the press office at a time when the focus should be on football.

The results have been poor, but the feeling in Italy is that it's not all the players' fault. All is not well behind the scenes at Roma, and to make frivolous announcements complete with press conferences and photo calls makes the back-room management seem utterly divorced from the club's reality, or at least ignorant of how it is perceived from the outside.  

Only days before the final, they changed the club crest, apparently because Roma's new target audience was unable to identify the famous old club easily enough. And all the while, the traditional fan base as had to suffer through disappointment after disappointment. 

The Coppa loss highlights the problems. Too much time spent on developing the business, not enough on developing a team. Pallotta talks of making Roma one of the world's biggest clubs, and yet they're not even good enough for Europe's second tier competition. 

While Lazio celebrated their famous win here in Rome on Sunday night, Romanisti everywhere withdrew into a deep depression. Most did, anyway. A small number made their way to the club's headquarters, where they pelted the team bus with eggs.

The next day, they were greeted with banners outside the training ground (here in Italian, from Forza Roma). "You don't deserve this city," read the largest, echoing a sentiment now felt across the red half of Rome.

Roma's owners are just two years into their Italian adventure, and their credibility is now at rock bottom. This summer must be one of action, and next season one of results. Because while this might be the Eternal City, it is not one of perpetual patience. This season, they've lost almost everything. Managers, results, credibility. They can't afford to lose support of the fans.