Gasperini’s Impact on Roma: A New Era Begins

Roma have not just started well. They’ve started with a jolt that feels like a change of era.

Under Gian Piero Gasperini, the Giallorossi look sharper, braver and far more defined than a side only a few months into a new cycle has any right to be. The new coach has wasted no time stamping his ideas – and his authority – all over Trigoria.

Gasperini’s grip on Roma

From the touchline at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in Verona, Gasperini cut a familiar figure: animated, demanding, constantly choreographing every movement. But this isn’t just a coach barking orders for 90 minutes. Inside the club, his influence already feels heavier than that of many of his predecessors.

Some around Roma even see him as wielding more power than José Mourinho once did. That is no small comparison. Mourinho arrived as a superstar personality; Gasperini is imposing himself through structure, repetition and a clear tactical identity. Line‑ups, recruitment profiles, the technical direction of the project – his hand is visible in all of it.

That kind of control can reshape a club’s ceiling. Roma have often oscillated between short-term fixes and long-term promises. Gasperini’s early impact suggests something more coherent: a coach trusted not just to win matches, but to define what this Roma side is supposed to be.

The Malen question – and a record in sight

Into that framework steps Donyell Malen, a striker with obvious talent and, under Gasperini, a tantalising upside.

The Dutchman has the pace, movement and directness to thrive in the vertical, high-tempo attacking game Gasperini favours. The coach’s history of squeezing career-best numbers out of forwards makes the partnership even more intriguing. Put simply: if there is a manager in Serie A who can unlock Malen’s full potential, it might be the one now pacing Roma’s technical area.

That leads to the inevitable question. Can Malen be pushed to chase down Gonzalo Higuaín’s extraordinary 36-goal Serie A record?

It’s an audacious target. Higuaín’s mark remains one of the modern benchmarks for a single season in Italy. For Malen to get close, everything would have to align: fitness, service, consistency, and a Roma side committed to playing on the front foot from August to May. Gasperini’s attacking blueprint gives him a platform, but the scale of the task is obvious.

Title dreams and a potential record-breaker

The season is still young. Early form can flatter, and autumn optimism in Rome has been burned before. Yet this feels different. Roma are not just riding a wave; they look like a team being built with a clear destination in mind.

Lorenzo Bettoni and Wayne Girard have taken a deeper dive into what this all means: how far Gasperini’s authority now stretches inside the club, how realistic Malen’s pursuit of Higuaín’s record truly is, and whether Roma are quietly assembling not just a prolific striker, but a genuine title contender.

If Gasperini keeps this grip on the squad and Malen keeps scoring, the question won’t be whether Roma can dream big. It will be how long the rest of Serie A can keep them in sight.