Dzeko needs to show fire and desire to salvage waning career at Roma

Published on: 04 May 2016

With the 30-year-old’s first season in Italy coming to an end, the 2016-17 campaign is likely to define his spell in the Eternal City

Edin Dzeko has endured a turbulent first season at Roma. Hailed by hordes of Giallorossi supporters upon his arrival as the next Gabriel Batistuta and the man to fire the Lupi to their first Scudetto since 2001, the Bosnian has struggled to find his feet in Rome, let alone his shooting boots.

Dzeko has joined a long list of forward flops at Roma. In recent years the most notable examples have been Seydou Doumbia and Mattia Destro.

The former, proven to be deadly in Russia, managed a feeble two goals in 14 appearances. Destro, a player blessed with an unerring assuredness in front of goal, flattered to deceive whilst in the Italian capital showing flashes of brilliance, but ultimately his best season for the Giallorossi resulted in 13 goals in 20 Serie A appearances.

Similarly, Dzeko has also failed to provide the goals needed for Roma to mount a cohesive Scudetto challenge. 10 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions is an alarmingly poor total for a forward who has previously been a key part of two title-winning sides, in both the Premier League and the Bundesliga.

However, the former Manchester City striker’s latest comments suggest that he has not let his pitiful form get him too down.

Dzeko is certainly right about his previous debut seasons in Germany and England; when he moved to Manchester in January of 2011, the Bosnian suffered a distressing drop in form, scoring just six goals in 21 appearances in all competitions.

In the first-half of the 2010-11 season Dzeko had been in reasonable form, scoring 11 goals in 19 appearances for a Wolfsburg side that was floundering. Winning just four games in the first-half of the season, the club eventually finished 15th. The Bosnian international also found form hard to come by when he made his first big move from Czech side Teplice to the Wolves in 2007, scoring nine goals in 33 appearances.

All this suggests that the 30-year-old does experience teething issues when adapting to a new culture of football. Yet, despite finding acclimatising to new surroundings and styles of football burdensome, Dzeko does have a habit of exploding once he’s attuned his senses in his new home.

In Germany, following his first average season, Dzeko flourished over his next two seasons, scoring a magnificent 65 goals 90 appearances and firing Wolfsburg to their first ever Bundesliga title. In Manchester, Dzeko’s second season was more measured but was still impressive. The 30-year-old scored 19 in 43 appearances, again helping the Citizens secure their first ever Premier League title.

However, though a pattern does seem have developed throughout Dzeko’s career there is evidence to suggest that he has already started a decline, which he may never truly recover from. For example in his last season in Manchester, Dzeko’s form took an alarming dip with the Bosnian scoring a meagre six goals in 32 appearances.

His failure to find the net on a consistent basis this season could simply be a continuation of the natural decline every footballer experiences.

Furthermore, prolific forwards suddenly experiencing a collapse in their ability in front of goals is not unheard of. Though he’s enjoying a mini-renaissance now, Fernando Torres went through such a collapse following his controversial and expensive move to Chelsea. Similarly, Blues forward Falcao is not even a third of the player he once was at Porto and Atletico Madrid.

More worrying for Dzeko is he may not even get the chance to arrest his unspectacular form in Rome. Coach Luciano Spalletti is not known for using a large lumbering traditional No.9. In fact, he is the coach that created the false-9 role which has seen the overall decline in world football of traditional No.9s. Since his return to the club, the Italian has already shown his love of his creation and has rarely started the Bosnian.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dzeko’s confidence is also completely shot. Many a high profile miss (the above video doesn’t even include his more recent ones) has clearly affected him and he often exhibits body language similar to that of the glum ‘Winnie the Pooh’ character, Eeyore.

Time will tell if Dzeko will be able to improve on his miserable first season in Rome, but the signs of a decline are clear and he has a lot of work to do if he is to return to the form he exhibited at Wolfsburg and Manchester City.

Source: forzaitalianfootball.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more