Pellegrini doesn’t deserve so much disrespect

The red card for Italy only intensified the hate fest directed at Lorenzo Pellegrini by Roma and Azzurri fans, but Susy Campanale You don’t understand this anger.

Italy were heading comfortably towards their third victory in three in the Nations League, beating Belgium 2-0 and looking to score more when Lorenzo Pellegrini made a poorly timed lunge and hit Arthur Theate in the ankle. Initially yellow, it was changed to red after the on-field VAR review, leading directly to the 2-2 draw. The fact that it was played at the Stadio Olimpico was even more painful, as it had already been booed so many times off the field by the club’s fans and now he also received it from the Azzurri fans.

Despite all his flaws, and he certainly has them, I don’t understand the absolute hatred that Pellegrini seems to provoke in people. He has had his ups and downs, with a career that in recent years has been dominated by injury problems, but that can be said of Paulo Dybala and no one has encouraged him to move to the Saudi Pro League this summer. Instead, La Joya was treated like a hero for deciding to delay joining the Unambitious Players Retirement League.

Pellegrini is prone to occasional challenges, but not as much as Leandro Paredes. He was strangely blamed for Daniele De Rossi’s dismissal, despite one of the biggest changes in performance level when his former team-mate replaced José Mourinho was Pellegrini’s. After the change of coach in mid-January, the midfielder scored seven goals and provided three assists in 24 official games. If there was anyone truly heartbroken by the decision to sack De Rossi, it was Pellegrini.

It’s so strange to me that Roma fans would choose to single out and attack someone who was born and raised in the Eternal City, came through the youth academy and returned after a spell at Sassuolo that allowed him to make his mark in Serie A. Who else Should I wear the captain’s armband if not him?

Roma traditionally had players who truly represented the fans, such as Giuseppe Giannini, Francesco Totti, De Rossi and Alessandro Florenzi. Pellegrini fits this profile, so the absolute hatred for him seems like they are just blaming him for the fact that he is not Totti and this club is no longer the one that competed for the Scudetto. It’s not their fault that years of mismanagement have destroyed their finances and they’re still trying to build a team through a maze of Financial Fair Play parameters.

Before an injury ruled him out of the EURO 2020 tournament, he was one of the best players in the Italian national team. His tally of six goals and two assists in 36 senior caps isn’t too bad, considering everything such as his ever-changing tactical role. Pellegrini plays wherever he is needed, for both Roma and the Azzurri, whether in midfield, on the left wing, as a supporting striker or in the trequartista. That’s part of the problem, used as an eternal ‘that’ll do’ stopgap to help the team, never a role where he can truly flourish.

If the accusation is that he is mentally weak and struggles to deal with pressure, then how exactly is constantly mocking him and telling him to take off his captain’s armband going to help? These enemies almost take a perverse joy in trying to take you down, as if doing so will somehow improve the club or team. It’s counterproductive, it’s cruel and, frankly, it’s sidelining someone who could be a real asset to the Roma and to Italy.