It's "Inside Roma Week" at Bleacher Report and day two brings an exclusive interview with former player Alberto De Rossi, who now serves as coach of their Under-20 team. He's also the father of Roma midfielder and Italian World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi.
More from Inside Roma Week—Francesco Totti Exclusive AS Roma's headquarters is a long way from the bright lights of the Stadio Olimpico, around 20km from the city centre along a nondescript, narrow road bordered by hedges, the occasional diner and not much else.
The complex is obscured from prying eyes by high walls, and other than the fact that the adjacent piazza—more of a bus stop than the impressive central square that the name might suggest—is dedicated to Dino Viola, the club's president during the 1970s and '80s, there's little to suggest the fact that this unremarkable little corner of the Roman suburbs is home to one of the most famous football teams in the world.
The Centro Sportivo Fulvio Bernardini is named for one of the club's earliest heroes, a native of the city who joined the Lupi a year after its inception and was a star during the late 1920s and '30s.
It's a fitting dedication, because almost 90 years after Bernardini first pulled on the Giallorosso shirt, much of the facility is now dedicated to discovering the next local boy to follow in the footsteps of hometown heroes like Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Florenzi.
So when Bleacher Report decided to do a Roma Week, it made perfect sense to seek out the man at the centre of one of Italy's most successful youth teams.
Few people in football probably know what it takes for a young player to make the step up to first-team duties quite like Alberto De Rossi. Because not only is he the manager of the Giallorossi's Primavera (the U20 team), he's also the father of Daniele, Roma's World Cup-winning midfielder.
When we find him one bright winter's day in Trigoria's empty press-conference room, De Rossi Sr. is a little nervous. Not because of the trivial matter of an interview—his friendly, chatty demeanour suggests he's a natural at that sort of thing. No, the 57-year-old Roman is restless because they're about to make the draw for the next round of the UEFA Youth League, a competition that's incredibly important in his eyes.Roma's Primavera qualified for the competition by virtue of the fact that the senior team was in the Champions League, but unlike Rudi Garcia's side, De Rossi's charges finished second in the group, ahead of Bayern Munich and CSKA Moscow and behind Manchester City.
Our conversation is put on hold while the matches are made. The draw is a favourable one, because Roma dodge any difficult long journeys to far-flung corners of the continent. But they still have their work cut out for them, because when the Round of 16 takes place in February, they'll be facing a club with some pedigree in terms of youth development: AFC Ajax.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2327735-alberto-de-rossi-exclusive-youth-coach-on-romas-vision-pallottas-revolution
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