Rome: Zalewski the “child”, pupil of Mourinho

The “child” (copyright José Mourinho) Nicola Zalewski, 20, has now become a Roma owner. For the Portuguese coach, the little boy who arrived in the Roma youth sector at 9 thanks to the umpteenth intuition of Bruno Conti became the left winger and in one fell swoop overcame Vina, Maitland Niles and El Shaarawy, for characteristics that more like him. Zalewski, born in Tivoli and raised in Poli (a village about forty km from the capital) by Polish parents, turned 20 in January, had been liked by José since the summer and the technician started working with him at the beginning of the season. The boy paid a little, as is logical, for the leap between the greats, which arrived at the same time as the death of his beloved father. Mourinho waited for him, supported him (he was also at his father’s funeral) and as soon as he saw him ready, he threw him inside.

the defence

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Defending him from criticism, in his opinion excessive, after the somewhat opaque performance in Udine. Obviously in full Mourinho style: “A coach of m … would have collapsed under the judgments and the child would not have played anymore”. Instead Zalewski also plays and plays well, as in the derby: he entered the second half against Verona, changed the game (even without scoring) and from that moment he hasn’t come out, playing from the beginning against Spezia, Atalanta, Udinese and Lazio. He still does not have the right rhythm for the 90 ‘, in fact Mourinho replaces him, and is learning a role that is not his – he was born as an attacking midfielder -, but the coach is satisfied with his performance and the club, which has armored him until 2025 with a contract from around 500 thousand euros a year, too.

bad

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Zalewski will be busy with Poland for the games against Israel and Hungary and will return to Trigoria on 31 March. And then, in all likelihood, he will play on Sunday 3, at 6 pm, against Sampdoria. Mourinho is also waiting for him because he is managing to bring out to the “child” an attitude of those for which he dotes: zero fear of putting the foot and the body. It is no coincidence that in the derby, the most intense match of all, he was the player who made the most contrasts (5) among the 22 on the pitch. A fact that does not tell everything, but a lot, of what Zalewski is becoming. He misses the goal, he cares a lot, but he waits with serenity, just like he advises him every day. And the child, his advice, is good at putting them into practice. On and off the pitch: after the slip a few months ago (Instagram video in which the owner of a club used not-so-elegant terms towards Mourinho, Nicola found himself alone in the wrong place at the wrong time) he is even more attentive to everything what he publishes and the club and fans appreciate. It is no coincidence that the fans liked the live broadcast of him after the derby in which, on his way home, he sang “Never alone, never” in the car with all the enthusiasm of his twenties.