While Daniele De Rossi’s recent return to the Stadio Olimpico sparked memories of his legendary playing career—the thunderous goals, bone-jarring tackles, and primeval celebrations—recency bias forced many of us to remember this ignominious exit as Roma’s manager in the fall of 2024. Beginning that season with three points from four matches wasn’t ideal. Still, things got so much worse after De Rossi was dismissed, as the knee-jerk selection of Ivan Juric as his successor sent the club careening
towards the relegation zone.
But out of that darkness came the light. Claudio Ranieri, one of the most beloved figures in the history of AS Roma, came out of retirement and orchestrated one of the greatest comebacks in club history. After taking the reins from Juric in November 2024, Ranieri lifted the club out of the relegation zone and to the precipice of the Champions League, missing out on Europe’s elite club competition by one measly point.
Ranieri may have fallen short in his Champions League bid, but there’s no underestimating the work he did in 2025. Short of his legendary Premiership title with Leicester City, rescuing Roma may have been the greatest achievement of Ranieri’s career, but his beneficence didn’t end there.
By hand-selecting Gian Piero Gasperini as his successor, Ranieri ensured a smooth transition for the Giallorossi. While the two men have different tactical styles and temperaments on the touchline, Roma’s Ranieri’s ascension has continued under Gasperini.
While Roma has earned more plaudits than hardware for their hard work, the proof is in the pudding: Roma has been the best team in Italy over the past 364 days—a trend you may have noticed in our (almost) weekly player ratings series, Sinners & Saints.
Over the years, I’ve often wanted to tally the results for a specific year, but the holiday season’s chaos has made it nearly impossible. With assistance from our AI friends, I finally managed to run the numbers and separate the wheat from the chaff, the Sinners from the Saints, and those Stuck In Between.
So, for the first time, we’re proud to present a full-year version of Sinners & Saints. This isn’t necessarily a ranking of who was Roma’s Player of the Year for 2025 (It’s Mile, duh.), nor is it a qualitative assessment of a player’s value. Instead, it’s a ranking based on which players appeared in each category most frequently, with the proviso that AI is prone to hallucinations.
(For the sake of this review, we’ll mix up the order a bit, going from bad to good)
The Sinners
Zeki Çelik (15 Appearances)
I must admit, I was a bit surprised to see Çelik top this list, even as the author of 99% of these pieces! I suspect it stems from his offensive limitations and his general lack of WOW plays—factors that tend to sour our view of him as a player. However, as we’ve seen in the first half of the 2025-2026 season, Çelik has settled into a nice groove alongside Evan Ndicka and Gianluca Mancini in Gasperini’s three-man defense.
Bryan Cristante (9 Appearances)
I’m not sure we need to elaborate too much on this one, right? When Cristante is playing well (distributing the ball from deep, making progressive passes into the box, and scoring the occasional headed goal), he looks like a functioning piece of the puzzle. However, when the pendulum inevitably swings the other way, Cristante becomes an anchor, weighing Roma down with sideways passes, late closeouts, and poor positioning.
Lorenzo Pellegrini (7 Appearances)
See above, but add the crushing weight of expectations that come with being a Roman playing for Roma. It will be interesting to see how history assesses Pellegrini and Cristante. Pellegrini certainly had more peak moments during his time with the club, but 2025 saw an increase in calls for his head among Roma fans.
Evan Ferguson (6 Appearances)
Arriving on loan from Brighton, Ferguson started pre-season strong, looking like a faster, more mobile Edin Dzeko and leaving Roma fans dreaming of a 20-goal season. However, once the 2025-2026 campaign began, Ferguson left fans frustrated by a flurry of missed chances, missed matches, and a general inability to assimilate into Gasperini’s attack. Still, thanks to a kick in the pants from Gasp, Ferguson is finding his footing as 2026 approaches.
Stuck In Between
Gianluca Mancini (15 Appearances)
The poster child for our most nebulous category, Mancini was fine more often than fantastic; solid more often than subpar. But that’s what makes Mancini a dependable player; more often than not, you know what you’re getting: strong tackling, a good reading of the game, deceptively good passing, and moments of ball-watching that cost Roma dearly.
Lorenzo Pellegrini (13 Appearances)
When we’re not sharpening our post-match pitchforks for Lolo, he more often than not ends up in post-match purgatory, where the good (key passes, balls into the final third, etc.) is erased by the bad (poor transition play, missed attempts, heavy touches, and misplaced passes). At this point in his career, and given the baggage that comes with his unique place in club history, that may be the best we can hope for.
Evan Ndicka (10 Appearances)
We’ll chalk this up to his exceptionally high standards and understated playing style. A master of the fundamentals, with a sharp eye, impeccable timing, and anticipation, Ndicka influences the game so subtly that his contributions are easy to overlook. We’ll have to give Ndicka more credit in 2026; he certainly deserves every bit of praise coming his way.
The Saints
Mile Svilar (19 Appearances)
No surprise here, right? This may have been Svilar’s first full year as a starting goalkeeper, but it didn’t take long for the 26-year-old Serbian to establish himself as the top keeper in Serie A and among Europe’s best netminders overall. Armed with everything a modern goalkeeper needs, Svilar seldom, if ever, stumbled in 2025, earning Sainthood 79% of the time he appeared in the Sinners & Saints series.
Manu Koné (12 Appearances)
Assuming the mantle from players like De Rossi, Radja Nainggolan, and Kevin Strootman, Koné has become the dynamic hub of Roma’s midfield. With his relentless pressing, progressive passing, close control, and defensive acumen, Koné can do almost anything on the pitch. The challenge for Roma will be retaining the 24-year-old Frenchman, who continues to pull Europe’s biggest clubs into his orbit with each successive performance.
Matías Soulé (10 Appearances)
Talk about assuming the mantle. Any concerns Roma fans had about their post-Dybala future were erased the moment Soulé stepped onto the pitch. While we still hope Dybala closes out his career with the Giallorossi, his younger compatriot has become Roma’s best creative outlet, leading the club in goals, assists, key passes, goal-creating actions, and shot-creating actions.
He may never become a global icon, but Soulé has every chance to become a Roma legend.
Paulo Dybala (8 Appearances)
At 32 years old, Dybala is entering the awkward phase of his career, where he’s no longer an unquestioned starter but not ready to be put out to pasture. Despite being plagued by persistent muscle injuries, Dybala remains a creative spark for Roma, delivering the same pinpoint passes, expertly placed shots, and beautifully bent free kicks that made him famous in the first place.
If these next few months are truly his last with the club, be sure to enjoy every moment—we may never see another player quite like him.
We’ll end this 2025 recap with a special award…
The Angel
Claudio Ranieri
When we first conceptualized Sinners & Saints as our alternative to numerical match ratings, hewing to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was a given; we are the Church of Totti, after all. Aside from the man upstairs himself (or however one conceptualizes that), the only entity higher than a saint is an angel. And the only man worthy of that title is Sir Claudio Ranieri.
We often talk about what makes AS Roma so special. As the most recognizable club in one of the world’s most recognizable cities, the club has a built-in historical identity. From the club’s colors to the Capitoline Wolf to all the Imperial regalia and iconography dotting the Stadio Olimpico on game day, Roma is among the most unique clubs in the world.
But how does a man who never won anything with Roma become one of the most beloved figures in club history? Simple. His actions speak louder than words or trophies ever could. By willingly (and repeatedly) picking up Roma when they fall, Claudio Ranieri displayed the kind of compassion and grace typically reserved for family members, not football teams—no reservations or judgments, only love.
And if that’s not angelic, I don’t know what is. Roma owes an eternal debt of gratitude to Claudio Ranieri.
