AS Roma Team of the Decade, Manager: Luciano Spalletti

With two weeks remaining in the 2010s and your votes tabulated (almost 2,000!), it's time to unveil our, or should I say your, AS Roma Team of the Decade. Over the course of the next two weeks, we're going to highlight the winners—one manager, eleven players and your favorite kit of the past decade—with a brief look back at their Roma achievements in the 2010s.

While I'm sure you can guess a few of the winners on the pitch, we're going to start the celebration with the man on the touchline. And with over 40% of the vote, Luciano Spalletti bested Rudi Garcia and Eusebio Di Francesco for the honors.

Spalletti first made his name with Roma during his magical run from 2005 through 2009, during which he led Roma to two Coppa Italia titles and multiple second place finishes in the league...but since we're talking about the 2010s here, Spalletti took the honors based solely on his return and subsequent burnout at Roma from January 2016 through May 2017.

The Numbers

In his 18 month return to the capital, Spalletti oversaw 75 matches between Serie A, the Coppa Italia, Champions League, Europa League and those two horrific Champions League qualifiers in the summer of 2016 against Porto.

All told, Spalletti wound up with a 50-11-14 (W-D-L) record in his second go around with Roma, guiding the Giallorossi to a +87 goal differential.

Notable Achievements: The Record Breaking 2016-2017 Season

While the expectations upon taking over from Garcia in January of 2016 were pretty low for Spalletti, he nevertheless reinvigorated the club by tweaking their once stale tactics. By leaning on a Mohamed Salah-Diego Perotti-Stephan El Shaarawy frontline, Spalletti led Roma to a third place finish, securing a spot in the Champions League qualification round.

While that last bit didn't work out so great, the 2016-2017 season was a masterstroke. By reinserting Edin Dzeko into the starting lineup, flanking him with Salah, Perotti and El Shaarawy, Roma's attack was humming, cracking 90 league goals in a season that ended with 87 points, establishing club records in both categories.

Finishing second to Juventus by a mere four points, Roma's best still wasn't good enough to upend the Juventus machine, but the football was beautiful. And in some ways, that's always been Roma's lot in life—they may not win, but you'll never find a better looking bridesmaid.

Where Is He Now?

Spalletti's falling out with Roma in the spring of 2017 marred what was otherwise a joyous return, but no manager unlucky enough to handle the end of Francesco Totti's career would come out smelling like roses. It was a no-win situation for everyone involved.

After parting ways in May of 2017, Spalletti led Inter Milan for two seasons before getting the chop in the spring of 2019.

Would it surprise me if Spalletti got a third go around with Roma? No, not in the slightest, but we'll always have this almost-perfect season to remember fondly.

Up Next: Your goalkeeper of the decade.