Tammy ‘Tre Punti’ Abraham setting records and earning hero status in debut season at AS Roma

Anytime your name as a striker is mentioned alongside Gabriel Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella, especially while wearing the colors of AS Roma, you know you’re doing something alright.

And in Tammy Abraham’s case, it’s certainly more than just alright. It’s quite excellent in fact. With 23 goals in all competitions, he has already scored more goals than any other player in their debut season for the club, outside of Rodolfo Volk, who got 24 in the team’s inaugural season in 1928, before the Serie A was even a thing.

Batistuta and Montella both got 21, in 2000-01 and 1999-2000, respectively. Tammy had 21 before last night’s Rome Derby. A Derby brace (which was almost a hat-trick) certainly won’t do his budding cult hero status any harm!

Abraham opened the scoring inside of the first minute on a corner, then doubled Roma’s advantage 20 minutes later with an acrobatic finish at the far post. Lorenzo Pellegrini added a third for the Giallorossi before the half-time with a great free kick to consign Sarri’s Lazio to a stinging defeat. They had been a point ahead of Mourinho’s Roma before the game, now they are two points behind as the two eternal rivals battle it out for sixth and the final European spot in the Serie A.

The WhateverWeCallHimTheseDays One of course wants more from the club-record signing.

“I know he has potential to do even more. It wasn’t just the goals, but the way he pressed, fought, tracked back, defended the ball, which he did not do even once against Vitesse. I demand a lot from Tammy because I know what he can give.

“It’s not just about goals, Tammy has to play every game with this attitude.”

-José Mourinho; source: Football Italia

Those words are symptomatic of Roma not quite living up to the preseason hype, but Abraham at least is certainly putting up the expected numbers.

Hopefully he keeps on going just like this, all the way until that €80m buy-back clause becomes active in 2023.

(Comparisons with Lukaku will be unavoidable and perhaps pertinent, though Lukaku had 30 or more in all competitions in each of his two seasons in Italy, including 20+ in the league. Tammy can certainly get there as well in the two months that are left. He has 15 in the Serie A at the moment.)