It has taken new coach Rudi Garcia only five games and less than three months to turn AS Roma from a bickering outfit prone to defensive calamities into the most efficient unit in Serie A.
Roma go into tomorrow's match at home against Bologna with a 100 per cent record from five games, 12 goals scored and only one conceded. Yet, when Garcia took over in mid-July, the team were in disarray.
Despite a highly talented squad led by the talismanic Francesco Totti, Roma finished sixth last season, missing out on European football after conceding 56 goals in their 38 games, one of the worst defensive records in the league.
The maverick leadership of Czech-born coach Zdenek Zeman, fired just over halfway through the season after one defensive fiasco too many, produced great entertainment but had their fans living on their nerves.
Roma, however, left the worst for the end when they lost the Coppa Italia final to arch-rivals Lazio in a performance overshadowed by a public spat between controversial striker Pablo Osvaldo, who has since joined English Premier League Southampton, and interim coach Aurelio Andreazzoli.
Garcia quickly brought order to the dressing-room, patched up the defence and gave the players back their confidence.