Opinion: Why El Shaarawy is the key to Spalletti's attack

It's been fantastic to see Stephan El Shaarawy rekindle his ailing career since joining AS Roma in January on loan from AC Milan.

After struggling in his loan spell at Monaco for the first half of the season, he didn't think twice about linking up with Roma when the Giallorossi came in for him.

“I’m very determined and excited, Roma is a fresh start for me,” he said following his signing. “I’ve come here with a lot of humility to try and turn my career around. I’ve had some issues over the last few months but I’m here to show what I can do – to myself, the coach and Italian football as a whole."

Without question, El Shaarawy has well and truly gotten himself back on track.

He's already scored six goals and supplied two assists for the Giallorossi, with his inspirational form being crucial to Roma's improvement since Luciano Spalletti took over, in a stretch that's seen the club rack up a remarkable 26 points from their last 11 league matches.

During Roma's 4-1 demolition of their fierce rivals, Lazio, last weekend, the Italian international yet again demonstrated what an essential component he is to Spalletti's setup, putting in a shift that demonstrated his many skills.

From his left-wing position, he and full-back Lucas Digne dovetailed beautifully together as they continued to develop their burgeoning relationship. El Shaarawy would persistently drift inside to get into the dangerous central positions that he's so lethal in. This created space for Digne to bomb forward into, as El Shaarawy's infield ventures would crucially drag his marker with him.

Digne's energetic, overlapping runs provided an incisive source of attacking impetus for the home side throughout. Therefore, it was hardly surprising that Roma opted to channel 41% of their attacking moves down the left. Roma's opener on 15 minutes arrived following a sublime cross from Digne that found the head of El Shaarawy, who'd cleverly ventured infield, showing how impressive and effective their understanding is.

Interestingly, when speaking after Roma's emphatic 4-1 win, Spalletti noted that he'd actually instructed El Shaarawy to practice his headers during training last week, while also making the point that there's still improvement needed from his charge.

"El Shaarawy scored a great goal but needs to work harder and never be satisfied with what he's done," Spalletti insisted.

"I had suggested that he should try more headers during the week because he's tall and has a powerful leap. He pulled out an almost impossible header that went inside the far post today."

With El Shaarawy desperate to book his place at Euro 2016, if he continues his current rich vein of form, he'll ensure Antonio Conte has no option but to select him in his final 23.

All things considered, working under a manager who believes in him and within the confines of a squad that's supported him, it's been a testament to El Shaarawy's mental strength, willingness to learn and fighting spirit that he's never given up in his quest to show the world what a great player he can be.