THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[red]

Have another couple of videos that I may upload in due course.

[RomaShield27]

Nice, video Red. What a special feeling that must have been to be there for that moment. Did you take Colly up on his offer of a pint and showing you around the good drinking spots pre/post derby? I'm sure he offered, like, being a good SerieAForums Tana dei Lupi ambassador in Rome that he is.

[red]

I thought about giving him a shout, but couldn't figure out how I'd fit it in - certainly on the day of the game.

[DavidP]

good stuff, red.

[RomaShield27]

[red]

Yeah, Biava's red was harsh. He couldn't get out of the way of the Roma player on the first yellow and it was just a slightly mistimed challenge on the second - nothing malicious.

I haven't seen anything of Palermo-Roma other than the goals, so can't comment on that, but I don't like back threes as a general rule. There are teams out there who play them well, but I just see too many weaknesses in the system (many of them very apparent in Juve's games against Bayern). Changing to play it is almost the lazy move from a coach in Serie A just now. It means you are going to just be matching up to the opposition in most games and then it's largely down to players winning individual battles on the day.

That said, I can't be overly critical of Andreazzoli just now because I would find it tough to come up with a Roma team from their current squad that I would consider well balanced and likely to get the most out of the good players Roma have.

Still, I don't see any reason for Roma to consider keeping him in charge next season.

[red]

[maro]

I thought 3-5-2 was your old favourite formation, threadmund:

-------------aldair-------samuel-------zago-----------------

cafu----------emerdason-------rollo---------------candela

--------------------------totti----------------------------------

-----batistuta---------------------montella---------------------

[RomaShield27]

Of course, it was a favourite with that team. It was many peoples favourite. But of course, you have to have the players to make it work. Was there – or has there been since? – a club who had better wing-backs perfectly suited to that formation and who knew exactly what was required of them for it to work so effectively? Sure, there were a lot more technically gifted wing-backs then Candela around, but he was such a vital cog in that system for his stamina never-ending movement up and down the wing. Then a back three who knew how to play like a back three, two proper destructive-midfielders who knew when to fill the gaps, the main man just in front of them, and strikers to dream off. Compare all that to now. C'mon.

[maro]

So when you said you've "never been convinced about playing three at the back" you meant with the current personnel rather than as a general footballing principle? red is actually saying the latter, right? I'm not a big fan of a back three because it makes it harder to get width high up the pitch and I tend to think it makes teams less fluid, with less room to interchange positions. On the other hand, I can see how it works to get the best out of Pirlo - it's not all that different from a back four with another holding midfielder alongside him. It doesn't seem to me to make much sense with De Rossi in front of the back three, though. The formation in the derby might work with Destro in instead of Lamela or Totti - to stretch things and leave a bit more space for Pjanic to play in. Word on the street has it that we might see something similar against Torino, with Totti given a little rest. Without Totti we'll be much weaker, of course, but the formation might make more 'sense'.

[RomaShield27]

Yes i meant with the current set-up. We haven't got the players for it at the back. Piris at centre-back and Lamela at wing-back are never going to convince.

Of course, it can be a successful system in general footballing terms, like our scudetto 3-5-2, Napoli's version of 3-4-1-2 brought them some success, or the old school sides with a libero, or even Juve's 3-5-2, although with limited success, as myself and Red were discussing in the . It does require an awful lot of attention to detail, though, a lot more so than say simply lining up 4-4-2, and needs defenders who understand when to move up and down as a unit and proper wing-backs and well drilled players throughout.

The biggest critisicim i had with the formation and set-up in the derby was playing Pjanic at attacking-midfield, he needed to be deeper alongside DDR, at the expense of Bradley, to be able to dictate play. I agree that Destro in for either Totti or Lamela would be a help as well.

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

Why you quoting that? It looks out of context here. It was in reference to the 3-5-2 of Juventus and which Bayern found quite easy to counter. Like Red mentioned Juve found it hard to get the positioning and the balance of the three centre-halfs and wing-backs just right. Its just a very hard system to perfect. Plus they play with three central-midfielders who don't provide enough of a link (or trequartista) to the front two.

[maro]

I understood red's comments to be about 3-5-2 generally rather than about Rube's specific version of it.

[red]

Was a bit of a mix.

I was making general comments about 3-5-2 that Juve's issues against Bayern happened to back up.

[DCGweez]

[maro]

That was thredz's comment, which I also took to be about 3-5-2 generally rather than about Rube's specific version and so confirmed the "never been convinced about playing three at the back" proposition.

[RomaShield27]

http://romanews.eu/it,a110197/De-Rossi- ... al-Chelsea
http://www.forzaroma.info/2013/04/11/ro ... ico/210521
http://romanews.eu/it,a110177/De-Rossi- ... no-Offerte

Lots of drivel going around once again of a possible DDR exit, or him being unhappy, or the society considering selling him. Why is there so much shit about this? He isn't playing the best football of his career right now, or hasn't been for quite some time, but I can't understand how easily people jump from one extreme to the other. Three seasons ago he was the best defensive-midfielder in the world bar none. He was being heralded as il capitan futuro and adored by every single giallorossi fan around the world. Now there are lots of fans who agree with these blasphemous whispers surfacing again of the club looking to cash in on him?

Why is that? Because he's not the same player he was once? Because he is no longer as committed to the jersey as he once was? Because he signed a €6m-a-year deal and is now a luxury we could do without? All of that is pure rubbish. His general form and influence has certainly dipped over the last season or two, and he no longer looks like he has the same menacing defensive presence about him who can nip in at the right time and make a crunching challenge or interception. That is something which comes with confidence and belief in your own ability and something he will no doubt get back. He's not as comfortable on the ball as he once was and has been guilty of dawdling too long on the ball before moving it on, an issue which reflects the constant change of management and the changing roles of both the team and the position he's been asked to play himself.

There's no question in my mind he's a lot more comfortable when given a more free role on the pitch. That is to say, when he's not playing as a regista or not being asked to be the focal point of playing the ball out from the back. He looks more relaxed when playing alongside a Pizarro type player, for example, one who is willing to be the creative focal point from deep, allowing him more time to make the moves he wants to make and get in the positions he prefers to be in. Thats also the reason why we used to see him get on the scoresheet a lot more in the past, I think, as he was able to burst up the pitch and get in a position to unleash a long-range rocket. When was the last time we seen him score from outside the box? The bottom line is De Rossi is a lot better footballer without the ball than he is with. He is a defensive machine and brilliant reader of the game who has been under-utilised by successive managers for a variety of complex reasons.

LE got him back playing near his best for a period, and for the first-half of that season he was easily our best player. He wasn't playing as a regista in the traditional sense, even if he did occupy the same positions quite a lot, but he was in a position where he felt comfortable to do what he does best. Defend. Not purely as a defender, even though he dropped back into a make-shift back three when we were in possession of the ball, but more in the sense that he in was perfect position to intercept and stop an opposition attack in what was a very open and vulnerable defensive system, and for a while it may him look like the DDR of old we all loved dearly.

ZZ brought the opposite. He wasn't to be the not-quite-regista, the mediano, of his side, to be befuddlement of many. Yet at mezz'ala, it was thought he may be able to return to the DDR of old as well, free of the shackles of creating, allowed position and space to get up and down the pitch and exert his power and presence, but that didn't work out either. Why that is is open for debate, as things appeared to be not quite right between DDR and ZZ, and he never really settled into his system, which was no small factor in seeing the premature departure from Zemanlandia.

Now, under AA, it looks as if we're still stuck in the departure lounge. Not bound for Manchester or Madrid, but still waiting for DDR to take off and get back to that place when he was when migliore calciatore italiano. The current Roma side is still no more sure of itself than DDR is of his own form. After an initial positive start from AA's side, the best formation of the team is still unclear and the future of the management itself is still up in the air, but I believe that whoever is in charge of the club next season will still look to build his team around De Rossi in the centre of midfield.

As for the question of his wages, well, if you want the club to be a modern, professional and competitive club with great social media and great jersey deals and exclusive media partners all around the world, then you're going to want to that club to pay the standard going rate for wages for the top players. What that is differs from club to club, but €5.5m a year is about right for the best players in the league. And lets not forget he turned down the advances of Man City when he could have signed for them for nothing and collected a nice £130,000 a week plus signing on fee (his current €5.5m a year breaks down to about €115,000 a week).

[p_maldini_3]

is that an excerpt from your book that is coming out soon?

[RomaShield27]

Yep. How many copies shall I put you down for? Now that you're in the big bucks you can afford, what, 50 copies?