THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[ASR1927]

God my spelling is shit today.

[RomaShield27]

TRIGORIA: 39° DI FEBBRE PER MEXES,IL FRANCESE È OUT PER L´ARSENALAL SUO POSTO GIOCHERÀ DIAMOUTENE
– pubblicata mercoledì 11 marzo 2009

Allenamento di rifinitura a Trigoria per la Roma. A poche ore dalla sfida con l'Arsenal, Spalletti fa la conta dei giocatori che potrà utilizzare questa sera. Totti si è allenato con il gruppo. Il capitano ha un tutore al ginocchio.

Aquilani, che questa mattina ha fatto un'infiltrazione alla caviglia, ha lavorato con i compagni, calciando anche il pallone.

Doni e Juan si sono allenati con il gruppo.

Lavoro differenziato sul campo per Pizarro. Il cileno ha provato a forzare la corsa nel finale.

Mexes è rimasto a casa. Il francese ha 39° di febbre e non potrà giocare questa sera. Al suo posto Diamoutene.

Il gruppo dopo una fase di riscaldamento (corsa blanda), ha lavorato con il pallone. Spalletti ha fatto provare i calci di rigore alla squadra. Doni ne ha parato uno a Totti. Dopo un'ora di allenamento la squadra è rientrata negli spogliatoi.

PROSSIMA GARA: Roma-Arsenal (Champions League, mercoledì 11 marzo, ore 20.45).

INDISPONIBILI: Cassetti (lesione distrattiva di secondo grado a carico del bicipite femorale della coscia destra), Perrotta (lesione muscolare di secondo grado a livello dell’ileo-psoas), Cicinho (lesione dei legamenti crociati del ginocchio destro), Mexes (febbre).

IN DUBBIO: Pizarro (problema al retto femorale).
DIFFIDATI: Mexes, Brighi
SQUALIFICATI: De Rossi

PROBABILE FORMAZIONE (4-2-3-1): Doni; Motta, Diamoutene, Juan, Riise; Aquilani, Brighi; Taddei, Baptista, Vucinic; Totti.
BALLOTTAGGI: Baptista/Pizarro, Tonetto/Aquilani.

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Ah Jesus f'ing christ god forgive me, this is terrible, just fecking terrible. No Mexes? Get the feck outta that bed and put your jersey on an don't be minding your fecking flu. Jesus fecking christ, this is terrible, we are screwed. No, cursed. I tell yis what, Totti better play and he better be on his game, and himself and The LitM and going to have score a good few goals tonight, because with no Mexes and no De Rossi it is inevitable that we will concede, so we will need a high score to have any chance. Fuckshit.

[Italiamia]

[p_maldini_3]

[RomaShield27]

Ha ha nice video. So true.

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Young Arsenal look to come of age in Rome
• Coach calls Roma return leg a 'defining moment' for his players
• 'It is a night for the team to stand up more than any individual'

– David Hytner in Rome, Wednesday 11 March 2009

It is an illustration of the radical changes that Arsène Wenger has overseen in recent years that the Arsenal squad he took to Rome yesterday for their Champions League encounter carried no survivors from the previous one that arrived in the Italian capital. That was in November 2002 and the game, a 3–1 victory which came courtesy of a Thierry Henry hat-trick, remains vivid in supporters' memories.

Wenger, indeed, has retained only a handful of players from his Premiershit "Invincibles" of 2003-04. Kolo Touré and Gaël Clichy played in that campaign while Cesc Fábregas and Johan Djourou were at the club in the background. Whether Wenger dismantled that group before time is a moot point.

"There are some good players who have gone on after leaving Arsenal in those years and kept on playing well," said the defender Sol Campbell, that team's defensive linchpin who is now at Portsmouth as captain. "And they have won things, contributed at a high level. You can't keep on picking from the tree because there are some guys out there it's hard to replace."

Wenger's clean break from the past has promoted and relied upon the exuberance and fearlessness of gifted youngsters. The project has had its critics and the fans have felt their faith tested. Four years, after all, is a long time for Arsenal to go without a trophy. Wenger has not wavered, although he acknowledges that there has to come a time when reputations are made or broken. Tonight could be that time.

"It is a defining moment," said Wenger, as he considered a finely balanced last-16 tie, in which Arsenal hold a 1–0 lead from the first leg. "What we are playing for at the moment is the destiny of this team. How much do we want to win? How much do we want to be the best? That's what is at stake for this team. It's down to us to show we have the quality, and the kind of game we play [in Rome] is a test."

Wenger said he had encountered no problems in the wholesale restructuring of his squad, in terms of there being few links to his successful teams of the past, "because a team grows slowly and I believe the ambition of every single player makes a team become a team". Collective responsibility – Wenger has used eight captains this season – is one of his favourite themes.

"It is a night for the team to stand up more than any individual," he added. "I believe in a shared leadership and we have many leaders. I believe more in that than in one leader sorting everything out. At the start of the season, the hangover from last season was still there but since November, things have changed. We can grind out results more and this is a good opportunity to show that. The team has grown together and gelled well in the last three months, under extreme pressure."

The consequences of exiting Europe are grave. Although the team would retain hopes of winning the FA Cup it is glory in the Premier and Champions Leagues that the top players crave. The vultures would circle in the summer above Fábregas and Robin van Persie, who is still to sign an extension to his contract that expires in June 2010. Emmanuel Adebayor, meanwhile, faces an uncertain future.

Victory, though, would prompt optimism to soar. The first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals will be played on 7 or 8 April and Wenger expects to have the remainder of his injured players back by then, namely Fábregas, Adebayor and Tomas Rosicky. Shades of 2006 can also be detected, when the team struggled for a fourth-placed Premiershit finish but reached the final of the Champions League. "With the players coming back, we feel we can be strong in Europe," said Wenger. "But we have to go through first. It's a big hurdle against Roma." The Italian side may, though, be without Francesco Totti, who is a major doubt because of a knee injury.

Arsenal have lost only two of the 22 fixtures in all competitions since their 3-0 Premiershit defeat at Manchester City on 22 November and Wenger feels that momentum has been built and the key at the Stadio Olimpico will be positivity. "We cannot hide from going forward‚" said Wenger, who is expected to use the fit-again Theo Walcott as an impact substitute. "Our target is to score and if we do, we have a very, very strong chance to go through. If we only defend, we put ourselves in trouble. One-nil is not enough."

[p_maldini_3]

i thought those kids of arsenal had their balls drop last year in the san siro...

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[romawi]

[maro]

[stefano]

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

[RomaShield27]

TOTTI in campo? L'ultima decisione sarà di Spalletti
www.romagiallorossa.com – 11.03.2009 16.35 di Redazione Romagiallorossa articolo letto 1519 volte

Totti non dà ancora certezze. Spalletti prende tempo e spera nel recupero completo del capitano giallorosso. I guai in casa Roma non finiscono davvero mai. Questa mattina Totti ha svolto l’allenamento di rifinitura insieme ai compagni con un vistoso tutore per preservare i movimenti irregolari del ginocchio. Totti vuole esserci, ma l’ultima parola spetta a Spalletti che lo valuterà attentamente solamente nel riscaldamento pre-gara. Se il ginocchio risponderà bene, il numero 10 della Roma sarà in campo. Se sentirà dolore ancora una volta, non verrà rischiata la sua incolumità. Aquilani, invece, sembra in vantaggio su Pizarro, il quale oggi ha svolto allenamento differenziato e non sta bene a causa di un problema al retto femorale. Le ultime riserve verranno sciolte solamente qualche minuto prima dell’incontro

It'll be left to Spalletti to decide if Totti starts, still no decision made, but he more than likely will. Aquilani is going to get the nod ahead of Pizarro.

[g.smiley]

Just hoping for Totti to play his game tonight. That's all.

[RomaShield27]

Latest is now that he will:

ROMA-ARSENAL: Totti titolare, gioca Tonetto
www.romagiallorossa.com – 11.03.2009 19.17 di Giulia Spiniello articolo letto 301 volte

Le ultime dalllo spogliatoio romanista riferiscono che Mister Spalletti ha sciolto ogni dubbio ed ha deciso di schierare titolare Francesco Totti. Il capitano andrà a ricoprire il ruolo di punta con Baptista e Vucinic alle spalle.

Alberto Aquilani non c'è la fa a scendere in campo: sarà allora Max Tonetto a vestire una maglia da titolare e si sistemerà sulla fascia sinistra. Il brasiliano Taddei molto probabilmente andrà a fare il centrocampista centrale accanto a Matteo Brighi.

ROMA (4-4-2): Doni, Motta, Juan, Diamoutene, Riise, Taddei, Brighi, Aquilani, Tonetto; Totti, Vucinic. All Spalletti

[SPqR]

Tonetto...over Pizarro or Menez?

[Kroo]

Mexes has to play today, those reports of him missing out are not cool. I don't think I can get through the game with Loria back there.

An hour till game time. My nervous are starting to kick in. Forza Roma.

[romawi]

Yeah that doesn't seem to make much sense. I would start Menez. We need two goals at least, and that seems more likely to happen with Menez starting (Assuming that hes learned to stay on his feet in the past couple of days).

[maro]

They were talking about this earlier in the day - Spags wants more cover down the flanks so it'll be a much more orthodox 4-4-2 with two true 'wide' players alongside Brighi and, presumably, Baptista behind the front two. When needs must, and all.

[edge_xeno]

Official Line Ups:

Doni, Motta, Diaoumente, Juan, Riise, Taddei, Brighi, Pizarro, Tonetto, Vucinic, Totti

Bench: Artur, Aquilani, Felipe, Loria, Baptista, Montella, Menez

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Eboue, Diaby, Denilson, Nasri, Van Pierse, Bendtner.

Bench: Fabianski, Eduardo, Vela, Walcott, Song, Djourou, Gibbs