THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II
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by RomaShield27 » Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:52 pm
Luca Toni begins to repay Totti's faith as Roma eye Champions League berth
Working out how best to combine his forwards may prove a headache for Claudio Ranieri, but he's unlikely to be complaining
www.guardian.co.uk – By Paolo Bandini – Monday 18 January 2010 12.32 GMT
Even when he's not on the pitch, it seems, Francesco Totti is still capable of generating goals for Roma. Over the course of his 18-year career with Roma's first team, Er Pupone has been deployed as a central midfielder, winger, second striker and lone targetman but his ability both to score goals and create them has been a constant. Yesterday at Stadio Olimpico, Luca Toni ensured Totti's latest incarnation – as transfer guru – got off to a similarly promising start.
Two goals for Toni were enough to help tie up a 3-0 win over Genoa at Stadio Olimpico and perhaps more importantly to get the new boy off the mark. This may have been only Toni's second start for the Giallorossi and his all-round contribution had undoubtedly been positive even without the goals but nervous glances were still exchanged when he thudded a free header wide from eight yards out early in the first half. Poor displays for the national team at Euro 2008 and since may have been forgiven but they are still not entirely forgotten.
Totti, watching from the stands yesterday due to a knee injury, never had any such doubts. "Already in the summer I had contacted Toni telling him to come to Roma but he never managed it," he had trumpeted in a front-page piece for Corriere dello Sport after Toni's arrival at the beginning of January. "Maybe if he'd been brought in sooner, we'd have more points by now. I remember during that difficult summer spell someone at Roma told me that I shouldn't be worrying myself about transfer business because it didn't involve me."
There were many reasons why Toni couldn't have arrived sooner, of course, not least the fact that Bayern Munich were not yet ready to let him go. Despite missing some time with injuries Toni had scored 15 goals in 25 Bundesliga games in 2008-09 and 24 in 31 the year before. For a long time he was also pretty popular, described by Bild as "the most loved and nicest Italian". Toni even claimed to like Bavarian food and fashion, telling German GQ that "when it comes to taste Germany is much better than its cliché", even if he did also note that "sometimes you dress pretty badly".
Bayern might have been loaded with strikers and Toni getting no younger, but they certainly weren't about to let him walk out for nothing and debt-ridden Roma were not exactly about to break the bank, either. But matters changed rapidly over the first half of the season, Toni falling out of favour with the new Bayern coach Louis van Gaal and eventually storming out of the Allianz Arena at half-time during a game against Schalke in November after he was substituted. Shortly afterwards, the striker promptly told Rai television that his relationship with Van Gaal was "non-existent".
With neither manager nor player inclined to make any attempt at rapprochement Bayern found themselves in a bit of a pickle. Toni, after all, had signed a contract worth €10m (£8.8m) a year when he joined the club. Suddenly a loan to Roma suited all parties. Toni, after all, desperately needed to find a team where he could fit in quickly and start regularly in a World Cup year. The long-standing bet he is yet to settle with Totti on the tennis court may also have been a consideration, but probably not a big one.
The prospect of playing alongside Totti, and of rekindling an on-pitch relationship that proved so profitable at the 2006 World Cup, certainly won't have hurt and the pair should get their first opportunity to play together again next weekend when Roma face Juventus in Turin. Working out how to best use them together may prove a headache for the manager Claudio Ranieri, but he's unlikely to complain about it.
Purists may accuse Ranieri of stripping some of the finesse from the team left to him by former manager Luciano Spalletti, but a new, more direct approach has undeniably yielded better results and Toni put on a masterclass in leading the line yesterday. Holding the ball up with disdainful ease and winning just about every header he went for, Toni seemed the perfect fit in Ranieri's fluid 4-2-3-1 – at times more of a 4-4-2 with Mirko Vucinic pushing on to become a second striker.
Whether or not Ranieri can accommodate Toni, Totti and Vucinic – who provided the assists for both the new boy's goals yesterday – into the same side remains to be seen, though he will surely be tempted to try. Not every opponent will be as easily picked off as Genoa, who have now claimed just one point from their last six away games, and Ranieri will be aware that the work done by David Pizarro and Simone Perrotta in front of the Roma defence was just as important as that of his forwards.
There is an added urgency to such dilemmas, too, given Roma's next opponents. The Giallorossi leapfrogged Juventus this weekend into third place after the Bianconeri lost 1-0 away to Chievo and despite having been in the relegation zone when Ranieri took over, Champions League berths are very much back on the agenda. Though Ranieri has insisted revenge won't be on his mind next weekend, it is hard to believe he wouldn't take at least a small degree of satisfaction from compounding the struggles of the team who let him go.
As for Toni, he was just happy to be back among the goals. "[The Italy manager Marcello] Lippi knows what I can do and we'll see what happens in June," he said after the game. "I told Daniele [De Rossi] before kick-off that I wanted to do my 'ear' celebration under the Curva Sud and I did. There is a great deal of enthusiasm here and I wanted to do well. This is just the beginning."
Working out how best to combine his forwards may prove a headache for Claudio Ranieri, but he's unlikely to be complaining
www.guardian.co.uk – By Paolo Bandini – Monday 18 January 2010 12.32 GMT
Even when he's not on the pitch, it seems, Francesco Totti is still capable of generating goals for Roma. Over the course of his 18-year career with Roma's first team, Er Pupone has been deployed as a central midfielder, winger, second striker and lone targetman but his ability both to score goals and create them has been a constant. Yesterday at Stadio Olimpico, Luca Toni ensured Totti's latest incarnation – as transfer guru – got off to a similarly promising start.
Two goals for Toni were enough to help tie up a 3-0 win over Genoa at Stadio Olimpico and perhaps more importantly to get the new boy off the mark. This may have been only Toni's second start for the Giallorossi and his all-round contribution had undoubtedly been positive even without the goals but nervous glances were still exchanged when he thudded a free header wide from eight yards out early in the first half. Poor displays for the national team at Euro 2008 and since may have been forgiven but they are still not entirely forgotten.
Totti, watching from the stands yesterday due to a knee injury, never had any such doubts. "Already in the summer I had contacted Toni telling him to come to Roma but he never managed it," he had trumpeted in a front-page piece for Corriere dello Sport after Toni's arrival at the beginning of January. "Maybe if he'd been brought in sooner, we'd have more points by now. I remember during that difficult summer spell someone at Roma told me that I shouldn't be worrying myself about transfer business because it didn't involve me."
There were many reasons why Toni couldn't have arrived sooner, of course, not least the fact that Bayern Munich were not yet ready to let him go. Despite missing some time with injuries Toni had scored 15 goals in 25 Bundesliga games in 2008-09 and 24 in 31 the year before. For a long time he was also pretty popular, described by Bild as "the most loved and nicest Italian". Toni even claimed to like Bavarian food and fashion, telling German GQ that "when it comes to taste Germany is much better than its cliché", even if he did also note that "sometimes you dress pretty badly".
Bayern might have been loaded with strikers and Toni getting no younger, but they certainly weren't about to let him walk out for nothing and debt-ridden Roma were not exactly about to break the bank, either. But matters changed rapidly over the first half of the season, Toni falling out of favour with the new Bayern coach Louis van Gaal and eventually storming out of the Allianz Arena at half-time during a game against Schalke in November after he was substituted. Shortly afterwards, the striker promptly told Rai television that his relationship with Van Gaal was "non-existent".
With neither manager nor player inclined to make any attempt at rapprochement Bayern found themselves in a bit of a pickle. Toni, after all, had signed a contract worth €10m (£8.8m) a year when he joined the club. Suddenly a loan to Roma suited all parties. Toni, after all, desperately needed to find a team where he could fit in quickly and start regularly in a World Cup year. The long-standing bet he is yet to settle with Totti on the tennis court may also have been a consideration, but probably not a big one.
The prospect of playing alongside Totti, and of rekindling an on-pitch relationship that proved so profitable at the 2006 World Cup, certainly won't have hurt and the pair should get their first opportunity to play together again next weekend when Roma face Juventus in Turin. Working out how to best use them together may prove a headache for the manager Claudio Ranieri, but he's unlikely to complain about it.
Purists may accuse Ranieri of stripping some of the finesse from the team left to him by former manager Luciano Spalletti, but a new, more direct approach has undeniably yielded better results and Toni put on a masterclass in leading the line yesterday. Holding the ball up with disdainful ease and winning just about every header he went for, Toni seemed the perfect fit in Ranieri's fluid 4-2-3-1 – at times more of a 4-4-2 with Mirko Vucinic pushing on to become a second striker.
Whether or not Ranieri can accommodate Toni, Totti and Vucinic – who provided the assists for both the new boy's goals yesterday – into the same side remains to be seen, though he will surely be tempted to try. Not every opponent will be as easily picked off as Genoa, who have now claimed just one point from their last six away games, and Ranieri will be aware that the work done by David Pizarro and Simone Perrotta in front of the Roma defence was just as important as that of his forwards.
There is an added urgency to such dilemmas, too, given Roma's next opponents. The Giallorossi leapfrogged Juventus this weekend into third place after the Bianconeri lost 1-0 away to Chievo and despite having been in the relegation zone when Ranieri took over, Champions League berths are very much back on the agenda. Though Ranieri has insisted revenge won't be on his mind next weekend, it is hard to believe he wouldn't take at least a small degree of satisfaction from compounding the struggles of the team who let him go.
As for Toni, he was just happy to be back among the goals. "[The Italy manager Marcello] Lippi knows what I can do and we'll see what happens in June," he said after the game. "I told Daniele [De Rossi] before kick-off that I wanted to do my 'ear' celebration under the Curva Sud and I did. There is a great deal of enthusiasm here and I wanted to do well. This is just the beginning."
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RomaShield27 
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by RomaShield27 » Tue Jan 19, 2010 12:05 pm
Trigoria: FINALMENTE TOTTI! Lavora con il gruppo, assente Brighi
– Martedì 19 Gennaio 2010 11:26
A due giorni dalla vittoria contro il Genoa, questa mattina la Roma si è ritrovata questa mattina a Trigoria per preparare la sfida contro la Juventus. Subito le belle notizie: Francesco Totti si allena con il gruppo. Con lui anche Mexes e De Rossi. Tutti e tre saranno disponibili a Torino. Il capitano è stato il primo ad arrivare al Bernardini intorno le ore 8.30. Luca Toni ha lavorato un'ora circa con i compagni, al fianco del capitano: le prime prove del To-to.. Poi dopo un consulto con il fisioterapista Cotti lascia l'allenamento. L'autore della doppietta contro il Genoa ha bisogno di rifiatare. Due ore di allenamento: riscaldamento tecnico, per poi proseguire con un lavoro tattico ed esercitazioni sull'uno contro uno. In precedenza un quarto d'ora di riunione tecnica. Lavoro differenziato in campo per Okaka e Faty. In palestra Brighi, Andreolli (mal di schiena) e Tonetto (tendinite).
Gli schieramenti della partitella. Il capitano in ottima forma. Match intensissimo: in seguito ad uno scontro aereo con Perrotta, Mexes perde addirittura un dente ma continua a giocare.
VERDI: Doni, Burdisso, Mexes, Riise, Taddei, De Rossi, Vucinic, Menez, Baptista
ROSSI: J. Sergio, Motta, Juan, Cassetti, Pit, Cerci, Perrotta, Esposito, Totti
Pizarro è il playmaker con il fratino bianco
All'esterno del Fulvio Bernardini una trentina di tifosi. Sono apparsi due striscioni: “Trigoria aperta ai tifosiâ€
– Martedì 19 Gennaio 2010 11:26
A due giorni dalla vittoria contro il Genoa, questa mattina la Roma si è ritrovata questa mattina a Trigoria per preparare la sfida contro la Juventus. Subito le belle notizie: Francesco Totti si allena con il gruppo. Con lui anche Mexes e De Rossi. Tutti e tre saranno disponibili a Torino. Il capitano è stato il primo ad arrivare al Bernardini intorno le ore 8.30. Luca Toni ha lavorato un'ora circa con i compagni, al fianco del capitano: le prime prove del To-to.. Poi dopo un consulto con il fisioterapista Cotti lascia l'allenamento. L'autore della doppietta contro il Genoa ha bisogno di rifiatare. Due ore di allenamento: riscaldamento tecnico, per poi proseguire con un lavoro tattico ed esercitazioni sull'uno contro uno. In precedenza un quarto d'ora di riunione tecnica. Lavoro differenziato in campo per Okaka e Faty. In palestra Brighi, Andreolli (mal di schiena) e Tonetto (tendinite).
Gli schieramenti della partitella. Il capitano in ottima forma. Match intensissimo: in seguito ad uno scontro aereo con Perrotta, Mexes perde addirittura un dente ma continua a giocare.
VERDI: Doni, Burdisso, Mexes, Riise, Taddei, De Rossi, Vucinic, Menez, Baptista
ROSSI: J. Sergio, Motta, Juan, Cassetti, Pit, Cerci, Perrotta, Esposito, Totti
Pizarro è il playmaker con il fratino bianco
All'esterno del Fulvio Bernardini una trentina di tifosi. Sono apparsi due striscioni: “Trigoria aperta ai tifosiâ€
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by maro » Tue Jan 19, 2010 1:21 pm
This far out those formations are only guesses, though, nedzo. A bit later in the week they may have more of a sense from the way Ranieri's had the boys training. I'm not sure I can see Ranieri starting all three. It depends a bit on how he wants to play and whether he thinks, for instance, that Chiellini and Canna will be more comfortable dealing with the power of Lupa than with someone with a bit more pace. Having now seen the highlights I have to confess I'm a little less excited about Vooch's 'three assists' than I'd thought I might be.
The Okaka story, I think, was that Fulham are looking for someone who could come in and play straight away, but Okaka has that injury and so they've pulled the plug on the deal.
When Totti played with Toni for the Azzurri, one of the standard set-ups was with Totti in behind a front two who'd run the channels to create space through the middle. I'm not sure I can see Ranieri going for a rombo of sorts with Totti in behind Vooch and Luca and if it's not that, then it's hard to see how he can play all three together - neither Totti nor Luca's going to play down the wing in a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 with Totti as trequartista is asking a fair bit of the work-rate of the other midfielders.
The Okaka story, I think, was that Fulham are looking for someone who could come in and play straight away, but Okaka has that injury and so they've pulled the plug on the deal.
When Totti played with Toni for the Azzurri, one of the standard set-ups was with Totti in behind a front two who'd run the channels to create space through the middle. I'm not sure I can see Ranieri going for a rombo of sorts with Totti in behind Vooch and Luca and if it's not that, then it's hard to see how he can play all three together - neither Totti nor Luca's going to play down the wing in a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 with Totti as trequartista is asking a fair bit of the work-rate of the other midfielders.
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by marco » Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:38 am
apparently perrotta has a pretty lethal right hook judging by the damage to philou's teeth. the consolation is that mexes is now one step closer to being the subject of one of stefano's famous shout box stories.
http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Fotoga ... e+un+dente
http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Fotoga ... e+un+dente
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by RomaShield27 » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:02 am
TRIGORIA: Assente Baptista. Ranieri, prove di tridente To-To-Vu
– 21.01.2010 11:12 di Alessandro Carducci articolo letto 511 volte
Dopo il test con la Primavera disputato ieri pomeriggio a Trigoria, la Roma scende di nuovo in campo a due giorni di distanza dal big match dell'Olimpico di Torino. Sono assenti dal campo Baptista, Tonetto e Esposito. Svolgono lavoro differenziato Okaka, Andreolli, Faty e Cicinho. Il gruppo ha svolto inizialmente un breve riscaldamento per poi effettuare esercizi atletici. In seguito esercizi di circolazione di palla con i seguenti schieramenti:
ROSSI: Mexes, Toni, Brighi, Pit, Vucinic, Totti, Perrotta, Motta
VERDI: Cerci, Riise, Juan, Burdisso, De Rossi, Cassetti, Pizarro
Menez è il playmaker con il fratino bianco. Da segnalare come Ranieri stia provando insieme Totti-Toni-Vucinic.
Ranieri testing out a To-To-Vu trident in training today. I'd be very surprised if he went with it but it could be beautiful.
– 21.01.2010 11:12 di Alessandro Carducci articolo letto 511 volte
Dopo il test con la Primavera disputato ieri pomeriggio a Trigoria, la Roma scende di nuovo in campo a due giorni di distanza dal big match dell'Olimpico di Torino. Sono assenti dal campo Baptista, Tonetto e Esposito. Svolgono lavoro differenziato Okaka, Andreolli, Faty e Cicinho. Il gruppo ha svolto inizialmente un breve riscaldamento per poi effettuare esercizi atletici. In seguito esercizi di circolazione di palla con i seguenti schieramenti:
ROSSI: Mexes, Toni, Brighi, Pit, Vucinic, Totti, Perrotta, Motta
VERDI: Cerci, Riise, Juan, Burdisso, De Rossi, Cassetti, Pizarro
Menez è il playmaker con il fratino bianco. Da segnalare come Ranieri stia provando insieme Totti-Toni-Vucinic.
Ranieri testing out a To-To-Vu trident in training today. I'd be very surprised if he went with it but it could be beautiful.
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by RomaShield27 » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:49 am
Three goals in 17 league games, with 6 assists. Not bad for a support striker. Thats more assists than Totti and Perrotta combined, Queen Mary. Perrotta is shit. Totti should be sat if he's not fully fit.
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by maro » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:02 pm
Seriously, this team needs a major overhaul. We should Mexes for 18 mil, DDR for 40 mil, Vooch for 4 or 5 mil, if we can get that much for him, and then just bring Malomo and Brosco into the first team and elevate Cerci to a starting role.
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by RomaShield27 » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:10 pm
Oh boy, Tomzo's in his "I'm a Professor of Boring Stuff and I have lots of time off to talk shite" humour again. Lets just agree with I suppose. Right, Tommy, riiiiight, whatever you say.
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by RomaShield27 » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:14 pm
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