THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[vtec]

[RomaShield27]

[maro]

I'm also thinking of Claudio's comments earlier in the year about Vooch lacking the stamina to play in midfield - in contrast with Menez, for example (when the media were proposing starting with all four attackers and imagining Vooch as an option as a kind of attacking left winger in a midfield four).

That's a good post, all right, Fonz. I think the word I'd want to add to it would be accuracy - though, in fact, I thought Taddei was actually a little bit inaccurate with the ball last night. His decision-making off the ball, though - when to make a run in behind, when to stay short to link up play, when to press, when to track the runner (here, I guess, accuracy slides into discipline) - is excellent. I was really struck by this when I saw the game at Upton Park for which dibbus loves to mock me. Tonetto was the same - you could see that they were always thinking, thinking about where to move to make things easier for their team-mate on the ball. The difference from a player like Vooch in particular, I think, who almost always wants the ball played to his feet so he can then start running and make things happen, is acute. Perrotta's slightly different, because he makes more genuinely lung-busting runs and is more about profondita'. I was thinking last night that it would be interesting for people to compare Pepe and Taddei as players. Who is the more effective wide player and why?

[RomaShield27]

Report: NESV Partner Thomas R. Di Benedetto Negotiating Purchase of AS Roma Club
– by Jill Seward on Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 7:34PM

Following in the footsteps of his partners at New England Sports Ventures, Thomas R. Di Benedetto is looking to purchase a soccer club across the pond.

A group of investors are close to agreeing upon a deal to buy the Serie A soccer team AS Roma, Boston.com reports. The group is led by Di Benedetto, who is also the president of the investment management firm, Boston International Group. According to the reports, Di Benedetto is spearheading the AS Roma negotiations that are currently taking place in New York.

Roma president Rosella Sensi decided to put the club up for sale in July, placing Unicredit Bank in charge of finding a buyer, ESPN.com reports. Representatives for Unicredit reportedly flew to Di Benedetto's Manhattan offices to meet with the interested investors.

Though Di Benedetto is a partner with NESV, chairman Tom Werner said that the group is not involved in the AS Roma venture.

"NESV is not involved or aware of any discussions in this matter, and NESV has no interest in this investment," Werner told Boston.com on Thursday. NESV purchased Liverfekkin'wankscum FC for $476 million in October.

Di Benedetto is reportedly working with Succession Capital Alliance president and CEO Julian Movsesian, and Florida real estate developer Arthur Falcone on the AS Roma negotiations.

[ASR1927]

Edzo,
The website where you got that story nesn.com is owned by NESV so I am fairly sure it should be accurate. That is good news. I am waiting till this pans out before I pass judgement but it's interesting (for me anyway) that a group from my hometown wants to buy Roma.


Edit: The article they sourced from Boston.com


Boston group may buy Roma

Forget the Revolution. Long live Roma! (Note: The Revolution is the name of the local MLS club.)

News outlets in Italy are reporting that a group of investors with Boston ties is negotiating to buy the AS Roma soccer team.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Thomas R. DiBenedetto, president of investment management firm Boston International Group and a partner at New England Sports Ventures, is the lead investor in the discussions, currently taking place in New York. He is reportedly joined by other local investors, including Michael A. Ruane, of Boston real estate advisory firm TA Associates Realty, and Richard D’Amore, a partner at venture capital firm Northbridge Venture Partners in Waltham.

A woman who answered DiBenedetto’s home phone said he was in meetings yesterday, and she declined to comment further. Ruane’s assistant at his Boston office said he was traveling. D’Amore was also out of the office and could not be reached for comment.

News reports from Italy are that DiBenedetto will also team up with Julian Movsesian, of the insurance company Succession Capital Alliance, and Florida real estate developer Arthur Falcone.

The reported negotiations come just months after New England Sports Ventures, the parent company of the Boston Red Sox, agreed to buy the Liverfekkin'wankscum FC soccer team for $476 million.

Thomas Werner, chairman of New England Sports Ventures, said: “NESV is not involved or aware of any discussions in this matter, and NESV has no interest in this investment.’’

The New York Times Co., the parent company of the Boston Globe, has a nearly 17 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures.

[ASR1927]

From Football-Italia:

Crisis? What crisis?

Their balance sheet would make Bologna blush, their key players are at odds with the Coach and a visit to the training ground leaves their captain feeling chronically depressed. You’d be forgiven for thinking Roma were in crisis. But look at the League table.

Despite all the drama of the last month, from Francesco Totti’s sarcastic comments on the touchline in Genoa to Mirko Vucinic’s unprovoked attack on some innocent water bottles in Cesena, La Magica lie third, just six points short of frontrunners Milan.

They’re also proud owners of Serie A’s only unbeaten home record this season. Fabio Capello led Roma to their third Scudetto in 2001 – who is to say they won’t celebrate the tenth anniversary by collecting their fourth?

That’s not the only honour they’re in contention for either. I Lupi did battle with Juventus last night for a place in the Coppa Italia semi-finals and impressively came out on top. A winnable tie with Shaktar Donetsk lies between them and the Champions League quarter-finals.

Claudio Ranieri’s Roma don’t have the star quality of Capello’s, or the panache of Luciano Spalletti’s, but they have their own distinctive appeal.

Unlike many a Roma team of yesteryear, they know how to grind out a result, something they’ve continued to do despite the countless off field distractions January has provided. They also know how to raise their game for the big occasion, having beaten both Milan clubs in Serie A, pulled off the mother of all comebacks against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and won two Rome derbies already this term.

Jeremy Menez has been transformed from an infuriatingly inconsistent winger to an all conquering trequartista, and surely one of the frontrunners for player of the season. For years the Giallorossi were crying out for a penalty box striker, someone capable of scoring goals and providing a physical presence. Marco Borriello has filled that void. Squad depth was a foreign concept at Trigoria until recently, now it’s overflowing with talent, so much so that the club can afford to offload Julio Baptista and Cicinho to La Liga.

Another advantage that will come into play as the Scudetto battle heats is up is experience. Roma have taken the title race to the last day twice in the last three campaigns, something fellow contenders Milan, Napoli, Lazio and Juventus haven’t done for a long time.

I haven’t even mentioned the fact that the ownership issue looks set to be resolved, with a group of US businessmen primed to invest. Roma in crisis? To quote Richard Keys, do me a favour love.

[pocari_fenrir]

Shakhtar looks to be in a bit of trouble

http://www.football-italia.net/jan28n.html

[RomaShield27]

[ASR1927]

[RomaShield27]

TV revenue? For whom, UniCredit? Its not like we're going to be putting that money back into the squad or for mercato funds (mercato ). This is all bonus territory.

[ASR1927]

Ah good point.

[stefano]

I'd rather not see us advance through a team being removed from the competition.

[RomaShield27]

No, me either Stef, but if it happens it happens. We just do what we can and go out and produce la fekkin magica wherever she may be.

[Italiamia]

It will never happen. There is no way UEFA give an Italian team such a gift.

[maro]

It would suck giant horsecock. I want to see La Magica play. What good is a free pass to the next round for me, then?

[stefano]

Not good at all. Hopefully it doesn't happen.

[pocari_fenrir]

[RomaShield27]

Thanks Pocari. Riise's out for Sundays game:

Convocati: non c'è Riise, forte contusione ad un dito
– Sabato 29 Gennaio 2011 13:01

Al termine dell'allenamento di oggi mister Ranieri ha diramato la lista dei convocati per Bologna-Roma

BOLOGNA-ROMA
Stadio Dall’Ara di Bologna
Domenica 30 gennaio 2011 ore 15:00
Arbitro : sig. Bant

Antunes
Bertagnoli
Borriello
Burdisso G.
Burdisso N.
Cassetti
Castellini
De Rossi
Doni
Greco
Juan
Lobont
Menez
Mexes
Perrotta
Rosi
Simplicio
Taddei
Totti
Vucinic

[pocari_fenrir]

bit late but we dont have to worry about the off-chance of us signing Behrami no more

http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer ... midfielder

[ASR1927]

Our match could me postponed due to snow in Bologna today.

http://www.football-italia.net/jan30j.html