THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[forzaitalia]

[DCGweez]

[RomaShield27]

[AS Collie]

[maro]

Nor mine. Not that that makes the treatment of Brighi and Simplicio (and Taddei and Pizza?) any less shabby.

[DCGweez]

[Italiamia]

'Never slaves of victory', Edzo. I believe Mr. Collucci seems to think that we are the slaves of victory. The whole purpose of the endeavor is to win. It's a results oriented business.

[AS Collie]

I wasn't trying to say that it was only a Roma thing. All of calcio is guilty of it. They're guilty of it in Spain, too. And getting more so in England.

But historically, Roma "should" win more than they do, and the fact that they don't drives people here mental. The whole city is a slave to results. I just wish it were to a more long-term view of them.

And it is a results orientated business.

[maro]

Collie isn't saying the sentiment of the banner is wrong; rather, he's saying it's a bit rich to see tifosi (dis)avowing that principle when, in practice, they seem to be ever the slaves of victory.

[AS Collie]

[DCGweez]

[Italiamia]

[DCGweez]

[Italiamia]

I will not defend Rossella at all. She is gone and gladly forgotten.

[Lupa]

Sunday match wrap: Roma are heartening to watch, if only for what they’re trying to do

AS Roma jumped six places in the table on Sunday, leapfrogging Siena, Parma, Chievo, Genoa, Napoli and Palermo to move from 11th spot in Serie A to fifth after 11 rounds. They did it with a 2-1 at home to Lecce in a match they might well have won 4-0 or 5-0, although the number of goals scored was really beside the point, and has been all season for these Giallorossi.

Roma, for me, are a side you can’t help but want to see succeed. I say this not as a supporter of them, nor any other side in Italy, but as someone who appreciates fluid, attacking football, and even more than that respects the attempts of sides who take pride in moving the ball with precision and using space intelligently.

That Roma so often come up short of their intentions in that regard only makes them more endearing. You can see what they’re trying to do—the way they want to play—in the formations head coach Luis Enrique deploys and in the type of players he set out to buy after being appointed in the summer.

Against Lecce the former Barcelona youth team coach arranged what looked predominantly to be a 3-3-2-2 and has also used a 4-3-1-2, although the Barcelona-style 4-3-3 seems to be the format he bases his tactics on. To execute those tactics he went out and acquired a handful of smart, attacking players—many of them young, and many of them given up on by their former clubs.

Fernando Gago is a perfect example. Plagued by injuries over his five seasons at Real Madrid (he made a combined 29 appearances in his final two campaigns at the Bernabeu), he was also widely ignored by whatever incoming manager was taking over from the last and setting out with his own wish-list of superstar players. Gago played for five coaches in the Spanish capital, and only Fabio Capello—who was in charge when the midfielder arrived from Boca Juniors—gave him a consistent place in the team. Jose Mourinho simply didn’t have time for him.

Now, 25-years-old and in what should be the prime of his career, Gago is starting over in a new capital, with a manger who recognizes his passing ability and defensive instincts and is putting him on the teamsheet every time out. It hasn’t always been smooth going, but Luis Enrique is finally being repaid for his faith, not only by Gago, but with several others who were deemed a surplus to requirements before this season, such as Bojan Krkic, Gabriel Heinze and Simon Kjaer.

Gago, against Lecce, played the best game I’ve seen him play in years. He made both the short, accurate passes that are so often underappreciated and the long, arcing crosses to put teammates into space, and he even got his name on the scoresheet with a low, hard drive in the 54th minute after accepting the ball from Miralem Pjanic, another player who wound up at Roma after being tossed on the scrap heap.

The shocking thing about Pjanic’s situation is that he was made available at just 21, having somehow fallen down the pecking order at Lyon. No doubt Claude Puel was under pressure to start Yoann Gourcuff in a playmaking role after the France international’s big-money move from Bordeaux ahead of last season, but I simply cannot make sense of any pecking order that has Gourcuff ahead of Pjanic.

In any case, Lyon’s poor decision-making has been a boon to Roma, as Pjanic has been without question their most consistent attacking weapon since arriving at the Stadio Olimpico. He can sit in the hole behind the strikers; he can spread the ball around from deep positions; he can line up on the left of midfield and play the Iniesta role in Luis Enrique’s Barcelona model.

I don’t know where Roma will end up in May. I can’t see them winning the title, and given the quality of the teams pushing for European places a berth in the Champions League might even be a tough ask.

But I know I’ll watch them, and I know I’ll be entertained. And given the way they’re going about their football, I’m sure to be heartened as well.


Postscript: I retract everything I just said if Luis Enrique caves to the pressure and begins handing consistent starts to the plodding, past-it Francesco Totti.

http://blogs.thescore.com/footyblog/201 ... ing-to-do/

I know people will not like this because of the pro-Spanish slant (at least I think it's there), but I was okay with it until he added his postscript.

[maro]

I hate arrogant stupidity masquerading as opinion.

[red]

That blogger sounds like a cock.

[AS Collie]

Unlike me. I sound like a proper f*c£!ng c*nt. When I bother to post. I keep promising myself that I'll get more active. And I keep meaning to get in touch with all of these websites that have such piss-poor serie-a opinion on it, but I always pull back, mainly out of fear for having to actually talk to those cocks.

[Lupa]

Shamelessly lifted from the offiside. Roma Primavera.

[RomaShield27]