THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[AS Collie]

[RomaShield27]

[arthurfonzarelli]

I actually agree with practically everything that's been said on Bojan:

1-) He acts like a boy and is probably a lightweight in terms of mental toughness. The Coppa game against juve was particularly bad.
2-) At Barca, he scored late in games when the results was already achieved.
3-) He has great movement off the ball and is very fast. He also has great moves with the ball at feet.
4-) He tweets too much. Actually any tweet by a player is too much. Tweeting should be banned by clubs.
5-) His age, Spanish pedigry and temperament are against him to suceed.

In terms of what you didn't mention:
1-) Though he's only scored 4 goals: two have opened up games where we ended up winning (Atalanta and Novara) and the other two have been against the Milan teams (ie strong teams). Granted one was in a 4-0 rout but the other one, we were down 1-3 and he gave us a chance.
2-) He doesn't get that much quality playing time. Coming off the bench is harder than knowing you're starting.

Having said all that, it is highly unlikely that he will succeed or be a starter for a great team. He's "Pato light" which is saying a lot.

[maro]

Well, he still has time, Fonz, and one imagines there's never been an Italian club context which was quite so amenable to Spanish arrivals. He has a lot of quality and it will be interesting to see if he ever gets a bit more confidence to go with it. I can't say I'm particularly surprised he's struggled a bit this year; equally, I shan't be especially surprised if he does rather better next season. I should think he's made more of an impact than Vooch, for instance, did in either of his first two seasons with us and Vooch at least had the advantage that he was moving within Italy. Neither strikes me as the kind of player whose temperament would make it easy for them to land on their feet at a new club.

[RomaShield27]

A are expected for tomorrow's Primavera Tim Cup final second-leg against Juventus. Thats almost as many as were there on Monday, no? We beat them 2-1 in Juventus in the first-leg.

[Lupa]

There's something I don't like about Ozvaldo, but when he scores, I can forget about that. There's something I like about Bojan, but when he doesn't score, I forget about that. I know what you mean about his whiney face, though. I think it's something to do with his having a boyish little face, but then when he makes that face it does look like he's about to have a temper tantrum. I like Borini, but I had noticed many times he appeared to be celebrating on his own, but I was hoping it was just that he tore off to celebrate and his teammates didn't catch up with him.

[red]

[AS Collie]

[AS Collie]

[RomaShield27]

[AS Collie]

Yeah, the free tickets is a great one. And it was a warm day, so it looked like a lot of people were deciding to go last-minute. They had lots of ads at the game on monday, so that probably helped too.

Sure why wouldn't you go? Free ticket and the chance to see some exciting young players. All you need is your bus fare and the usual three or four hundred for cigars and vintage champagne.

[stefano]

[AS Collie]

Haha! I got as far as the pan shot of the Colosseo. And I'm only noticing now that the title in the bottom right corner doesn't say "soccer rapist".

[RomaShield27]

FINALE PRIMAVERA TIM CUP, Roma-Juventus

FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI

ROMA (4-2-3-1): 1 Pigliacelli; 2 Sabelli, 4 Orchi, 5 Barba, 3 Nego; 6 Viviani, 8 Verre; 7 Politano, 10 Ciciretti, 11 Piscitella; 9 Tallo

Juventus (4-2-3-1): Branescu; Untersee, Magnússon, Gouano, Liviero; Appelt, Cibsah; De Silvestro, Beltrame, Spinazzola; Libertazzi

Will also be a stream here somewhere closer to kick-off: http://www.calcion.eu/

And also here: http://asromastreaming.net/livetv.html

-----------------

Also, according to we've signed 19-year-old Corinthians left full-back Dodo. He's a Brazilian Under-20 international who once had a trial with ManPoo Shitnited.

[forzaitalia]

0-0 then, winnerssss

Who played well for us, for those who watched?

[RomaShield27]

It was quite a poor game, but it didn't really matter. All the hard work was done in the first-leg. We were quite open at times and they could have easily scored if they had a bit more about them. Then again we were very unlucky not to score in the first-half too, Politano had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside and Ciciretti hit the post. In the second-half it was all about playing out time.

Viviani and Verre ran the show in midfield. They really are top-quality young players, extremely technical on the ball. Barba looked solid at the back, and Sabelli and Nego at full-back. Ciciretti was poor I thought but there is a lot resting on his shoulders (numero 10, trequartista). Tallo up top was terrible, not sure why Nico Lopez didn't get a run for him.

Le pagelle from RomaNews .

The tifosi were great throughout. Better atmosphere then a senior game at times. Over 20,000 there. Colly, tell us how it was.

Viviani, as il capitano, lifted the trophy. Last time Roma won the primavera coppa was in 1994. And who lifted the trophy then? Totti. The future is bright, the future is giallorosso.

[AS Collie]

Midfield looked great, I thought, and Ciciretti was excellent – very exciting, on and off the ball and he doesn't look to be short on confidence.

Maybe some nerves from a couple, but there was certainly some talent on show. Honestly, I was very impressed, and because it's the youth, I'm going to tip the hat to the Juventini scum-sucking pricks too. I'm sure a few of them will grow up to be excellent dick-licking bastards. You have to hand it to both sets of players; there were 20,000 people there going full-on, and they didn't get too bothered by it.

I'll be honest, even though it was a 0-0 draw, as a performance by a team in giallorosso, it probably ranks in the top half this season. Entertaining and annoying, just like the seniors, but with valid excuses for the silly mistakes (youth) and no ludicrous wage-bills, Johnny Depp-lookalike-contests, fat Brazilians or hideous haircuts (though there were a couple of day-glow boot colours ... ). And De Rossi Sr seems like a cool guy.

And the ticket was free! I mean, come on! I'll be busting serious balls around here over the next week; I can't think of a single decent excuse for a football fan, never mind a Roma fan, to miss out on a cup final – any cup – in Olimpico when you don't even have to pay for it. I met a few Americans on the tram and they were amazed; seems someone just told them last minute about the free tickets. If you're a tourist, it's pretty much all the same. The girl in the group was calling the goalie a "stopper". They had a great laugh. Which is what it's all about.

Other than the brainless prick who almost hit the linesman with a flare, and the fat, unloved, waste-of-sperm that sat beside me blowing weed smoke into another man's six-year-old daughter's face, no one or nothing annoyed me. Great stuff altogether.

[Lupa]

Good to hear about the primavera game. The future does sound bright.

Meanwhile, we're after more young foreigners from the sounds of it. Corinthians' Dodo is supposed to have agreed terms with us. If we keep Gaga and Dodo, maybe we can get Kaka while we're at it.

[AS Collie]

Dodo. Brilliant. I can see all the sweet extinct/useless/flightless puns now.

It says a lot about Brazilians, or rather I suppose the Irish, that they can use their nicknames. Don't think you'd sell so many "Scaldy Balls" jerseys. Had my group of friends grown up to be professional footballers, there would have been Rusty Nuts in goal, Ten Bellies in defence, Five Bellies (skinnier than 10 Belles, but still fat) in midfield and the Ginger Pele up front. Or actually, he would have been the Ginger Pelinho, because everyone knows that the Ginger Pele used to play for Norwich and Ireland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXaTs5Zo ... re=related

[DCGweez]

http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/20 ... oma-report

and I thought left backs like roberto carlos were extinct