THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[RomaShield27]

Guardiola, the master, come, where the young apprentice, LE, failed? (harsh to use fail but you get me). I seriously doubt it. Thats an even bigger dream than Spalletti.

[loazzi]

I would be surprised if we brought Montella back. Baldini doesn't seem the type to say, "I was wrong" and bringing back Montella just one year removed from letting him go is the ultimate admission of having been wrong. Spalletti is my dream as well.

As for Bradley, I think he is more than an ok player but definitely not world class. He is good and played VERY WELL against Roma. I would not mind him being at Roma except for one thing -- he is NOT good enough to be starting XI at Roma and his inclusion would, in all likelihood, take a spot away from Viviani, Bertolacci and/or Florenzi. At this point in their respective careers, I would venture to say that Bradley is probably better than all 3, but I would like Roman youth to be integrated into the squad and I think that all 3 of those Romans have the potential to be as good or better than Bradley.

[AS Collie]

[DCGweez]

Am I wrong in thinking that Lucho and Pep aren't really all that close? I thought there was thought to be little love lost between those two.

[forzaitalia]

[romawi]

[forzaitalia]

The list of all 107 goalies that have been beaten by Totti:

Abbiati, Agazzi, Amelia, Antonioli, Balli, Ballotta Benussi, Berti, Boruc, Bucci, Butt, Buffon, Calderoni, Campagnolo, Casillas, Caniato, Canizares, Carrizo, Castellazzi, Cervone, Cesar Sanchez, Cesaretti, Chimenti, Coppola, Costanzo, Coupet, Da Costa, De Sanctis, De Wilde, De Lucia, Dida, Eduardo, Ferron, Fontana, Fortin, Frey, Frezzolini, Gamberini, Giannello, Gillet, Guardalben, Handanovic, Harper, Iezzo, Jorgacevic, Jaaskelainen, Julio Cesar, Katergiannakis, Khomutovski, Kjaer, Kraft, Krogh, Lorieri, Lupatelli, Mancini, Manitta, Manninger, Marchegiani, Marchetti, Mavric, Mazzantini, Micillo, Mirante, Muslera, Nigmatullin, Nikopolidis, Orlandoni, Pagliuca, Pantanelli, Pavarini, Pelizzoli, Peruzzi, Pinato, Polito, Pourliotopoulos, Quim, Ramè, Roccati, Roma, Rossi, Rubino, Rubinho, Scarpi, Schwarzer, Schreng, Sereni, Shorunmu, Shovkovsky, Shutkov, Sicignano, Sirigu, Sorrentino, Srnicek, Stancioiu, Stelea, Sterchele, Storari, Squizzi, Taglialatela, Taibi, Toldo, Turci, Van Der Sar, Van Steenberghe, Wessels, Zancopé, Zoidze, Zuberbühler.

[RomaShield27]

[AS Collie]

[DCGweez]

[Zoff82]

[maro]

You've become entrenched in your LE apologetics, Collie; it's hardly only idiots who think he should go (as the various 'si o non' pieces on Forzaroma.info this week illustrate). There was a very good piece earlier in the week that suggested that LE was going to go because he felt he'd been unable, for whatever reason, to communicate his tactics to this squad of players, to communicate his ideas and to get them to work. That doesn't seem to me improbable.

[AS Collie]

[red]

I remain unconvinced that the style of football Enrique wants to play would be particularly effective in Italy, even if he had better players.

It involves playing so many passes in safe areas, that no-one in Italy is stupid enough to move out of shape to close down, that all Roma's slow play ensures is that the opposition have plenty time to shape up.

Then there is the issue of the frequency with which Roma put too many players ahead of the ball and leave themselves vulnerable to the counter attack. With better players the ball would be lost less, but with all those players ahead of the ball you are going to be exposed anyway.

The high defensive line is suicide in a league where even indifferent teams have players like Di Vaio and Pellisier who are more then clever enough to time their runs in behind and have midfielders capable of playing the pass to them.

I see no reason to think that Enrique knows how to get his team to play to open up a deep, compact, organised defence.

I also haven't seen any real improvement in Roma's shape or pattern of play over the course of the season as players settled in and became accustomed to what was expected of them.

Enrique may turn out to be a good coach, but I doubt he'll be able to cut it in Italy any time soon.

Then again, I remain extremely doubtful that the Barca-esque brand of football he seeks to play can be effective in Italy unless you have really extraordinary players. Take Messi out of the Barca side, for instance, and I could see them struggling to break down an awful lot of teams in Italy.

[AS Collie]

The weaknesses of that style of football were clear for all to see last night in Bucharest.

But again: I'm not defending the man or the style: I'm simply stating that just changing the coach won't improve matters. Someone has to take responsibility for the decision to hire him in the first place and promise that the next choice they make will be stuck to.

[red]

Changing coach will help things if the new coach plays in a way that is more likely to bring success in Serie A.

[AS Collie]

[red]

I'm inclined to take much of what players say with a pinch of salt.

As for the project, it seemed like a bad idea to me from the start, so I won't say that the people behind that idea shouldn't be ditched.

I wonder if Roma would have appointed Enrique if they had known that he'd wander around speaking about leaving if he was no longer wanted and generally coming across as someone who didn't really seem willing to back himself fully?

I have little sympathy for Enrique because I think he's failed to impose himself and his style on the team without any real excuse (unlike Villas Boas, for instance, who encountered senior squad members who were definitely against change).

And I wouldn't suggest you go for someone like Ranieri again. Montella would be a good choice and if you want a 'project' you can give him time to grow and mature and put a team together, because he has actually shown himself to have ability that may be worthy of backing, unlike someone who's done nothing beyond coaching Barca 'B'.

[DCGweez]

Agreed on the sentiment Collie. Still think he reads too many papers for his own good. Totti supported him and so did DDR. Baldini has tried to keep him. Saba while less effusive in his praise has towed the company line. I also believe the Owners want him to stay. In America it's a rare thing for a coach to only get one season without some sort of scandal.

LE has left me unimpressed for reasons I've already listed. I want him to stay more to spite those idiots in the Curva more than the merits.

But if he walks I think it's fair to say it was his decision.

[AS Collie]