THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[RomaShield27]

He's meant to be very promising (but who from Brazil isn't these days? All you need is a greedy agent and a well made 5 minute YouTube montage). I'm all for giving youth its chance, but I don't know how confident I'd be with an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old as our only back-up to Burdisso and Castan.

[DCGweez]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSCQR04I ... ata_player

The best video (audio) I may have ever seen (heard). Gio will like this...

Zampa...

Also today is the fouryear anniversary of Franco Sensi's death.

[maro]

[DCGweez]

Roma have reportedly clinched a deal for Corinthians central defender Marquinhos worth €5m.

According to the latest rumours, a meeting was held overnight to bash out the final details of the transfer.
Marquinhos would move on loan for €1.5m with a mandatory option to buy at the end of the season for a further €3.5m.
The Brazilian defender would then put pen to paper on a five-year contract with option for a sixth season.
Marquinhos is not to be mistaken for Marquinho, the midfielder who joined Roma in January.
His full name is Marcos Aoas Correa and he only turned 18 in May.

[maro]

And in more important news, the All Blacks have rolled the Aussies.

[DCGweez]

You have to be better than us at something I suppose.

[maro]

True. But at everything, though?

[DCGweez]

The Nile ain't just a riverin Egypt.

Wait...yeah it is.

[DCGweez]

[romawi]

http://www.forzaroma.info/rassegna-stam ... re-jovetic

So, apparently DDR has given the all clear.

[Lupa]

On the other hand, il Messagero reports that De Rossi says "no", or so the headline says. I don't think the situation is clear

http://www.ilmessaggero.it/sport/asroma ... 4744.shtml

[RomaShield27]

Jasas, what can we say, other than its bullshit? Or at least hope it is. There is no way we can sell him. Not for even €100m. If we do then football is truly finished. Its just media speculation, surely, there's no way this could happen.

[Lupa]

Yeah, I don't think that the fact that the team has moved 43 players (is that number right, Shield, ???? that's what C4 is reporting) should be taken as an indication that De Rossi will be sold. The other player moves are in a different class, or I should say he's in a different class. If they sell him then I may be done.

[DCGweez]

Pedullà: "C'è l'offerta del City per De Rossi. Queste sono le ore delle decisioni finali"

A piece of my love for the team will die if they sell him.

[maro]

Whether he stays or goes, it's pretty much the same thing, no? It's a business decision. If Shitty offer enough, the club will decide it's in its interests to sell him. If he goes, DDR will have decided winning things elsewhere is more appealing than not winning them at Roma. If Shitty don't offer enough, the club will simply have decided that 'loyalty' and the value of a Roman bandiera is a little more than is being offered, but they'll still have recognised that it does reduce down to a value in euros. And if DDR stays, it'll be because Roma's paying him a fat salary and he thinks he's still a chance to win things there. That's professional sport; that's football. It's no different, really, from the decision to sell Pizarro or to let Juan go. Of course, if he stays we can close our eyes to the realities of the situation and insist that it's a triumph for loyalty and romance when, in fact, it'll just be a function of an equally hard-headed set of calculations.

[DCGweez]

Oh don't get me wrong, i don't think they care provided the money's right. I'm just saying it will be a sad day. We know it's all up to DDR anyway. He may not have initiated it. But he can end it anytime he wants. He'd only have to threaten to go on TV and blame the "Americans" for forcing him out.

[Italiamia]

I cannot agree with everything you say there, Tommaso. First of all, we are know that like politics, money drives the system. Players seek to derive as much as possible over the course of a career. Whether that is primarily salary based, or, in terms of the world class players, a combination of salary and major endorsements. Most players have no sense of loyalty and most if not all owners do not operate based on loyalty. I learned that lesson in the summer of 1984, lest I be accused of being pollyannaish on the subject. Aside from whether this ownership views the potential cash wind fall of moving De Rossi abroad as good business, you, Tom, have been citing less than honest motives on the part of De Rossi for a while now. You have further indicted him for feigned loyalty, and you attributed the torturous contact negotiations to be a product born of De Rossi's selfish desire to hold the team hostage in the process of landing the biggest pay day of his career.

The system being what it is, I do not necessarily have a problem with players seeking to benefit as much as possible from their talent. They have relatively short careers and are not equipped to be significant contributors to the economy after football. Moreover, they produce millions for their respective clubs. On the other hand, and what bothers me the most, is the attitude of both players and ownership. Ownership, like the one at Man Shitty and elsewhere who have money to burn upsetting any perceived balance in the game and are willing, as in the case of De Rossi, to dangle the cash carrot on a stick leading Roma ownership down this path where the future Captain may very well be sold. Then, we have players, who have developed a selfish arrogance wrapped in narcissism and disloyalty. All of this is the product of money, fan idolatry, and commercialization. These players live in an alternate universe, they live the lives of celebrities. How can we blame them? We are not talking about intellectual giants but kids making millions who have the admiration of their fans and the media. It is the state of the game, it is what it is, and there is nothing we as fans can do about it.

With that said, I am sorry but I cannot accept the premise that De Rossi has no loyalty, or that he is in the game for some kind of monetary self gratification. He has been a target of every major team in the world for years now. I do not recall, Tommaso, you going after him with such a vengeance 5 years ago, or even 3 years ago. Every year, some big team comes knocking at Roma's door asking for De Rossi. They only thing of a negative nature that I attribute to Daniele is his stated wish to play in England. That is all we heard at Euro 2012. How much he admired Steven Gerrard and how he would love to play in England. Whatever De Rossi's objective, if any, was in making these statements is anybody's guess, but the effect on the media, and perhaps the top English sides, is obvious. As much as I love Daniele, he is just not smart enough, and neither is his agent, to conspire in such a scheme that would have him sold off to Manchester City just after penning a new deal with Roma. No, this is purely the product of the system that is currently running the game. It's just Man Shitty with all of that money making trouble just because the can.

[p_maldini_3]

nobody plays for free.

[DCGweez]

Don't worry too much about it Gio. I suspect our provacateur doesn't believe half the things he says. His purpose is to stir the pot.

[RomaShield27]

No chance.