THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[DCGweez]

My comments weren't directed at you Ed. I've seen a lot of Hype for a team that has a bunch of Serie B players, a Coach not in a big league in 10 years and good results against St. Agnes' school for the Poor. Our best outing was against Liverfekkin'wankscum's U-12 team.

[RomaShield27]

Whats everyone else's thoughts on the new season? Only two days away now, are we confident? Looking forward to it?
DavidP?
Lupa?
Colly?
romawi?
Frenchesco?
Pocari?
marco?
stefano?
fonz?
aba?
loazzi?
Deini?

[loazzi]

Personally, I am as excited as I have been in a long time for the start of a season. Obviously, as has been pointed out, there are some "?" surrounding this team. If either Piris or Balza go down with an injury prior to Dodo having recovered, we are in some trouble. If either Castan or Burdisso go down, it will be interesting but I do rate Romagnioli very highly (after seeing him a few times) so I'm a bit less worried about our central defense. Everywhere else we are strong and deep. I am cautiously very optimistic.

[romawi]

We're going to be playing some good football. That's all that's really important to me right now. Results always come second. Will we be contenders for the title? I would probably say so. The competition isn't all that great, and it looks like we've got a decent squad with some good depth, and considering that we're only going to be playing once a week, we should have it easier than some of our opponents who will be playing 2-3 games a week at some point in the season.

Also, Zeman.

[Italiamia]

Stekelenburg
Piris - Burdisso - Castan - Balzaretti
De Rossi - Tachtsidis - Pjanic
Lamela - Osvaldo - Totti

After Destro's suspension:


Stekelenburg
Piris - Burdisso - Castan - Balzaretti
De Rossi - Tachtsidis - Pjanic
Lamela - Osvaldo - Destro


What this gets us in terms of results going forward is anybody's guess. Let's wait until about 5 games into the season. Still, we will only have a maximum of 3 Italians starting at any given time depending on the health of the squad.

[maro]

Isn't the word on the street fairly strongly that it'll be Bradley-De Rossi-Pjanic on Sunday? Tachtsidis has been struggling with injury and, anyway, I think Bradley is ahead of him in the pecking order at this point. Balzaretti, De Rossi, Osvaldo, Totti/Destro's four, no? With Florenzi and Romagnoli waiting in the wings.

[DCGweez]

I agree on the MF and defense but the Greek is injured. I think Lamela will start although I disagree that he should.

I also think that Destro will get every opportunity to be the CF and I think they are intrigued by the chemistry that Totti and Destro have shown.

Interested to see the role of Bojan and Nico Lopez.

[Italiamia]

[RomaShield27]

Grazie, Loazzi/Romawi. Good to hear such optimism. When was the last time the majority of fans were so optimistic going into a season? Probably not since last winning the scudetto, I suspect. Some questions marks over the defense, for sure, but the Zeman effect is rubbing off on everyone and we're definitely in for some entertaining football. Wonder if we'll see anything like , though? First bit would certainly be in keeping with Zeman.

Colly will tell you the excitement in Rome itself is reaching fever pitch, and that should be shown at the Olimpico tomorrow night. I wonder is Colly going to the game, what do yis reckon? I think he could be too busy with work. Curva Sud, Distinti Sud and Curva Nord anyway, tickets still available for the Tribuna Tevere for anyone who's going. Gates also opening early at 18.15.

Tachtsidis hasn't been training regularly but has been called up for the match (see below), but yeh Bradley will probably start. Though I agree with Gio that he won't be regular starter. I wonder we'll see Florenzi get some decent playing time tomorrow? Competition for the midfield is going to be very fierce for sure so hopefully Florenzi doesn't get left out in cold. I think Tachtsidis – once he settles down a bit and gets more used to what required of him – can become a starter in this side. His energy and presence will be infectious.

Players called up. Only selected 20 players, which means all non-starters will be on the bench, and we'll have nine subs instead of the new maximum amount of 12 (which is fuckin dumb). No Perrotta, Borriello, Lucca and Dodo. Looks like the end for Perrotta, unfortunately, if he cant make this match squad with places on the bench still available.

SQUAD LIST FOR ROMA V CATANIA
/ 08/25/2012

Coach Zdenek Zeman has announced the matchday squad for tomorrow’s game against Catania

AOAS CORREA Marcos (MARQUINHOS)
BALZARETTI Federico
BRADLEY Michael
BURDISSO Nicolas
CASTAN Leandro
DE MATTOS FILHO Marco (MARQUINHO)
DE ROSSI Daniele
FLORENZI Alessandro
KRKIC Bojan
LAMELA Erik
LOBONT Bogdan
LOPEZ Nicolas
OSVALDO Pablo Daniel
PIRIS Ivan
PJANIC Miralem
ROMAGNOLI Alessio
STEKELENBURG Maarten
TACHTSIDIS Panagiotis
TADDEI Rodrigo
TOTTI Francesco

Lots of of this mornings training session.

Zeman conferenza stampa from this morning. Some nice words on Totti and also Marcos and Romagnoli.

ZEMAN: "I WANT TO GET THE FANS EXCITED"
/ 08/25/2012



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Also, is the match on TV for people here, wherever you are in the world? I have ESPNUK and Setanta Ireland showing four Serie A games this weekend, but no Roma v Catania on Sunday. Setanta showing Atalanta v Lazio (also 7:45PM) while ESPNUK showing PSG v Bordeaux.

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for the new season of the Prediction League! Always a good laugh, the new season starts this afternoon (although you can still join anytime).

Also take our poll and post your picks for the , and check out the .

[forzaitalia]

Can't wait for tomorrow. Important to get off to a good start, and I think we will. Great to hear about the expected high attendance.

The last time I was really confident/expectant going into a season was probably 08/09. Mourinho had just joined Inter so I wasn't expecting the title but after two second placed finishes in 06/07 and in particular 07/08 (as well as making the CL Quarter finals in both of those, fook off United) I thought we were gonna do very well again under Spalletti but it turned out to be a poor season overall. And despite our excellent form under Ranieri in 09/10, I wasn't too sure we could keep it up in 10/11 after signing only Adriano and Borriello that summer.

bet365 are still showing Serie A games this season I think? So that'll have to do tomorrow night, fortunatley they're good quality streams.

[romawi]

[RomaShield27]

[Lupa]

I'm sorry to say I'm not as optimistic as some here. Ballsaready is an improvement at LB but CB and RB are question marks for me other than Burdisso, provided he's healthy and not suspended. I see a few unproven Serie A players there, so I'm going to wait and see. I do think we can improve on last year, but I see this team as a work in progress. I think Fio will be better this year and I'm not sure anyone other than Bilan have regressed. I'd say more but my internet connection is seriously messed up right now.

I am looking forward to see Roma playing an exciting style, I hope.

[RomaShield27]

Your lack of optimism may prove to be well founded, Lupa. A lot of romanisti, including myself, I suppose, are getting carried away with Zemanlandia, and while there's nothing wrong with that exactly, it may make the bump back down to reality that bit harder. Still, its fun, isnt it, and we're all hoping for an exciting and entertaining season. I think we'll get that alright, but whether all the results go our way or not remains to be seen.

I'm looking forward to seeing Castan. I think he can develop a nice partnership with Burdisso and I think he'll settle into Italian football pretty well and pretty quick. He'll have to, really, as he doesn't have any other option. I just hope both of them can stay fit and healthy. We have some very promising young defenders as back-up, but there will be a lot of pressure on their young shoulders should we lose one of our first choice two. As for right-back, I agree it could remain a problem position. Piris looks promising, but I get the feeling it may take him longer to settle in compared to Castan, say. Plus we've no other natural cover there, although Zeman said in his presser yesterday he's more than happy with either Balza or Taddei playing right-back, and happy with four full-backs in Balza, Piris, Taddei and Dodo, once he's fit.

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Roma-Catania: le probabili formazioni. Corsport e Corsera puntano su Lobont in porta
/ domenica 26 agosto 2012 10:42

Queste le probabili formazioni del match dell’Olimpico (ore 20.45) riportati dai principali quotidiani nazionali:

IL MESSAGGERO
ROMA (4-3-3): 24 Stekelenburg; 23 Piris, 29 Burdisso, 5 Castan, 42 Balzaretti; 4 Bradley, 16 De Rossi, 15 Pjanic; 8 Lamela, 9 Osvaldo, 10 Totti. All.: Zeman
CATANIA (4-3-3): 21 Andujar; 22 Alvarez, 14 Bellusci, 6 Legrottaglie, 33 Capuano; 27 Biagianti, 10 Lodi, 4 Almiron; 28 Barrientos, 9 Bergessio, 17 Gomez. All.: Maran

IL CORRIERE DELLO SPORT
ROMA (4-3-3): 1 Lobont; 23 Piris, 29 Burdisso, 5 Castan, 42 Balzaretti; 4 Bradley, 16 De Rossi, 15 Pjanic; 8 Lamela, 9 Osvaldo, 10 Totti. All.: Zeman
CATANIA (4-3-3): 21 Andujar; 22 Alvarez, 6 Legrottaglie, 14 Bellusci, 12 Marchese; 27 Biagianti, 10 Lodi, 4 Almiron; 28 Barrientos, 9 Bergessio, 17 Gomez. All.: Maran

IL ROMANISTA
ROMA (4-3-3): 24 Stekelenburg; 23 Piris, 29 Burdisso, 5 Castan, 42 Balzaretti; 4 Bradley, 16 De Rossi, 15 Pjanic; 8 Lamela, 9 Osvaldo, 10 Totti. All.: Zeman
CATANIA (4-3-3): 21 Andujar; 22 Alvarez, 14 Bellusci, 6 Legrottaglie, 33 Capuano; 27 Biagianti, 10 Lodi, 4 Almiron; 28 Barrientos, 17 Gomez, 9 Bergessio. All.: Maran

IL TEMPO
ROMA (4-3-3): 24 Stekelenburg; 23 Piris, 29 Burdisso, 5 Castan, 42 Balzaretti; 4 Bradley, 16 De Rossi, 15 Pjanic; 17 Lopez, 9 Osvaldo, 10 Totti. All.: Zeman
CATANIA (4-3-3): 21 Andujar; 22 Alvarez, 14 Bellusci, 6 Legrottaglie, 33 Capuano; 27 Biagianti, 10 Lodi, 4 Almiron; 28 Barrientos, 17 Gomez, 9 Bergessio. All.: Maran

LA GAZZETTA SPORTIVA
ROMA (4-3-3): 24 Stekelenburg; 23 Piris, 29 Burdisso, 5 Castan, 42 Balzaretti; 4 Bradley, 16 De Rossi, 15 Pjanic; 8 Lamela, 9 Osvaldo, 10 Totti. All.: Zeman
CATANIA (4-3-3): 21 Andujar; 22 Alvarez, 14 Bellusci, 6 Legrottaglie, 33 Capuano; 27 Biagianti, 10 Lodi, 4 Almiron; 28 Barrientos, 9 Bergessio, 17 Gomez. All.: Maran

IL CORRIERE DELLA SERA
ROMA (4-3-3): 1 Lobont; 23 Piris, 29 Burdisso, 5 Castan, 42 Balzaretti; 4 Bradley, 16 De Rossi, 15 Pjanic; 8 lamela, 9 Osvaldo, 10 Totti. All.: Zeman
CATANIA (4-3-3): 21 Andujar; 22 Alvarez, 6 Legrottaglie, 14 Bellusci, 33 Capuano; 27 Biagianti, 10 Lodi, 4 Almiron; 28 Barrientos, 9 Bergessio, 17 Gomez. All.: Maran

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

Ventata di ottimismo con l’effetto Zeman
/ domenica 26 agosto 2012 08:17

(Il Messaggero CURVA SUD – P.Liguori) Roma è in attesa. Da due mesi aspetta e prepara questa serata. La Roma torna in campo con un mucchio di ambizioni e speranze. Con Zeman, Totti e De Rossi, il migliore menù giallorosso possibile. I cuori giallorossi sono in ebollizione, gli altri fanno i debiti scongiuri. E però devono ammettere tutti che il ritorno del Boemo sulla panchina della Roma è diventato un evento cittadino, che supera il tifo. Romanisti a parte, non c’è un tifoso di calcio che, dopo la sua squadra del cuore, non abbia pensato almeno una volta a Zeman e alla sua nuova Roma.

E moltissimi con simpatia. Ci voleva proprio, dopo un anno di inutili chiacchiere e superfluo possesso palla. La A.S. Roma ha trovato il jolly e si è riscattata. La dirigenza ha lavorato bene e recuperato, moltiplicandolo, affetto e attenzione. Per noi malati giallorossi, le buone notizie vanno oltre Zeman. Stasera ritroviamo Totti e De Rossi, i soliti noti. L’Intramontabile e il Romanista Vero. Divertiamoci a ricordare quante volte hanno provato ad usare questi due campioni romani contro la Roma. Totti è finito almeno 10 volte, soprattutto per gli addetti ai lavori. De Rossi ha cambiato maglia per denaro almeno 10 volte. Invece sono sempre con noi, alla faccia di chi non li ha mai avuti. Il capitano più in forma che mai alla ricerca del record di gol in campionato. Daniele con una classe e una grinta che ci fa sognare i prossimi dieci anni. Sono con Zeman che, come loro, scatena gli invidiosi: «gioca bene, ma non vince». Lasciamoli parlare, lasciamoli sbavare. Poveri loro!

[maro]

translation?

[RomaShield27]

[maro]

Lazy.

[RomaShield27]

Not many surprises:

FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI

Roma (4-3-3): Stekelenburg; Piris, Burdisso, Castan, Balzaretti; Bradley, De Rossi, Pjanic; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti

Roma-Catania A disposizione | Substitutes: Lobont, Marquinhos, Romagnoli, Taddei, Florenzi, Tatchtsidis, Marquinho, Lopez, Bojan

Will be interesting to see how the four new lads get on. I'm curious to see how Piris does, bit of an unknown. We've only 9 subs instead of the 12, but still lots of options. Cant wait for this one.