THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

Rosi would certainly be exposed playing in this defence and perhaps would have suffered even more than Piris, but he would have been able to offer more going forward. Crescenzi, who knows... Zeman didnt think he was ready at all, but it would have been nice to see him given a chance.

DE ROSSI AND OSVALDO
/ 10/19/2012

With regard to the reports which appeared in several of today's newspapers, AS Roma denies the outlandish conjecture about the supposed unprofessional behaviour and "wild nights out" of two its employees as well as the coach's presumed "punishment". Footballers Daniele De Rossi and Daniel Pablo Osvaldo had no involvement whatsoever in the falsely reported facts. Therefore, in order to protect its employees, AS Roma reserves the right to take action through the appropriate channels against anyone who spreads reports that harm the image of the club and its players.

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

I convocati for Genoa. Destro out with a muscle strain and Burdisso out with a sore back. Dodo, despite talk of him making debut, is not even called up. Castan is included and should be ok despite suffering an ankle injury in training yesterday.

GENOA v ROMA AS Roma squad list:
BALZARETTI
BRADLEY
CASTAN
DE ROSSI
FLORENZI
GOICOECHEA
LAMELA
LOPEZ
MARQUINHO
MARQUINHOS
OSVALDO
PERROTTA
PIRIS
PJANIC
ROMAGNOLI
STEKELENBURG
SVEDKAUSKAS
TACHTSIDIS
TADDEI
TOTTI

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Cool pics of Cafu meeting the boys at Trigoria:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 457&type=1

[maro]

So the expectations are that DDR and Osvaldo will both be back in the starting 11 today:
http://www.forzaroma.info/2012/10/21/la ... ora/159340
Destro's injury probably makes the latter inevitable. I'd love to see DDR reinvent (or rediscover) himself as an interno or mezz'ala. Some of the glimpses of his dribbling skills you see rarely and the goals he has scored arriving late into the box suggest there's more to be released there. I've always thought he was most of all a true old-fashioned 'box-to-box' player in an old-school 4-4-2 which is probably kind of half regista and half interno. If Zeman plays him in the corridor inside the wing-forward, I think he might come good. The problem comes when he's asked to end up outside the forward - in the role of the mezz'ala - that I see him struggling because he's just a bit too heavy and not quite quick enough.

[DCGweez]

I think if Zeman is smart he'll watch him with the Nazionale the past few games. Yes they are different systems but he's still playing with a regista and asked to get into the box and be a target man.

Seems to me there are some things to be learned there. Of course that's assuming Zeman is willing to have a look.

I think the problem is tempo. You can watch DDR play too slow for Zeman's liking and there is the conundrum. I'll always side with our beloved Dan Ross and yet, what is Zeman to do if one of his mainstays is slowing down the team? Especially since tempo is central to his system.

[RomaShield27]

Great performance. First 15 minutes aside, of course. You have now entered Zemanlandia. Hang on to your seats.


Genoa 2-4 Roma - Pablo Osvaldo Double Inspires Roma Comeback
/ 21 Oct 2012 / By Anthony Wright

Roma came back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 in Genoa on Sunday night to resume their Serie A campaign in the best possible way after the international break.

Genoa started brightly, looking threatening down both flanks and exploiting Roma's loose possession. It took only six minutes for the home side to take the lead, with Marco Borriello's neat touch falling to Juraj Kucka 20 yards out and the Slovakian struck a superb shot first time into the far corner.

The Marassi crowd were right behind their team and Zdenek Zeman's side were struggling to get into their rhythm, often finding themselves moving backwards thanks to Genoa's defensive organisation.

The second goal was not long in coming as Roma found themselves 2-0 down inside a quarter of an hour. Again Borriello was at the centre of the move, and after the ball came back off the crossbar the ball was headed across for Bosko Jankovic to steer a low finish past Maarten Stekelenburg.

Borriello nearly made it three moments later as he turned Leandro Castan with ease but this time Stekelenburg made the save at his near post. Sebastian Frey was forced to make a save midway through the first half but Pablo Osvaldo's header was tame and easily stopped.

The visitors were finally sparking into life and Alessandro Florenzi nearly scored spectacularly from Daniele De Rossi's cross but his effort flew just wide of Frey's left hand post. On 27 minutes, the Roma pressure paid off as Francesco Totti brought his side back into it, turning and firing a low shot into the bottom corner from inside the area.

The momentum had completely swung in the game and Roma were looking more likely to score next, with Federico Balzaretti proving a dangerous outlet on the left hand side. Florenzi was also looking threatening, making some good runs and testing Frey with a curling effort on 35 minutes.

The French goalkeeper was called into action a few moments later when Ivan Piris found Erik Lamela in the penalty area, and the Argentine's low shot was stopped by the keeper's feet. At the other end, Stekelenburg made an excellent save from Cristobal Jorquera's long range effort.

Just before half time, Roma found the equaliser as De Rossi combined with Piris, and the Paraguayan did excellently to clip a cross over for Osvaldo to volley home at the far post.

Roma began the second half in the same vein, pressing forward and looking to complete the turnaround. Both Balzaretti and Piris were almost operating as wingers, allowing others to find more space further infield.

10 minutes into the second half, Roma went in front. Florenzi's corner was met by Osvaldo, who headed powerfully into the top corner for his second of the game.

Despite a couple of changes in the early part of the second half, Roma remained dominant and were playing some superb football. Clear cut chances were few though as the final ball was found lacking, with the likes of Piris and Totti in good positions but unable to find the right delivery.

As the second half wore on, Roma's tempo gradually eased off but the Grifoni remained unable to make much of an attacking impression. Totti, pulling the strings once again, launched an inch-perfect through ball for Lamela with 15 minutes to go but his touch let him down and allowed Frey to gather.

Genoa were down to 10 men late on as Borriello required extensive treatment for an ankle injury (Genoa had already made all three substitutions by this point), and Roma took advantage with seven minutes remaining by making it 4-2 thanks to Lamela's calm finish that curled into the bottom corner.

Osvaldo nearly completed his hat-trick a minute later but his shot bent inches wide of the post, and that was the final chance he had before being taken off for Michael Bradley. Though there were five minutes of injury time, Genoa were a beaten side and did not threaten to pull a goal back late on.

GENOA: Frey, Canini, Bovo, Antonelli (Melazzi), Granqvist, Moretti, Jankovic, Kucka, Seymour (Bertolacci), Borriello, Jorquera (Immobile).

ROMA: Stekelenburg, Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Balzaretti, De Rossi, Tachtsidis, Florenzi (Pjanic), Lamela, Osvaldo (Bradley), Totti.

[forzaitalia]

Excellent for 75 minutes, yep. Was horrified at the start, never expected us to respond the way we did. Although, that said, if any team is gonna come back from 2 down away from home to win 4-2, it's a Zeman team. We played some great stuff, Osvaldo is becoming pretty lethal too.

I know we're never gonna be exactly 'strong' at defending under Zeman, but I've been quietly impressed with Castan, think he's done well so far.

[DCGweez]

Proud of the boys. Given what we were all thinking, it's safe to say that it was a nervy come back. Everyone above us save Napoli had won.

Best of all some of our "lesser" players like Piris did some good work on the day.

With Zeman it's never a dull moment...

[maro]

Both goals conceded were really the product of individual errors rather than of a system leaving the defence exposed. The offside line in the build-up to the second was horrific (on top of the way the ball was given away). The first was a fine strike, but the problem was the gap between defence and midfield - in each case, though, there were sufficient numbers back to have dealt with the situation had things been done properly. The midfield let Kucka 'ghost in' behind them rather than found themselves caught too high up the pitch to get back and resolve the problem. Probably the most impressive part of the performance - though this may be an indictment on Genoa more than anything - was how little the side did actually suffer defensively.

Piris did very well. He'll have more good games if DDR has good games as the interno in front of him.

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

Totti didnt seem to bad when this incident happened last night, so lets hope its nothing too serious.

22.10.2012 / http://www.asroma.it/it/notizie/frances ... no_medico/

Il calciatore Francesco Totti, a seguito del trauma riportato in occasione del contrasto rimediato ieri negli ultimi minuti dell’incontro Genoa-Roma, questa mattina è stato sottoposto ad un controllo diagnostico strumentale al ginocchio destro dal prof. Mariani, che non ha evidenziato lassità patologiche, così come riscontrato nella nottata di ieri dai medici del club giallorosso. Il giocatore nella giornata di oggi si è già sottoposto ad una terapia antinfiammatoria.

[Lupa]

De Rossi and Destro like Coldplay?

http://www.asroma.it/en/team/music.html

Florenzi picked not one, but TWO Michael Buble tunes. Who knew?

[RomaShield27]

11 minutes of Totti v Genoa. Nice.



Romagnoli: “Alla Roma sto bene, mi manca solo l’esordio in Serie A…”
/ martedì 23 ottobre 2012 10:43

Alessio Romagnoli, giovane difensore in attesa dell’esordio in Serie A, ha parlato ai microfoni di SkySport del suo futuro nella Roma: “Spero di esordire, manca solo quello. Io mi impegno e do sempre il massimo. Avere un maestro come il mister è fondamentale, lui ci fa crescere e ci butta dentro senza problemi. Non penso a scendere in B, sto bene a Roma e spero di esordire qui. Nesta? E’ stato uno dei più forti in Italia, magari essere come lui”.

"I hope to start, missing only one. I am committed and try my best. Having a teacher like the coach is crucial, he lets us grow and throws us in with no problems. I don't think I'll go to Serie B, I'm fine in Rome and I hope to start here. Nesta? He was one of the strongest in Italy, perhaps I'll be like him."

[stefano]

[DCGweez]

http://www.calciomercato.com/prima-pagi ... nic-368213

[RomaShield27]

Cinema e tv in giallorosso, in five parts, thanks to our friend Ermes:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1630825703384
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1631357836687
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1632328340949
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=293894704043381
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.ph ... 8480709670

[DCGweez]

http://theinsideleft.com/zeman-eleven/

[maro]

Tre mesi di qua, tre mesi di questa città: la cosa più bella?
Tutto. Roma è tutta bella, ma una cosa mi ha impressionato: è il Colosseo. Poi la cucina. Si mangia bene come a San Paolo, per me è importante.

[DCGweez]

Who said that Castan?

[RomaShield27]

Balzaretti stop di 10/15 giorni. Si cerca di recuperarlo per il derby
/ venerdì 26 ottobre 2012 11:43

(dall’inviato di ForzaRoma.info) “Lesione di primo grado al bicipite femorale della coscia destra”. Questo il responso medico per Federico Balzaretti, controllato questa mattina al Campus Bio medico di Trigoria. Il laterale sinistro potrebbe rientrare per il derby. Per lui, infatti, è previsto uno stop di 10-15 giorni.

Balza out for two weeks with a thigh/hamstring strain, hopefully he's ok for the derby.

Taddei is also likely to miss out with a muscle strain, so it looks like it could be time for Dodo to finally make his debut for real. Orrrrrrrr maybe not. Totti is also for Udinese on Sunday with his dodgy ginocchio, he could play, but he might not be risked in anticipation of the following mid-week game against Parma. Florenzi may also be rested as he is tired and not training regularly "after running like a maniac for weeks" (lolz), so we could see Pjanic back in the frame. De Rossi-Tachtsidis-Pjanic have never started together in the league.

[maro]

Yeah, Castan. He sounds solid - good priorities. Except for the bit in the interview about dog. Other than that.