THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[DCGweez]

What is he a bible banger? I suppose there are worse habits to have. Some spend their time in pursuit of more earthly pleasures to the detriment of their performance on the pitch.

[maro]

[maro]

[forzaitalia]

[w2k]

he had a thing.or.two to say about LE, calling him arrogant and also Roma board shouldnt have chosen someone with more experience insteaf of choosing him

[RomaShield27]

Ciao w2k, good to see you again.


Roma-Udinese, le formazioni dei quotidiani: esordio per Dodò, nessun riposo per Florenzi. Pjanic ancora in panchina
/ domenica 28 ottobre 2012 10:12

(Redazione Forzaroma.info) - Tutto chiaro, in attesa di Zeman. I principali quotidiani sembrano essere d’accordo sulla formazione anti Udinese: fugati i dubbi della vigilia, nessuna sorpresa per quanto riguarda i possibili ballottaggi in difesa e in attacco; aiutati dal lancio di Zeman, i giornali hanno provveduto a schierare titolare Dodò: tutto fa pensare che per il brasiliano ci sia finalmente spazio dal primo minuto, per ammissione dello stesso tecnico la sua candidatura sulla sinistra si inserisce perfettamente in un momento nero per le corsie giallorosse. Out Balzaretti e Taddei, l’alternativa Dodò ha preso corpo anche alla luce della chiusura di Zeman sul ventilato spostamento di Castan a sinistra.

A centrocampo è confermato Florenzi: a meno di clamorose decisioni dell’ultimo minuto, sarà lui a completare il reparto insieme a De Rossi e Tachtsidis, con Miralem Pjanic costretto all’ennesima panchina. Schieramento tipo in attacco, con Totti ad illuminare la vena positiva di Erik Lamela e Pablo Osvaldo.

LA GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT
Stekelenburg, Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Dodò, Tachtsidis, De Rossi, Florenzi, Totti, Osvaldo, Lamela

IL MESSAGGERO
Stekelenburg, Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Dodò, Tachtsidis, De Rossi, Florenzi, Totti, Osvaldo, Lamela

IL ROMANISTA
Stekelenburg, Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Dodò, Tachtsidis, De Rossi, Florenzi, Totti, Osvaldo, Lamela

IL TEMPO
Stekelenburg, Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Dodò, Tachtsidis, De Rossi, Florenzi, Totti, Osvaldo, Lamela

CORRIERE DELLO SPORT
Stekelenburg, Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Dodò, Tachtsidis, De Rossi, Florenzi, Totti, Osvaldo, Lamela

CORRIERE DELLA SERA
Stekelenburg, Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Dodò, Tachtsidis, De Rossi, Florenzi, Totti, Osvaldo, Lamela

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

PARMA V ROMA: A BIT OF HISTORY:

http://www.asroma.it/en/news/news.html?id=7159

[RomaShield27]

james richardson ‏@acjimbo
It's true - Roma udinese IS on tonight instead of OM- OL. Winds from the North strike again! @ESPNUK

http://tv.espn.co.uk/gb/espl/tv-schedule

[w2k]

good to be back did i miss much

[Lupa]

So, how's that koolaid tasting now?

I blame maro. I left at HT, and he should have managed to preserve the win.

[RomaShield27]

Oh lord, how about that game. Same old story, same old Zeman. Some great play early on this time and all looking good, yet unable to hang on to the lead and see it out or look to add more. Its clear that we're unable to keep up the all out attack and pressure high up the field all the time – not many teams could, a much higher level of fitness is required – yet we're not able to hold out and keep teams at bay when we have that lead. Zeman blames it on a lack of concentration and not having the same intensity levels, which is fair enough, but its something we've seen far too often this season and remains the biggest issue we have. Also have to consider that this was a seriously weakened Udinese side missing 2/3's of their first choice defense.

The peno was very harsh, and 2-2 probably would have been a fair result, yet our second-half overall was very poor and we didn't get much going in the forward department and looked a mess once again at the back. Castan and Marquinhos were poor. Its hard to be overly critical of them, as in the first-half they looked comfortable when we were attacking, yet when we play like we did in the second its the defenders who suffer, yet they didn't cover themselves in glory several times in that second-half and for Udinese's second. Dodo looked impressive and showed good signs, but looked very tired very early. Marquinho offered something going forward as you would expect, but may as well have been sitting in the stands when it came to defending, he didn't bother to get back much.

Aside from our back-line, a lot of other players underperformed. Totti was a little slow and out of sorts in the second-half and Osvaldo offered little. DDR and Pjanic are still struggling in their roles and we didn't get enough from them today. This was Pjanic's chance to show Zeman what he's capable off yet he looked more interested in moaning at anyone who'd listen then putting the hard yards in as is expected from him. Its getting more and more difficult to see a future for Pjanic is Zeman's Roma. I understand Tachtsidis will be criticized and his red card was silly, but I don't think he was the worst out there. He looks the fittest of the midfield trio and along with Florenzi is the best of the midfielders at understanding what Zeman expects from him, hence why he keeps picking him. Zeman said it'll be either DDR or Bradley playing in his absence against Parma (DDR surely), but he also said Tachtsidis will be back after his suspension. It goes to show name or reputation means little, Zeman keeps faith with those who best understand what is expected of him and understands the system.

[RomaShield27]

Sooooooo.... did anyone else see the game? Where is everyone?

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Parma-Roma,i convocati: C’è Dodò, ancora out Taddei, Lobont e Balzaretti
/ martedì 30 ottobre 2012 12:24

La Roma ha reso noti, sul suo sito ufficiale, i convocati per la sfida di domani sera al Tardini contro il Parma. Il mister Zdenek Zeman è stato costretto a rinunciare agli infortunati Taddei, Lobont e Balzaretti. Ancora una convocazione per Dodò.

I CONVOCATI:

Bradley
Burdisso
Castan
De Rossi
Destro
Dodò
Florenzi
Goicoechea
Lamela
Lopez
Marquinho
Marquinhos
Osvaldo
Perrotta
Piris
Pjanic
Romagnoli
Stekelenburg
Svedkauskas
Totti

(asroma.it)

[red]

It watched the game.

Jolly entertaining it was, too.

Roma's defence is a mess because they don't commit en masse to what they are going to do.

Zeman seems to want them to press, but the players don't seem terribly comfortable doing that, so many of them want to drop off and play deeper.

That leads to huge gaps appearing without the opposition really having to work to get Roma out of shape.

Roma need to commit to a style of defence that involves the defence and midfield moving forward or back as a single unit - and it doesn't even really matter which one they choose because they are never going to be good at defending, but they can avoid some of the horrendous things they've been doing so far.

[RomaShield27]

Agreed, Red. It certainly is a big issue which makes us looks like a side who's never played together before. A lot of it comes down to what Zeman is saying when he says a lot of players still aren't used to the system or doing exactly what is required of them and we're not defending as a team, and a lot of it comes down to simple fitness. Its a lot harder to continually press high up the pitch when the opposition has the ball when your jaded and not going at it at full intensity. Some players press but some drop deep, as at times it can be a lot easier to jog back rather than sprint straight at the man in possession of the ball.

Like you said, it does make for some highly entertaining stuff to watch, for a nuetral at least, when we go all out attack and play some lovely football and score a few times, and then follow that by reverting to 'normal' mode and look a shambles at the back.

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

Some interesting stuff on DDR from Zeman today. He wasn't really a regista last season (as the suggested), it was more a makeshift makeyuppy LE speciale possesso paello kinda jobby. Its a tough one, DDR's best position has always been as a defensive-midfielder, but Zeman has said that regista is not his natural position, and he's been struggling on the ball a lot lately.

ZEMAN: "OUR GAME IS ANYTHING BUT PREDICTABLE"
/ 10/30/2012

GROWTH
I don’t believe that our growth process was wiped out with Sunday night’s defeat. We played good football against both Bologna and Udinese. Unfortunately we paid for careless errors. Is our game predictable? After the first half hour we could have been up 4-0, so it doesn’t seem to me that our game was so predictable. Are we only holding out physically for the first 30 minutes? I don’t believe so. In Genoa we came back in the second half.

REGISTA
I still haven’t decided who will replace Tachtsidis in front of the defence. De Rossi didn’t play as a regista in the past seasons – Pizarro covered that role – and last year he also played as a central defender. Daniele has played for eight years as a right-sided midfielder, so he shouldn’t have any problems playing this role now. I never said that De Rossi couldn’t play as a regista; my thoughts are that it’s not his natural role. He’s only played a few times in that position and always in an emergency. The same goes for Pjanic, who has never played that role.

SQUAD
I’m happy with the squad. Everyone can turn out to be useful and find his place. And then things always depend on the times in which the players are called up. I don’t like this game of letting go of players who don’t play. If that’s the way we think then we’ll end up with only eleven players. The negative judgment towards my players? It always depends on the moment. If the team wins the players are serious, and if they lose they’re all spoilt and lazy. I don’t see it that way. Is the group united? We have many foreign players and integrating them takes time, as it happens in every team.

CHOICES
Nico Lopez? It is always a question of choices, and we can only field eleven players. Now you’re all happy with Lamela’s form, as I am. I work for Roma, not against Roma, and I have no need to change. Dodô? He’s not at 100%, but he showed some lovely things on Sunday evening. Now he has to find consistency. Are there too many players in question? They need to climb the ranks based on what they do on the pitch and what the team needs. I always try to use the players I can rely upon most, week in and week out. And then the hierarchies can always change depending on physical and mental states. This is a normal process since there’s competition in every team.

ARMERO V TACHTSIDIS
Did I see the incident? Yes, Armero spat at Tachtsidis. Oddly on TV they showed the replay of the time that he spat at the ground, which had nothing to do with it.

PARMA
They’re playing well, but in Turin they let in a goal and then recovered. Amauri has started scoring again and is always a threat. I believe Donadoni is doing excellent work with a team that isn’t ranked the highest yet manages to play attractive football.

RESULTS
Unfortunately we threw away six points in the games against Bologna and Udinese at the Stadio Olimpico. We’d be sitting much better in the standings if we had those points. In my opinion we put in some good performances, but unfortunately we couldn’t keep them up over 90 minutes. Most of all in those two games I mentioned we made several mistakes that influenced the result. We need to improve in this sense and find consistency and focus for the full 90 minutes of play.

DESTRO AND FLORENZI
I believe Destro is an important player for us, but the problem is that you play with 11 men and I field 3 forwards up top, which some say are too many. Right now Osvaldo, Totti and Lamela give me a certain sense of trust, which is why I chose them. But I repeat, Destro is an important player. We’ll need him and he’ll do well with us. How is Florenzi doing? He picked up a knock in training, but he’s been called up to the squad.

OBJECTIVES
Do I still believe in third place? Yes, of course. As far as our performances are concerned I think we’ve showed we can compete with anyone, although unfortunately not over the full 90 minutes yet. This is what has always happened, except in Turin.

IDEAS
I think a coach has to have some personal ideas and introduce them or try to carry them out by way of his players. I’m open to discussing them. But I also believe in my ideas, and until someone convinces me otherwise I’ll continue down my own path.

TACTICAL CHANGE FROM THE PAST
Tactically this year we’re trying to play a different kind of football compared to what the team played last year, so it’s normal that these kinds of changes take time to be fully digested. From this point of view we have to improve most of all in defence. In fact, the 4 defenders still aren’t moving together in harmony as a close-knit group that plays together. This isn’t easy, and we also have to consider that often the four defenders in question are new players who showed up this year, so they’re taking to the pitch for the first time together.

ERRORS
There were some lapses in concentration and we paid dearly for them. Who’s responsible for them? I’m the coach and it’s normal for me to speak up first, although they are often individual rather than team mistakes. But I repeat, we have to improve our concentration, in addition to the consistency of our performances.

[Lupa]

Roma released draft financial statements today. The team is carrying forward a loss of 58.3 million euros. Not sure what that means in real terms as far as operations go, but not making European football isn't helping.

http://www.asroma.it/pdf/corporate/comu ... e_2012.pdf

[RomaShield27]

Parma-Roma, la probabile formazione dei quotidiani: Bradley in regia, dubbio Dodò-Marquinho
/ mercoledì 31 ottobre 2012 09:57

(Redazione ForzaRoma.info) La gara di stasera a Parma è di vitale importanza per la Roma, dopo lo scivolone interno contro l’Udinese all’Olimpico. Zeman deve a fare a meno di Tachtsidis squalificato e molto probabilmente schiererà Bradley al posto del greco e non De Rossi, con l’azzurro sempre relegato come interno destro. Unico dubbio è chi giocherà sulla fascia sinistra: Marquinho insidia Dodò anche se la maggior parte dei quotidiani dà come favorito l’ex Corinthians. In attacco super confermato il tridente Lamela-Osvaldo-Totti.

Ecco le probabili formazione dei principali quotidiani italiani:

FORMAZIONE IL MESSAGGERO
Stekelenburg; Piris, Marquinhos, Castàn, Dodò; De Rossi, Bradley, Florenzi; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti.

FORMAZIONE IL ROMANISTA
Stekelenburg; Piris, Marquinhos, Castàn, Marquinho; De Rossi, Bradley, Florenzi; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti.

FORMAZIONE CORRIERE DELLO SPORT
Stekelenburg; Piris, Marquinhos, Castàn, Dodò; De Rossi, Bradley, Florenzi; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti.

FORMAZIONE GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT
Stekelenburg; Piris, Marquinhos, Castàn, Dodò; De Rossi, Bradley, Florenzi; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti.

[DCGweez]

Supposedly Bradley is set to play in central defense today.

[RomaShield27]

Central defense?! Don't you mean centre midfield? In the absence of Tachtsidis? Where'd you hear that? That would be a surprise.

[DCGweez]

Haha sorry meant MF. Not defense. Florenzi and DDR also.

[RomaShield27]

lol, thats what I thought but with Roma you just never know. Bradley may well work as an emergency centre-back or if all current defenders start doing a Loria, but thankfully we're not at that stage yet. Although I do expect a big improvement from both Castan and Marquinhos in tonights game. They weren't helped by the teams overall defensive efforts against Udinese, for sure, but they didn't cover themselves in glory either. Interesting to see if Dodo does start again. He done a lot of good things in the Udinese game but his fitness levels were nowhere near what you would expect so starting him again could be a risk and he will like take up a sub to replace him.

Bradley in the centre is a strange one. He's no more familiar to that role than DDR is, and a lot of people would have them switched, myself included. In fact I wonder if we'll see them alternating between positions tonight?

[DCGweez]

Be interesting to see how we fare with Taxi out. I had high hopes for him after the preseason but i don't see it now. While i don't think Bradley is spectacular he is a hustler and my guess is we should be a bit better defensively with him in there which would be welcome.

The DDR thing, well, while i agree that DDR would be the best at that position it seems to be a moot point. Zeman doesn't see it.