THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[DCGweez]

OfficialASRoma: Parma-Roma
ROMA (4-3-3): Stekelenburg; Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Dodò; De Rossi, Bradley, Florenzi; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti

[RomaShield27]

[RomaShield27]

Parma 3-2 Roma - Two Defeats In Four Days For Roma
/ 31 Oct 2012 Anthony Wright

Despite going in front again, Roma succumbed to a 3-2 defeat at Parma on Wednesday evening in soaking conditions. Jonathan Biabiany had half a chance in the opening minutes, but after accelarating away from the Roma defence he completely scuffed his shot and barely made contact with the ball.

It was another error from Parma that resulted in the first goal; a poor cross fell at the feet of Cristian Zaccardo, but the defender's clearance was awful and was passed straight to Erik Lamela, who curled a perfect shot into the far corner.

The goal gave Roma an added impetus and spark to their attacks, which started to flow with pace and flair. The danger of the leaky defence was always present though, and Aleandro Rosi should have done better when afforded space to shoot down the right hand side but the former Giallorossi defender blazed his effort over the bar.

Parma should have equalised midway through the first half; Maarten Stekelenburg was out well to smother Biabiany's shot after he had been played onside by Leandro Castan, and from the rebound Marquinhos was on hand to head the cross clear as Parma players lined up to finish the move.

The home side were having the better of the play as the heavy rain began to slow the pitch down, and it paid off 10 minutes before half time as Ishak Belfodil held off the challenge of Castan following an error by Dodo to slot a neat finish past Stekelenburg. Two minutes later it was 2-1 as the water held up Marco Parolo's close range shot but he pounced quickly on the loose ball to turn it past the helpless Stekelenburg.

Antonio Mirante had to make a smart save from Francesco Totti's long range free kick as Roma looked to come back immediately, before Pablo Osvaldo's shot was cleared on the line after good work by Lamela and Mirante saved Michael Bradley's follow up shot. However at the break it remained 2-1.

Mauro Goicoechea came on at half time for the injured Stekelenburg and was forced into a save immediately as he tipped Belfodil's header away from goal.

The rain was showing no signs of letting up and the Ennio Tardini pitch was becoming increasingly waterlogged, with the result that both teams were struggling to pass the ball around effectively. A deflected cross from Marquinhos was as close as Roma had come to Mirante's goal in the second half as the clock ticked over the hour mark.

In the 65th minute, Parma increased their lead when they counter-attacked down the left hand side; the ball was centred for Belfodil, but Goicoechea was down to make a good save. Unfortuantely for Roma, Zaccardo was in place to fire the rebound at goal, and Ivan Piris could not stop the ball from crossing the line.

Lamela managed an effort at goal immediately afterwards that was deflected wide for a corner, and Roma were handed a golden chance to pull one back just afterwards when Castan was fouled in the area by Gabriel Palletta. Although Mirante saved Totti's penalty, the Roma captain was sharp enough to score the rebound.

Neither team was really able to fashion much in the final minutes of the game, and the result means a second 3-2 defeat in a matter of days for Zdenek Zeman's side.

PARMA: Mirante, Zaccardo, Paletta, Lucarelli, Rosi, Marchionni (Acquah), Valdes, Parolo, Gobbi, Biabiany (Sansone), Amauri (Belfodil).

ROMA: Stekelenburg (Goicoechea), Piris, Marquinhos, Castan, Dodo (Marquinho), De Rossi, Bradley (Perrotta), Florenzi, Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti.

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Le pagelle:

http://www.forzaroma.info/2012/10/31/pa ... sta/162678

[red]

I haven't seen anthing of the Roma game, other than the score and Zeman's post-match comments.

Did Roma adjust their play for the conditions or did they try to play their normal game?

[RomaShield27]

Try to play their normal game? There was no game to be played other than kick the ball long, hope for a lucky bounce. Really, the conditions in the second-half – when we were chasing the game – were practically unplayable, and the worst affected area of the pitch was around Parma's box, so trying any passing moves or tactics was a waste of time. All we could hope for was a lucky break, such as the peno, but we didn't have enough to swim our way back into it.

[RomaShield27]

/ giovedì 1 novembre 2012 08:55

(Corriere dello Sport – R.Maida) - Gli consegnano il foglio delle statistiche, mentre fuori la pioggia non smette di accanirsi sullo stadio Tardini. Ride amaro.Francesco Totti ha segnato il terzo gol in campionato, il diciassettesimo al Parma, il numero 218 di una carriera leggendaria in serie A, eppure non si sente contento.

Cosa non funziona in questa Roma? «Tutto. Nel senso che se riusciamo ad applicare soltanto al cinquanta per cento quello che vuole Zeman, significa che le cose non vanno bene. Creiamo tanto ma subiamo tanto. Ora dobbiamo stare uniti e uscire da questo tunnel». Con Zeman ad ogni costo. Parola dicapitano: «Credetemi, io lo conosco bene e lo stimo tantissimo. Io lo so cosa vuole, perché ci ho già giocato tanti anni fa, e so che siamo noi giocatori a non applicarlo. Però adesso siamo tutti con lui». Nonostante i confronti con i giocatori e con i dirigenti, Zeman continua a non voler cambiare atteggiamento tattico: «Lui dice di avere i giocatori adatti. Si consulta con tutti ma poi decide sa solo. Ma è molto attaccato a questa maglia e ci porterà fuori da questa situazione». (…)

Adesso è difficile pensare a obiettivi ambiziosi. Si è parlato di scudetto, si è parlato di Champions League. La verità è un bilancio quasi catastrofico dopo nove partite giocate. «Io al terzo posto credo ancora - chiarisce Totti - ed è giusto che a inizio stagione siano stati fissati dei traguardi. Certo, ormai lo scudetto non è alla nostra portata. Ma la Roma ha voglia e determinazione che non ha ancora espresso. Abbiamo un bel gruppo che saprà reagire: per ora duriamo venti minuti, cresceremo. Ci metteremo subito a pedalare perché non intendiamo vivere un altro anno di transizione. Basta con gli anni di transizione. Hanno stancato noi e anche i tifosi».

Sulla sconfitta di Parma, Totti non cerca scuse. Ma rivela un particolare: «Si è giocato a calcio per venti minuti, massimo mezz’ora. Per colpa del terreno dopo il secondo gol non era più calcio. Ho chiesto all’arbitro di interrompere la partita ma lui non mi ha dato risposte e mi ha continuato a voltare le spalle. Non lo dico per trovare un alibi ma è la verità». Anche stavolta si è verificata la situazione più stramba: Roma in vantaggio, Roma battuta. «Dipende dalla testa - dice - se sei convinto di dominare tutta la partita non prendi tutti questi gol banali. E la responsabilità non è dei difensori ma anche di noi attaccanti.»

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"We know what Zeman wants, but we are only doing 50 per cent of what he is asking for right now, which means that things are not going well. We create a lot but we suffer much. Now we have to stick together and get out of this tunnel" .

"Believe me, I know him and I respect him a lot. I know what he wants, because I have already played many years ago, and I know that the players aren't doing it. But now we are all with him"

"I still believe in third place, and that is now our objective. Of course, now the title is not within our reach. But Roma will and determination that has not yet been realized. We have a great squad, we can do well, we will grow. We will immediately because this season can’t be another transitional one for us. Enough with the years of transition. We're tired of it and so are the tifosi."

"We played football for twenty minutes, half an hour maximum. Because of the ground after the second goal was not football. I asked the referee to stop the match, but he did not give me answers, and I continued to turn their backs. I say this not to find an excuse but it is the truth."

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ZEMAN: "SORRY TO LOSE. HARD TO PLAY FOOTBALL ON A PITCH LIKE THAT"
10/31/2012

It was hard to play football out there, especially after the interval. In the first period we started well and we took the lead, we created some good things, then unfortunately we made a mistake and allowed them to level, first with Dodò missing the ball and then with Castan letting Belfodil get away. We tried to get back in it when we were 2-1 down and we had those three chances in quick succession, with the goal-line clearance from Osvaldo's shot that could have pulled us back to 2-2.

It's difficult to judge our second-half performance with the pitch in that condition. We were forced to hoof it up the field but we still managed to carve out a few opportunities. As I said, we started off better than Parma when the pitch was still playable but it's hard to assess the game over 90 minutes. But I'm sorry of course because we lost.

Am I still aiming for third place? As usual I'm not very patient and I want everything immediately. But you need to work to get it. We have to improve lots of aspects. We've been unlucky so far, but we also have to hold our hands up and say we've made mistakes. We need to show vast improvement, especially in terms of morale and our application. What I think, as I've said many times, is that we have a good team here that can play excellent football. The problem is that so far we've only been able to produce that in spats. We have the right potential so we must work on honing our abilities.

Lamela? He needs someone to push him: he has fantastic skill but he didn't always used to put it to good use. He's improved. I like the fact that he goes for goal more now and I hope he'll keep on getting better.

De Rossi? He was fielded as playmaker today but it's hard to analyse his performance because of the pitch. At the end I moved him further up so that he could take advantage of the long balls.

[Lupa]

[RomaShield27]

DDR called up but he today so likely to miss out. Also looks like we'll see a lot of changes in defence with Taddei, Balzaretti and Burdisso all coming back in.

Roma-Palermo: i convocati di Zeman, c’è De Rossi
/ sabato 3 novembre 2012 12:27

Zdenek Zeman ha diramato la lista dei giocatori che prenderanno parte alla sfida che la Prima Squadra disputerà domani alle 20:45 allo Stadio Olimpico.

Roma, 4 novembre 2012, ROMA-PALERMO, Lista convocati A.S. Roma:

BALZARETTI
BRADLEY
BURDISSO
CASTAN
DE ROSSI
DESTRO
DODO’
FLORENZI
GOICOECHEA
LAMELA
LOPEZ
MARQUINHO
MARQUINHOS
OSVALDO
PERROTTA
PIRIS
PJANIC
ROMAGNOLI
SVEDKAUSKAS
TACHTSIDIS
TADDEI
TOTTI

(asroma.it)

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Also Zeman this morning, he said "If the club is not happy with me they can make a change, but I am convinced of what I doing."

[RomaShield27]

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

Roma-Palermo, le formazioni dei quotidiani: Goicoechea titolare. Out De Rossi e Osvaldo, chance per Pjanic e Destro
http://www.forzaroma.info/2012/11/04/ro ... tro/163573
domenica 4 novembre 2012 09:16

(Redazione Forzaroma.info) - Dubbi e sorprese, così la Roma accoglie il Palermo nella sfida di questa sera all’Olimpico: i maggiori quotidiani propongono una formazione analoga tenendo conto delle possibili defezioni in seno alla rosa di mister Zeman. Riposo cautelativo o scelte tecniche, alcuni degli interrogativi sugli undici da mandare in campo troveranno risposta a pochi minuti dal fischio di inizio: in porta sembra sicuro l’esordio dall’inizio dell’uruguaiano Goicoechea, con Stekelenburg ad osservare i progressi dell’ex estremo difensore del Danubio.

Il pacchetto arretrato subirà le maggiori trasformazioni rispetto alle precedenti esibizioni: out Castan, ecco rispolverato Burdisso, mentre sulla destra il ballottaggio è tra Piris e Taddei, con il brasiliano favorito. A sinistra rientrerà Balzaretti, completamente ristabilito dopo i problemi muscolari.

L’incognita del centrocampo è Daniele De Rossi: intorno a lui ruotano tutte le altre scelte della mediana, in particolare l’utilizzo o meno di Pjanic; la sensazione è che, almeno in partenza, Capitan Futuro verrà risparmiato in vista del derby di domenica prossima mentre Tachtsidis prenderà posto in cabina di regia dopo la squalifica che gli ha fatto saltare la trasferta di Parma.

In attacco Totti e Lamela sono intoccabili, per Destro potrebbe esserci l’occasione per far capire ai tifosi che la Roma ha fatto bene a puntare su di lui: Osvaldo non è al cento per cento ma è risaputo quanto Zeman stimi l’italo-argentino e quanto lo ritenga fondamentale nei meccanismi offensivi della squadra capitolina.

LA GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT
Goicoechea, Taddei, Marquinhos, Burdisso, Balzaretti, Tachtsidis, Florenzi, Pjanic, Totti, Destro, Lamela

IL MESSAGGERO
Goicoechea, Taddei, Marquinhos, Burdisso, Balzaretti, Tachtsidis, Florenzi, Pjanic, Totti, Destro, Lamela

IL TEMPO
Goicoechea, Taddei, Marquinhos, Burdisso, Balzaretti, Tachtsidis, Florenzi, Pjanic, Totti, Destro, Lamela

CORRIERE DELLO SPORT
Goicoechea, Taddei, Marquinhos, Burdisso, Balzaretti, Tachtsidis, Florenzi, Pjanic, Totti, Destro, Lamela

CORRIERE DELLA SERA
Goicoechea, Taddei, Marquinhos, Burdisso, Balzaretti, Tachtsidis, Florenzi, Pjanic, Totti, Destro, Lamela

[RomaShield27]

Poll on RomaNews: if we lose again, should ZZ be fired: 54% say no; 32% say he should leave; 14% keep him until at least the Derby.

Talk of firing Zeman is silly, imo, he should be judged at the end of the season.

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DDR not fit enough to start, on the bench. Florenzi and Balza back. Interesting to see how Goicoechea does. Badly need three points tonight, no matter what. We can move back up 6th, and be nicely placed to overtake Lazio next week. Forza Roma.

FORMAZIONE UFFICIALE

Roma-Palermo ROMA (4-3-3): Goicoechea; Piris, Marquinhos, Burdisso, Balzaretti; Bradley, Tachtsidis, Florenzi; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti

Roma-Palermo A disp. | Subs: Svedkauskas, Taddei, Castan, Dodò, Romagnoli, De Rossi, Pjanic, Perrotta, Marquinho, Lopez, Destro

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Also, just wanted to save this little gem somewhere:

[AS Collie]

Edzo, have you nothing better to do than poke fun at the Premiershit? It's full of pots calling kettles the opposite of white (don't wanna be called a racist ...). And Everton fans are the worst, according to this (admittedly old) study:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/jan/07/race.world

But they're all bell-ends.

The game tonight was excellent. Thoroughly enjoyable. I thought Goicoechea was very good in goal; he actually looked to be more in command of his area and comfortable under pressure than Stek has in recent games. How is the Dutchman's Italian, does anyone know?

From my perch in the stands, the difference tonight was work-rate and concentration. Everyone was focussed on the task at hand, everyone put in a shift and there weren't too many silly errors. Totti was a fucking joy to watch this evening. The man's incredible. He was sprinting back at one stage and I had to do a double-take to register that it was, in fact, the 36-year-old forward legging it back to give a hand in the defence. He chased every ball, and his passing was lovely.

Credit to Lamela and Osvaldo as well. Osvaldo looked ponderous and a little pointless under LE most of the time, but he's a constant threat nowadays. I dig the way he hassles defenders and the goalie, they don't have a second to think. Totti was at that too tonight, and I love to see it. As for Lamela, he's a joy to behold.

Midfield was ok, but Bradley looked a little off. Perhaps it was just by chance that I focussed on him, but there seemed to have been a few sloppy passes. He wouldn't be my first choice, but in fairness to the guy he put in a shift and he ran a lot, so I wouldn't be too harsh on him. VERY surprised to see some online ratings with Balzaretti and Piris worse-off than the midfielders and their colleagues in the centre. I thought they both did very well. Roma really used all of the pitch this evening and from where I was, the FBs had a lot to do with that.

Well. That's my 2c, by way of a return to the forums. No excuse for not posting recently. Just lazy. I haven't done it in a while now, but this is one game I'll enjoy re-watching.

[DCGweez]

I thought Balz was awful frankly although i agree on Piris. I also agree on Bradley. His lack of quality lets us down at times although his workrate is commendable.

I saw a massive drop in pressure after the first goal. This team either doesn't get it or is overworked/underprepared.

Frankly the pressure off the ball wasn't good enough.

Yet it is as always, never a dull moment and as Roma fans we've never be promised results only excitement.

[AS Collie]

Perhaps the off-ball pressure in the middle was lacking a little because of no DDR to show them how it's done? The forwards certainly pressed. And maybe Balz was still coming back from the injury, or a little rusty, but Bradley for me was still the weakest link last night. That said, it was a good performance so saying that is not really meant too harshly. And 11 shots on goal is the best of the season by any team other than Juve (12 against Bologna, I think), so we're certainly moving in the right direction.

Next weekend is huge. With Napoli away to Genoa and Fiorentina away to Milan, you'd have to expect at least one slip up. If we can do the scum, the table won't look so bad at all. I think results across the board this week showed that this season's only really getting started. There are plenty of twists and turns left.

[maro]

Oggi ha messo in campo un centrocampo inedito. “Bradley ci ha dato la possibilità di giocare in profondità”

[DCGweez]

I think both are mischaracterizations. I don't think Bradley will ever be a fundamental part of a winning side. He probably didn't enter a European Style Soccer School until he was 17 or 18. As such his ceiling is much lower, his technical quality is not what is expected of an upper tier player.

With that said, he has a father who is a coach and a coaches minds. His runs yesterday were very good, his touch was not.

His defensive workrate was very good and I noticed that they won the ball back more often and much higher up the pitch on the right. The weak link yesterday in the MF was Florenzi. Please do not misinterpret that as anything but a 1 game analysis but it's true. Probably Florenzi's worst game in the shirt.

[maro]

http://video.repubblica.it/sport/destro ... ef=HRER3-1

[DCGweez]

Hey Collie, I also read where Taxi stated he's being jeered by the fans. Is that true? Did you notice the Curva giving him grief?

Also do you follow Katie Parla on twitter? May be a good follow for someone living in Rome.

[DCGweez]