THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[DavidP]

[Italiamia]

[RomaShield27]

You know what, a win last night and we would be in third place in the table, wouldn't that be something?

[Italiamia]

[Lupa]

An obvious problem is that when things are going badly, Zeman's too stubborn to change things (as in the formation).

After yesterday's game, I'm wondering if Destro is going to be another Gilardino. By that I mean he was heralded at a small team, many teams were interested in him, but Gila failed to live up to expectations. Sometimes it seemed like he lacked a striker's mentality -- it is probably too soon to say this about Destro, but that's what struck me yesterday watching. I don't love Osvaldo, but he definitely has a striker's mentality.

[red]

Destro will come good.

He just needs something to go his way so that he'll relax and then he'll start scoring regularly.

Bound to take time for him to adjust to playing in Zeman's gung-ho system after playing in a very defensive Siena team.

[Lupa]

I hope so. He looks frustrated/lacking in confidence right now.

Not that Gilardino has been a complete flop, but I don't think he lived up to expectations. Maybe he was just over hyped.

[maro]

For gio: http://www.forzaroma.info/2013/01/08/ca ... que/182562
We shall see how the second half of the season unfolds.

GIla wasn't so much over-rated as a hoax, Lupa. At Parma, he scored about 10 goals each season in the final handful of games, in which the opposition would let him score in order to raise his market-value while Parma would, in exchange, do the same for one of their strikers or allow them to get the points they needed to secure their league position. So, for notable instance, Parma 6 - 4 Livorno, in which GIla and Lucarelli both scored four goals . . . .

[Italiamia]

[Bagg10]

[RomaShield27]

[RomaShield27]

Also for Gio:

Roma Club Focus: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
/ Published On: Tue, Jan 8th, 2013 / By Anthony Wright

On the face of it, it looks bad. While most clubs took a week off to recuperate ahead of the new year’s fixtures, Roma jetted off to Florida for a training camp and a friendly with third division Orlando City before returning to a 4-1 defeat by Napoli.

Was it that bad though? Not really. To lose the Derby del Sole, particularly by three goals, is never palatable, but Zdenek Zeman refused to be downcast after the game and instead insisted that he was satisfied with what he saw from the team. “As a result [it’s a step back], but not as a performance. Every time we don’t win, it’s a missed opportunity. Today we made most errors up front where we usually make least mistakes, but I’m satisfied”, he said to Sky Sport Italia.

As the coach pointed out, Roma had half a dozen good opportunities to score – none better than Michael Bradley midway through the second half when he pulled a shot wide with the goal gaping. Had Roma pulled it back to 2-1 there, it could have been a far different game. Instead Bradley missed, and a couple of minutes later it was effectively game over when Napoli made it 3-0.

Unusually for Roma, the deficiencies in the team’s performance were largely up front. Mattia Destro had a couple of opportunities to add to his season’s tally but looked somewhat short on confidence. Meanwhile on the flanks, neither Francesco Totti nor Erik Lamela were really able to influence the game in the same way that they have done so well for the majority of the campaign.

The problem for the Giallorossi was very much in the final third. Even though they managed 25 shots at Morgan De Sanctis’ goal, only eight were on target. Of Napoli’s eight, six hit the target. And herein is the real reason for the hiding that Roma were given by Walter Mazzarri’s team: Edinson Cavani. The Uruguayan was in sublime form for his team, giving Napoli a fourth minute lead to allow them to play the majority of the game on the counter-attack before scoring another two in the second half.

While Mazzarri labelled Cavani “stunning”, Federico Balzaretti admitted that Roma “came up against an extraordinary Cavani”. Former Napoli striker Cristiano Lucarelli added to the voices that the 25-year-old was the difference, telling Radio Ies that “4-1 gives the wrong impression of the match. Roma missed some great chances – honestly I didn’t see them as a team in difficulty. They had a setback early on but afterwards had the chances to come back into it”.

It has been suggested that the US trip may have influenced the result, with players possibly suffering from jetlag. Personally I’m more inclined to agree with Zeman’s assessment: Roma did not actually play that badly, rather it was more a case that Napoli took their chances and Roma were too wasteful. As the Giallorossi continued to press forward, even when down to 10 men, the gaps that opened up in defence were inevitable – as were the subsequent goals conceded against a team that play expertly on the counter-attack.

This isn’t to say that the defeat should be glossed over – far from it. It does continue to highlight that Zeman’s team is very much a work in progress, even in attack where Roma have been shining so far this season. It will also surprise no one that the defence has been one of the leakiest in the club’s history after conceding 33 goals in the first half of the season – only in 1947/48 (37 conceded in 20 games) and the relegation season of 1950/51 (37 goals in 19 games) have Roma conceded more.

But despite the problems, Roma are still well within reach of a European place at the halfway stage of the season. Even third place is just five points away. Although Zeman is overplaying it with his comments that he was “satisfied” with the performance against Napoli, Roma are not in bad shape going into the girone di ritorno.

[maro]

[maro]

Bradley: “Zeman vuole che la squadra vada avanti senza un possesso palla inutile”
Bradley: “Zeman vuole che la squadra vada avanti senza un possesso palla inutile”
mercoledì 9 gennaio 2013 21:21


Queste le parole di Micheal Bradley rilasciate a Fox Sports durante la tournee americana

Cosa hai imparato dalla filosofia di gioco di Zeman, considerato un tecnico con una mentalità molto offensiva?
“Sì, è un allenatore con le sue idee su come la squadra deve giocare. Lui vuole che quando la squadra ha il pallone vada in avanti senza un possesso palla inutile, o passaggi indietro che non servono. Ci incoraggia e ci chiede di andare avanti con la palla. Vuole movimenti dei tre attaccanti, dei centrocampisti e degli esterni difensivi. Quando conquistiamo palla dobbiamo andare avanti. Ci muoviamo tutti, quando un giocatore si muove da una zona, un altro giocatore si muove di conseguenza”.
Cosa consideri che sia un centrocampista moderno?
“Per me, i migliori centrocampisti devono avere tutto. Devi essere in grado di fare cose differenti in diversi momenti, a seconda della squadra, del gioco, di ciò che serve alla squadra in un dato giorno. La gente parla di me come un mediano difensivo, ma sono più un centrocampista box-to-box, la mia grande speranza è che in base a ciò che succede possa giocare in entrambi i modi, posso a volte fare tutte e due i ruoli allo stesso tempo e dare un impatto sulla gara e sulla squadra, in modo che si possa vincere”.

[RomaShield27]

Osvaldo is a doubt for Sunday's 3pm CET kick-off away to the always hospitable and welcoming Catania, as Burdisso gave him a good kick to his knee in training. Good oul Burdisso, i always said Osvaldo could do with a few kicks to sort him out, although I do hope he plays. Castan and Marquinhos should hopefully be ok for Sunday even though they both missed training today.

Roma have signed Tugui Andrei Ionut on loan until 30/6/13, with an option to purchase his contract outright. Tugui Andrei Ionut, born in 1996 and arriving from LPS Banatul Timisoara, will join Alberto De Rossi’s Primavera team. (via @OfficialASRoma)

Stekelenburg continues to be linked with a move away, Arsenal the latest club. Just stay and fight for your place man. Junior Tallo is close to moving to Bari on loan for the rest of the season. Good move, since he hasn't played at all. Piscitella – who was co-owned with Genoa in the Destro deal yet hasn't made a single appearance for them – could also go on loan to Modena. Marquinho could be on his way out with a loan move back to Brazil. Lots of other mercato madness but its all bullocks.

Also, new blog entry from me, 'Football as Magazine Covers': http://www.forza27.com/football-as-magazine-covers/

[maro]

Nice, thredz. A bit worried about your interest in men's bare torsos, though.

[RomaShield27]

The Waterboy's is my favourite, he's so chiseled an... what the fuck you on about, its purely for graphic design reasons.

[maro]

Sure. I never doubted it. What, first with your man-crush on Vooch and all.

[Italiamia]

[maro]

Yeah, there's some seriously yag shite there, threadmund. Doggyba and Buttnaldo?