THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[maro]

http://www.forzaroma.info/2013/08/15/la ... rik/252431

Lamela for Gervinho and 27 mil? I suppose that makes sense, but I can't say I like it much.

[AS Collie]

[maro]

Sure. I think I find it interesting because on a number of levels it probably makes sense.
1. Because at 35 (assuming that's the offer for the moment) mil he's probably over-priced - you have to be pretty bloody certain that he's going to go on to be an absolute super-star not to think that was a big wodge of money for a gifted but very much unproven youngster. If he has two seasons like Bale's just had then he'd start to be worth Bale money. If he doesn't, he's never going to be worth much more than that sort of figure and probably a fair bit less. Correspondingly, the evident desire to sell Osvaldo almost certainly means he's undervalued at this juncture.
2. Partly because of Destro's injury struggles and partly because of Gervinho's signing, I'm not sure we're not more in need of a centre-forward than a wing-forward: Totti-Osvaldo-Gervinho looks to me a more natural trio than Totti-Lamela-Gervinho.
3. I wonder if a true wing-forward (Gervinho) isn't a better 'partner' for Totti than a playmaking trequartista (Lamela). Zeman, of course, chuntered about the compatability of Pjanic and Totti, but I think Lamela is also a factor here - he likes the ball in to feet, to pick it up in front of his marker, more than to run onto it in behind.
None of this I particularly like - I'd hoped Garcia was building a really technical pass-and-move midfield five, in which Strootman, Pjanic, and Lamela seem a perfectly complementary trio (with Totti and De Rossi the still-points around which all the movement revolves, as it were). That I can see a certain logic to it, then, doesn't mean that I find that reassuring.

[DCGweez]

Gervs and 27 mill for Lamela only makes sense if the money is used to reinforce in Defense and Prima Punta if Ozzy is to be sold.

I agree with Maro here. Gervs works hard off the ball and with De Rossi, Forenzi, Pjanic, Gervs, Totti, Strootman you have the makings of Total Football interchangeability.

I'm not sure i blame Jimmy for this one. My worry all along is that Walter as the top football man is he still has a head scout's mentality of finding the "next" (insert name here) rather than leaving the team alone to grow and mature. For this and many reasons i morn the loss of Baldini.

[DCGweez]

Also agree with Collie if we are simply to become a feeder club for other squads i'll find it hard to continue on. It's one thing to be frustrated with a squad for it's constant underperforming. It's quite another to be apathetic to a bunch of strangers running around in a familiar kit.

With the impending loss of Totti and perhaps De Rossi (My real fear of Walter's true trip to London) we need other people to attach ourselves to.

Perhaps I'm just a fan of "ASR" and not "ROMA"

[AS Collie]

[red]

35m shouldn't be enough for Lamela just now the way the market is.

It may be a fair amount for him in terms of ability and potential, but Roma should be able to get closer to 50m for him if they choose to sell.

[maro]

Presumably having a bit of stability with the coach might help there, too, DCG - I can hardly imagine what it'd be like to go into a season with the same coach as from the season before. You know, one who has a bit of a platform on which to build.

red, given the fees paid for Cavani and Falcao and the sorts of fees being mooted for Suarez, I'm not sure I can agree that Lamela would be able to command a fee of 50 mil. You'd have to be damn sure he's a season or two from being absolutely world class.

[red]

I phrased that poorly.

I mean that it should take about 50m for Roma to sell, since he is an important player and, after the sale of Marquinhos, Roma shouldn't be desperate for cash. It's also a valuation to do with it being Spurs who are interested, since they may suddenly have the best part of 100m burning a hole in their pocket.

Whether there is anyone out there actually willing to pay that much is debatable.

[DCGweez]

I don't believe any of it. I read that Spurs have let Roma know that should Bale go they'd bid 50 mill Euro for Pjanic and Lamela. Just can't see the point of selling either one. If they're sold I'm not sure what i'd think. At that point you'd have to think they are financial moves rather than sporting ones and then really, what's the point of cheering on a team who's goal is to make money?

I hope it's not the case, truly it would be sad. I fear a scenario where our best young talent is all sold and then Totti's extension is announced.

[p_maldini_3]

some offers are too good to refuse. the way the numbers are heading these days, no player is unsellable. even lamela is getting a reported pay raise to 4m a year, roma can't touch that.

but in a strictly sporting sense, you guys have sort of alluded to a situation where totti and lamela aren't entirely compatible/ the most compatible. you'd have to wonder is totti inhibiting lamela?

and so late in the window, who would replace lamela?

cerci or diamanti would be great for you guys.

[DCGweez]

Don't believe the 4m. Spurs are pretty strict in their wage structure.

[Bagg10]

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[maro]

Diamanti's even less of a profondita'-offering wing-forward than Lamela and you know my take on Cerci. I think there probably is something to your Totti-Lamela comment, though - I rather think Totti's continuing brilliance has surprised Sabretini, for whom Lamela was probably supposed to take over Totti's role rather more than to continue to play alongside him. I suspect at this stage he expected Totti to be being used a bit intermittently rather than still being the best player in the side. Still, it's not as though they can't play well together, and you can get the profondita' from a centre-forward like Destro who will attack space and via runners from midfield, which seems to me a part of what Strootman is going to offer and clearly Florenzi does. Word is that Nani and Adrian Lopez and Bueno are the names all in the mix. Let's hope we stay as we are.

[AS Collie]

If they sell Lamela I'm taking a break from Roma. If they buy Nani I'm giving up full-time.

[maro]

I think I'd prefer Nani to Cristiano Ronaldo. That's something, no? Anyway, you're just showing your age - you want your Roma players untainted by former club affiliations. You're losing your footballing milk-teeth.

[AS Collie]

[maro]

lol. Because you know there is one or because you just assume there must be? I was making a half-serious point, though - I've noticed with almost all of us that you hit a point where the constant movement of players becomes a problem, whether because you lose a player to whom you've become attached in giallorosso or because a player is signed whom you've taken a disliking to over the years when playing for someone else. It's also striking, I think, how consistently the 'best world cup' is the one that has less to do with the actual quality of the tournament than with the age of the fan at the time.

[maro]

Which is to say that there's a life-cycle or rhythm to the ((vaguely) intelligent) football fan (and not simply a kind of constant modulation between attitudes).

[AS Collie]