THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[DCGweez]

[RomaShield27]

ROMA-NAPOLI, LE FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI. GIALLOROSSI IN CAMPO PER IL RISCALDAMENTO
Venerdì 18 Ottobre 2013 - ore 20:08

ROMA-NAPOLI - Dopo molte discussioni su orari e date, il giorno di ROMA-NAPOLI è finalmente arrivato. Sul campo dello Stadio Olimpico i giallorossi sfideranno i partenopei per difendere il primo posto in solitaria e magari allungare la striscia di vittorie consecutive. Rudi GARCIA manda in campo i suoi con il solito 4-3-3 che prevede il rientro di MAICON a destra, con DODO' a sinistra al posto dello squalifica BALZARETTI.

LE FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI
ROMA (4-3-3): 26 De Sanctis; 13 Maicon, 17 Benatia, 5 Castan, 3 Dodò; 16 De Rossi, 6 Strootman, 15 Pjanic; 10 Totti, 27 Gervinho, 24 Florenzi



NAPOLI (4-2-3-1): 25 Reina; 11 Maggio, 33 Albiol, 5 Britos, 16 Mesto; 85 Behrami, 88 Inler; 7 Callejon, 17 Hamsik, 24 Insigne; 19 Pandev



ARBITRO: Orsato di Schio ASSISTENTI: Tonolini e Padovan IV UOMO: Vuoto ASSISTENTI DI PORTA: Tagliavento e Banti

[RomaShield27]

Totti the history man – He tops 40 years of Gazzetta ratings
Milano, 14 October 2013 / http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/13- ... 9484.shtml

We’ve been awarding players a mark for their performance in games for the past 40 years: the Roma captain has the highest average mark for any player over the past 20 years. Platini, in 1984, achieved the highest ever average for a single season

40 years of player ratings. We've awarded absolutely millions of them. Just a handful of 10 out of 10 and no end of 6 - the rating given when we consider a player to have done the very least of what is required. No end either to the expletives hurled at us by footballers who haven’t agreed with us - and just as many cuss words from players of our fantasy football game, who haven’t been able to beat their friends by a mere fraction of a point. But even in this minefield of numbers real talent shines through. Roma captain Francesco Totti has proved that he is ‘the best of all time’: he’s notched up a career average of 6.45 points from us – better than any other player over the past 20 years. Platini has the highest average vote over a season: the 1983-1984 Serie A campaign, with an average of 6.94, when he led Juve to the Scudetto. Not even Maradona at his best managed that high an average.

HISTORY — The player ratings first appeared in the Gazzetta on a Monday morning in October in 1973: framed by a black box and minus comments we printed them alongside match reports. They had been ‘invented’ by Milaninter, a magazine handed out at the stadium. However, once they appeared in the pages of our newspaper, they became an institution and then key part of our fantasy football game. There was a whole range of ratings on the first day: various players were given a 4 and only eight players managed to get an 8. They included Dino Zoff. The ratings went from strength to strength during the 70s and 80s when, for the first time in the 1982-1983 season, a table ranking the average rating appeared. Genoa goal keeper Silvano Martina (now Gigi Buffon’s agent) came out top of the table at the end of the season and he now keeps a framed copy of the Gazzetta carrying that table in his office: “We played very defensive football that season and I was kept busy stopping shots coming at me from all over the place!” the keeper comments today. “Some seasons players surpass their own abilities, and that season was a magic season for me.”

THE BEST — He played during the Golden Era of Serie A: journalists may have been more generous awarding marks back then, but Serie A was graced by the best players in the world. Platini, Maradona, Van Basten, Gullit, Matthäus. Our fantasy football game, which went on to be called ‘Magic Cup’, spanned that era and this one, as did players such as Weah and Ibra, Ronaldo and Totti. Especially Totti: players have always insisted they never take too much notice of the ratings we award them (they claim they just ‘give them a quick glance’...) but children have grown up into adults bickering about their fantasy football scores, having fun at the same time. And the Roma No.10 has always been consistent in picking up good ratings: one memorably high vote was his 9 following a Roma-Bari game in 2009. The feeling is that, had he played much more in the 80s, his average would be even higher than his 6.45.

NOTABLE — Totti has never been awarded just 1 out of 10, but Rapaic has when, in 1997, he fooled referee Nicchi into believing he hadn’t scored using his hand: in fact, he fervently denied he had handled the ball into the net. And Totti certainly hasn’t thought about getting his own back on a journalist, as Careca did, after Napoli lost 5-1 in a UEFA Cup game to Brema. The player didn’t appreciate his rating of 4 and the comment that he played “like a rabbit caught in headlights”. Roberto Baggio has been awarded high and low marks – his career average is 6.27 – but Totti hasn’t: he’s been consistently good his entire career. Just as Javier Zanetti has. Five seasons ago he almost managed the footballing equivalent of climbing Everest: he just failed to pick up a ‘respectable’ mark of 6 in 100 consecutive Serie A games. The Inter captain - who wears the No.4 shirt, but who never plays that badly to deserve such a low mark – managed a mark of at least 6 in 99 consecutive games, but fell at the last hurdle, when he was given a rating of 5.5.

10 OUT OF 10 — We save the very best to last. Only twice in the history of Serie A have we awarded 10 out of 10. The first, to Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Scarpi, for saving the life of teammate Gianluca Grassadonia after the defender suffered a heart attack during a game with Udinese. The other was in the Inter-Parma Champions League qualification play-off in 2000: Inter won 3-1 and Baggio was absolutely perfect all game. We also gave a 10 to Buffon and Cannavaro in the 2006 World Cup Final. Another 10 to Salenko for his 5 goals in the 2004 World Cup Finals in USA, when Russia beat Camerun, as well as 10 to Lewandowski after he scored 4 goals to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League. We even gave Milito a 10+ for his performance in the 2010 Champions League Final. No one, however, in the entire history of the ratings, has as strange a story as Francesco Grandolfo: he made 2 Serie A appearances, earning a respectable 6 on his debut in the Bari-Lecce game, and an incredible 9 in his 2nd Serie A game, a 0-4 win away to Bologna, when he scored a hat-trick. Our rating system wouldn’t work abroad: Spanish newspaper As rates from 1 to 3. English newspapers tend not to award half votes. In France they rank out of 9, so 5 is considered respectable.

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Well, you could take positives for Roma from that game if you wanted to - they do undoubtedly have a greater organisation and resilience than in previous years (not that that is saying much) and they didn't seem terrified by the escalating pressure/expectation, but I'm not sure there was an awful lot else that was good about their performance.

They didn't really look like hurting Napoli in general play (I can only recall Gervinho's shot from the left in the first half) and they certainly didn't look comfortable defensively.

I wouldn't be overly critical of looking capable of conceding against Napoli because Napoli's attack is very strong and the play leading up to Napoli's two clear chances in the first half was good.

However, I don't like the balance of this Napoli team. I believe they are defensively weak and can be got at. Roma barely looked like creating dangerous situations, never mind actually creating a clear chance. The one chance they did have came from Napoli giving the ball away badly when under no real pressure.

Now, you can argue Roma's plan was just to keep it tight in the first half and wait for the game to open up in the second half (Pjanic's goal meant they never had to allow the game to become open), but then I'd be more critical of Roma for allowing Napoli two clear chances.

Not got any sympathy for Napoli losing, mind you. To have two clear chances like that and not take at least one is poor.

Good to see De Rossi back playing at something like his best.

[RomaShield27]

Fair assessment, Red. We weren't all that creative or didn't really have many periods of controlled possession in the first-half, but like you said, we have shown a lot this season that we are a second-half team, for whatever reason. Napoli – or should I say Benitez – do set up very defensively away from home, and there was a big midfield battle and not really much space for either side. Losing Totti early on obviously had a big impact, and we didn't really manage to release Gervinho or attack the space much. We were perhaps a little fortunate to get in ahead at half-time, but as a team we played well and showed better in the second-half, with the second goal effectively ending the game.

Our defence wasn't as strong as in previous games, and it was largely down to Dodo not fitting in as part of the defensive unit. Don't mean to be too harsh on him, he did show he is a threat going forward down the left, but too many times he was caught out of position, wasn't covering for the centre-halfs, wasn't moving up as a unit or playing offside, and generally looked a weak link. He needs to improve big time as a defender first and foremost.

If it weren't for De Rossi... well, what can you say. He was beyond immense. He just had everything. If there's a better football player in the world at reading and anticipating the play and being in the right place at the right time, well he must be unreal.

[RomaShield27]

Who recognises this kid in this old photo, currently tearing it up in the Premiershit?

[p_maldini_3]

andros townsend?

[pocari_fenrir]

Adnan Januzaj?? although I wouldn't say he's tearing it up, he had a game that spared Man Ure blushes and they're swooning.... just like when Macheda was a super sub

full story here, the group shot is golden
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... Eheadlines

lol @ Andros Townsend....... that guy's black

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http://www.theguardian.com/football/blo ... roma-italy

[RomaShield27]

[DCGweez]

Funny you mention Pirlo, i was arguing about 3 years ago who was still "world class" with the EPL fan boys the US. US fans are worse than even the English because Soccer on the Tube only started about 4 years ago. So they have only known a soccer world where the EPL "is the best league in the world".

I mentioned Ibra and Pirlo. They laughed at me. Since then both have done well against the English and now they fawn over Pirlo and begrudgingly appreciate Ibra's genius.

[DCGweez]

Enough about that stuff. Sad how quiet it is around here. Where is Collie and seems we've lost Gio.

For all the plaudits Pjanic is getting for his assists and goal scoring, it's his work rate without the ball that is so amazing to me. He's not the lackadaisical playmaker he appeared to be when he came from France. He's becoming an extremely talented central midfield. It's great.

Hard to imagine a better weekend for Roma, it's hard see a single result that didn't work for us. 5 points clear through 20% of the season.

High times. Enjoy it.

[RomaShield27]

Colly has been away on a few working trips, I think, and so I doubt gets much time for posting. I wonder if he was at the game on Friday, actually, usually would have seen some sign if he was. Sure he's only a fan when it suits.

Don't know about Gio, it would appear he's on one of his dramatic self-imposed absences, but I'm not concerned, I'm sure he'll be back (he still pops in to view).

It was a good weekend alright, wasn't it? Five points clear at the top. Everything going well...

... wait, that explains it. Its only busy here when we've something to moan about... yis are all a pack a cnuts. Especially you, DCG. Garcia and Yanks Out. Bring back Zeman. At least he had us playing exciting football and not these boring 1-0 wins. And while we're at it, bring back Rosella. I miss her saucy orangeness.

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[DCGweez]

It is amazing just how much better he's gotten in the last 6 weeks. From a bit player on a team in an easy league to a top 5 player in the world, all in a six weeks.

[DCGweez]

[forzaitalia]

So it seems Il Capitano could be out for at least a month and Gervinho for a couple of weeks.

Unfortunate that both injuries have come at the same time BUT, without trying to get too carried away, looking at the fixture list if we can win at Udinese this weekend we should be fine with or without them for the following games, especially the ones at home.

[DavidP]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=42 ... =2&theater

you beautiful cunt. edgar davids 2.0.

[DavidP]

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24671437