THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[RomaShield27]

Interesting chart on attendance figures (with regard to new stadio)

http://tifosobilanciato.it/2014/03/29/n ... a-squadra/



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RC conferenza stampa. See his words on Pjanic, he knows he's gone:

http://asroma.co.uk/news/interviews/ite ... oma-future

[DavidP]

i'm not sure that left-back is romagnoli's best position. he should really be converted to a winger.

[DCGweez]

Agreed Davit, he should be Gervinho's lieutenant.

[RomaShield27]

Rudi Garcia: Roma Must Believe In Catching Juventus
/ Tuesday, 01 April 2014 16:56 / Anthony Wright

Rudi Garcia believes Roma must not give up on the title race as they prepare to resume their match with Parma tomorrow evening, insisting that if Juventus slip up further then the Giallorossi must be on hand to profit from it. However the coach is not taking Wednesday's game lightly, as although Parma's club record run without defeat is over they are still in the hunt for a European place at the end of the season.

Is looking up the table a way of motivating the team? Or do you really believe in it?
I'm an optimistic, positive and ambitious type in the dressing room - we have to be all these things. We have to look ahead of ourselves, it's the best way of getting better results.

What's changed after two months [since Roma-Parma was originally scheduled to be played]?

I don't know, I don't think anything has. We're coming into this on the same number of games played. Nothing has changed in that, like in February, we'll be playing to win. The only thing that changes is that only we are playing, Napoli and Juventus aren't. If we're able to take the three points they'll mean a lot because we'll distance ourselves from third place and we'll close in on the top. They had 16 positive results in a row and now three negative ones, so maybe that is different.

In the last 20 years only Capello's Milan have conceded fewer goals. What is the real value of this defensive structure in Roma's season?
It shows everyone's commitment to the defensive phase, because the first line of defence are the forwards. I think we're a team that doesn't allow many shots, and we definitely have a great keeper and a defence with very good players. That's not enough though, what I like is that when we lose the ball, we go after it to get it back. The forwards understand this - to attack they need possession of the ball, and it's easier to gain possession of the ball if you do it with 11 players rather than just the defence.

Do you think Juventus are slowing down? Is the defeat to Napoli a sign of instability?
The first thing that we have to do is to win as many games as possible, starting tomorrow. We don't need Juventus to lose but that they drop points, and they can do that with a draw as well. If the opportunity comes for us to get even higher in the table then we have to be there. Until we're mathematically out of it, we have to believe in ourselves. We've seen comebacks that seemed impossible in other leagues before.

In the last few games, do you see the goals that you've scored as errors by the opposition or as a result of good pressure?
A bit of both. The forwards in particular have to be good at this, they always have to be watching for a mistake by the opposition. That's one of the qualities of our forwards.

Roma are without Strootman and without Nainggolan against a Parma team who are technically superior to the last few teams you've played. Do you still think you'll be able to press high up the pitch?
It depends on the strategy I give to the team tomorrow and how they approach the game. We've been working on this since the start of the year, because the players know that when I ask something they can make a switch, a change. I'm calm because I have players who have this mentality. The fact that they won't shrink back from doing it is a good mental attitude.

Roma will probably be playing in the Champions League next year. Will you continue as you are, are this squad able to face the Champions League?
The squad is different every year. The squad will change for any club in the world. It's a good variation on talking about the transfer market but I'm not going to talk about it. I want to achieve a good finish with this team as they deserve it, they're very close. I would really like to see a good end to the season with these players.

Totti says he holds a 1% hope in the title. If you win tomorrow what percentage would you give it?
I don't know, I'm not very good at this game. First we have to win tomorrow, this game isn't already won because Parma are still playing for Europe. It doesn't matter who is in front of us, we really want to see a lot of fans there who will be hoping to see us make progress. Since we're playing at 18.30 [Italian time], hopefully all the supporters who are at work will be given half an hour by their boss to get to the Olimpico as quickly as possible.

Does Taddei deserve a new contract?
I said before that this isn't the time to talk about individual cases. I've been happy with Rodrigo since the start of the season, I did everything to convince him to stay, which is what he wanted. He has a role to play and he does it very well, and he's a person who is appreciated by everyone in the dressing room.

After Cassano and Biabiany, Marchionni is the main man at Parma. Will having to deal with him affect your choices in attack?

It's not just the fact that we'll have to use an attacker to negate their regista, but also that our midfield trio could change to being more defensive. But we've been doing this since the start of the season, and I think we'll need to do it again tomorrow.

What tactical guarantees is Romagnoli giving more than the others? Is this a match-point for finishing second?
Not mathematically but it would be an important lead. As for the full back, we have three or four - Alessio is more defensive, Dodo has played a lot and done well. But it can happen that someone comes in and does well, as Alessio has. Torosidis is a slightly different case as he can play in a number of roles, and unfortunately we've not had Balzaretti who we're still waiting for. The choice depends on a lot of things, from how the opposition squad attacks to who is available at the time.

What have you brought that's new to Italy?
Judgements will be made after 38 games. The fact that this Roma is setting records is to everyone's credit, but I want to have records at the end of the season - not just after 31 games. We have a lot of hunger and we want to show this again tomorrow.

By winning tomorrow you'll be 21 points clear of Fiorentina [in 4th place]. In effect, you would have achieved your objective.

There was talk about getting back into Europe...

Can we consider tomorrow's game to be a final?
On this aspect I would say yes - mathematically we'll nearly be in the Champions League if we win tomorrow, but it's better to get into it without having to play the qualifiers. Hopefully we'll be talking about the Champions League tomorrow before the others have a chance to play for it.

Where would you put Roma in relation to the budgets that Conte and Benitez were talking about?
It's always easier to build a top team with more money. This is a financial issue, it's better to ask Pallotta or Baldissoni who know more than I do.

But on what's happened so far...
We've been able to bring in a bit of money and we've shown that we've got a squad that can do great things.

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PREVIEW: http://www.asroma.co.uk/news/match-prev ... roma-parma?

CERCI: http://www.football-italia.net/47211/ce ... what-i-can

[DCGweez]

Pretty sure we're gonna drop like 5 points today.

[Italiamia]

La ROMA é ufficialmente in Champions League nella prossima stagione. Forza ROMA.

[AS Collie]

[DCGweez]

It's my understanding that if we lost every game and Fiorentina won every game and beats us by 2 goals we are out.

[RomaShield27]

Yeah, I think yesterdays victory ensured European football for next season, that is, Europa League, minimum. Technically we could still finish fourth and miss out on CL, but we can all say with some certainty that thats not gonna happen.

Positive news on Pjanic renewing. Although he still doesn't sound like man who's committing his future long-term.

"It's definitely coming, I'm waiting for it but I don't know when - the club know about that better than I do. I've spoken with the coach who knows that I'm concentrating on the team and the club also knows that I am fully focused. We'll see, a contract isn't done in a short space of time, but the club knows that I want to stay. I'm happy here."

More important in my view is to secure Benatia long-term. He has a contract until 2018 but is on a wage of €1.2m or something, and the vultures are circling (Man Utd, Bayern, Barca – or at least they were – all linked). We need to double/triple his wage and make it clear he's not for sale at any price.

[AS Collie]

[DCGweez]

The most likable team in quite some time. To see all those guys running their socks off yesterday was just awesome. No Menez, Mancini or Ozvaldo

Closest thing to a problem is Ljajic and he seems ok.

Castan is good, i'd like to see one of our youth guys get a chance at some point.

[DavidP]

5 wins on the bounce. this team's response to disappointment has been quite stunning. i waited for the tailspin every week but it never came. that said, the scudetto race ended in genoa as far i'm concerned and 2nd place isn't a sure thing either. these last 7 games are all tricky without even a single exception while juventus have the tough run-in behind them. how they escaped with so many points is beyond me. the genoa game was one of the must frustrating of the season; bertoalcci should've stolen the 3 points single-handedly, then gilardino, then marco motta and then calaio. they shit the bed and pirlo delivered. i'm incredibly proud of this team and all we can hope for now is a respectable finish to a really incredible season - in all likelyhood totti's last as the key figure of the team.

[DavidP]

also, let the lukaku saga commence.

[DCGweez]

They said 25 mill quid for Lukaku. No thanks.

[AS Collie]

[RomaShield27]

We don't need Lukaku. We have this very promising youngster out on loan who's been banging them in for years, he deserves his shot. Can't think of his name now, Marco something, but Lupa keeps tellin me he'll be a hit with the ladies.

Seriously, I honestly don't think we need another prima-punta. Destro will continue to improve and Totti is Totti. If anything we need another wing-forward to fill in out wide, maybe Iturbe.

[AS Collie]

[DCGweez]

Depending on Sales, i think we need 2 FBs, 1 CF and a Sale/Buy for Ljajic at wide forward.

I think we'll see Benatia or Pjanic leave though.

Oh yeah and a Gker of the future.

[RomaShield27]

Yeah, still quite a bit of work for Sabatini to do, you feel, if we are series about stepping it up a level (and like DCG says, it will also depend on if we see any players leave). And this summer it may be a bit different, in that instead of working on signing promising youngster from South America etc, we may need to focus on signing a bit more proven quality players for positions like full-back (both sides) and possibly at centre-forward (I concede we may need more depth and quality there).

Preview: Cagliari-Roma (14.00, 6 March | Stadio Sant'Elia): http://asroma.co.uk/news/match-previews ... liari-roma

Squad: Michel Bastos, Mehdi Benatia, Leandro Castan, Daniele De Rossi, Morgan De Sanctis, Mattia Destro, Dodo, Alessandro Florenzi, Gervinho, Adem Ljajic, Bogdan Lobont, Maicon, Radja Nainggolan, Miralem Pjanic, Federico Ricci, Alessio Romagnoli, Lukasz Skorupski, Rodrigo Taddei, Rafael Toloi, Vasilis Torosidis, Francesco Totti.

[DavidP]

nice to see destro getting some confidence. this time last year he misses all 3 and we end up blaming zeman.