THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[Italiamia]

So why the fuck would he say this: Benatia: “Dalla Roma proposta ridicola. Loro non mantengono la parola."

[RomaShield27]

Wait, there's more. Hard to see him crawling his way back after this:

BENATIA ISSUES RESPONSE TO RUMOURS
http://romapress.us/?p=4460

After Moussa Sissoko, decalred that his client’s words had been misconstrued now the man himself Mehdi Benatia has given an interview to Gazzetta dello Sport explaining what he said last week with regards to leaving Roma.

Mehdi, do you really want to leave Roma?
“I never said such a thing, so I want to clarify. I don’t want to respond to those who insulted me, but rather I want to tell people that support me about the way things really are.”

Let’s start from the beginning?
“Last summer, my agent advised me against signing for Roma: the proposed salary offered was low compared to other offers I had and Roma weren’t in the Champions League. I still signed for them though and I have not regretted it: there was a project which I liked. Sabatini looked me in the eyes and thanked me. During the season he thanked me several times again and told me he liked my attitude. He said we would meet at the end of the season for negotiations.”

And then what happened?
“I think this season I proved my worth but it’s not as if I was worth nothing before coming here. There was an agreement, before signing for Roma they told me, “Bena, we know that you deserve better and you’ve refused a lot of money. Show us what you can do on the pitch and if we win the league or qualify for the Champions League, you will be given a better contract. ” But I got an unacceptable offer. In the media they’ve reported that I asked for €4 million a year, I never even got €3 million.”

Yes, but perhaps Roma feared the domino effect after giving Pjanic a renewal?
“I’ve never made ​​comparisons with Mire, he’s one of the strongest midfielders in the world. I never asked for money on the basis of his salary, but rather on the basis of a promise made to me. The club instead said “Here, take some more of these pennies.” Like you would say to a child. “This is enough, there is no negotiation.’”

Also here: http://www.forzaroma.info/2014/05/28/tu ... ola/344324

EDIT – Full transcript of interview: http://www.romanews.us/2014/05/28/benat ... m-as-roma/

[romawi]

I don't know whether to believe him or not. Looks like he tried to negotiate through the media and management shut him down. Had this been the first interview he gave regarding the issue, then I think a lot of people would have a different opinion of the situation and probably would have been more sympathetic towards him.

[Italiamia]

There is really nothing endearing about the modern day footballer. Nothing. Again, he has a contract and that controls here. If Sabatini said what Benatia claims, it is totally irrelevant. He was offered more money elsewhere? Where was that. Again, all of this means absolutely nothing. At this point, he has pushed the cart so far down the road that I cannot see him coming back to Roma under any circumstances. The fact is that he looks like a whining, sniveling pain in the ass and that alone can drop his value. His agent tried to provide him some cover, but then he goes out and opens his big mouth. He and his agent look like two juveniles trying to negotiate with men.

[DavidP]

[maro]

RICCARDO GENTILE (ReteSport): “Lukaku più soldi per Benatia? Io lo farei. Lukaku ha fatto un’ annata straordinaria e secondo me Mourinho ha fatto male a lasciarlo partire. Se hai preso Benatia a 13 milioni, con gli stessi soldi puoi prendere un altro ottimo difensore”.

ALESSANDRO ANGELONI (ReteSport): “Non mi aspettavo questo comportamento da parte di Benatia. Almeno non dopo solo un anno di contratto. 13 milioni più Lukaku per Benatia? Sarebbe un ottimo affare”.

ROBERTO PRUZZO (Radio Radio): “Il City ha già contattato la Roma. Se offrono 20 milioni più Kolarov io metto il fiocco attorno a Benatia”

[maro]

thredz won't be happy with those comments. Osvaldo would never have been so disrespectful towards the club.

[RomaShield27]

Whats wrong with those comments? I don't know what the deal is with Lukaku – is there talk of a swap deal involving him and Benatia? If so that makes sense I suppose if we're offloading Benatia and Chelsea bid for him. Although would the deal involve money from them as well? Seems unlikely.

[Italiamia]

I say we simply keep Benatia and make him play out his contract. If Roma decides to move him. they do it on their terms and to hell with what Benatia or is idiot agent say. If he has another solid season, then he will be worth more money. I would make him eat his contract. Unless his behavior has alienated him from the team, I make him eat shit until he likes it.

[DCGweez]

We aren't a club that can afford to strong-arm players.

Set a price and hopefully someone meets it. Benatia will be a big loss but it is what it is. It doesn't serve our purpose to play hard ball with him no matter how satisfying it would be.

[Italiamia]

[DavidP]

[maro]

LUCA VALDISERRI (Rete Sport): “Chi valuta Benatia 38 milioni? David Luiz ha fatto 61 partite in Europa, Benatia 4. Perchè dovrebbero avere lo stesso valore? L’offerta del City di 22 milioni ha il suo senso. Il prezzo è tra i 20 e i 25 milioni, se si apre un asta sul giocatore puoi arrivare a 30 milioni, ma sono tanti. Benatia sarebbe un ottimo giocatore per il campionato inglese, è forte e la Roma fa bene a ragionare su cifre alte. Domani durante la conferenza stampa di Sabatini si parlerà interamente di Benatia. Questo è l’anno in cui la Roma deve investire, anche a costo di rischiare un po’. Arrivare secondi anche l’anno prossimo sarebbe troppo pesante”

[RomaShield27]

Rudi Garcia has signed a new contract until 2018: http://www.asroma.it/pdf/corporate/oper ... garcia.pdf

Benatia at Trigoria today: “I will stay, don’t worry.”

Giacomo Losi (on Benatia): "Players should shut up a bit! Often, with their quotes they ruin the trust the fans place in them. The club must intervene and it definitely will. Let’s leave the club to work it through seeing as they have done well up until now. The point is that you shouldn’t be making certain comments. He has been childish. Maybe he wants to ride on the momentum in order to get a better contract, but he needs to avoid such things.”

[RomaShield27]

WALTER SABATINI: "ROMA WILL CHALLENGE FOR THE TITLE NEXT SEASON"
http://www.asroma.it/en/news/walter_sab ... ext_season
05/31/2014

BENATIA
"Mehdi is a great player with a contract that expires in four years' time. We have no problem with him. He's a guy with sound principles and that's precisely what helped him have such an excellent season last term. Perhaps he slipped up with a few comments or words but he didn't intend to distance himself from Roma or the fans. I know him very well. He mentioned broken promises. That's not exactly how it went. It's true that when he signed for Roma he turned down other offers that were higher than ours. I said to him, 'You try and play like Benatia and we'll give you an improved contract.' We offered him an increase – although there was no obligation for us to do so – and we didn't agree on the amount, but he didn't mean to describe it as 'ridiculous'. He's speaking a language that's not his own, you can't slaughter him for it. He's been totally coherent with what he promised me when I met him in Milan last year. We owe him gratitude and respect. He might have slipped up on other things but I'm sure he didn't want to put anyone down. He expressed his admiration for other big clubs. I admire other clubs too, but none more than Roma. Roma has become a necessity for me.

"In any case, Benatia is a Roma player and he'll remain a Roma player. Sissoko [his agent] has been amplifying it all, acting like a minstrel seeking a court where he can play his tune. I'd like to remind this man that 30 million is the price I believe Benatia's weak foot to be worth, his left. His right foot is worth at least a million more. You do the math. This same man then goes and sneakily tries to offer players to my coach.

"Can I guarantee Benatia won't leave? I can guarantee for his moral and technical worth. I wasn't exactly calm after I'd closed the deal with [Udinese owner] Pozzo because I knew it was a big deal, and understandably lots of people were skeptical. As I've said, the player is not for sale, but if his agent wants to speculate on a price for him then any interested clubs should consider his value to be 61 million. If someone were to offer that amount, then I don't think I could guarantee 100% that he would stay.

"I'd like to end this by saying that he's a wonderful guy and he'll stay at Roma. Will he stay here unhappy? No, he'll stay here happy. He'll end up earning the same amount as what the other clubs are offering him at the moment."

ROSTER FOR THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
"We'll need two for every position and more quality. We're working with Rudi, we'll add to our roster and improve it, although it's very difficult to improve because we already have a great team. We'll bring in the players that we need. Obviously we're considering the fact that we'll have two games a week. In some cases we might even have three for one position to make sure the coach has plenty of choice."

GARCIA'S NEW DEAL
"Rudi doesn't need to take on a bigger role at Roma. We're grateful that he's so hands-on. He does a lot, working 10 hours a day, but it's all things that a coach should do. In other areas the club already does a very good job."

TARGETS
"Last year I said we had to be challenging to get into the Champions League. Now I'll say something that I might get massacred for: Roma can challenge for the title next season. That's what our target must be. Roma deserves to be in the mix for it. It's not just what I want, it's the intrinsic worth of this team. The strong cohesion there is between the coach and the players. Leaving aside the last three games, we'll look to build on our 85 points. When that's your starting point, all you can do is improve."

CASTAN
"He's shown how much Roma means to him and he's an important player. He came here to sign his contract extension at 7:30 in the morning before leaving."

OSVALDO
"Osvaldo has shown he's a well-behaved player at Juventus, as he was at Roma. His performances have been different at Juventus though – he did much better when he was at Roma."

ITURBE
"Roma are interested in Iturbe, of course we are. I received a visit from an agent representing him while I was in hospital and I spoke to him. It's a complex deal that we're looking into. We're always on the lookout for good players, sometimes even for bad ones! And I accept the responsibility."

HUNT FOR A FORWARD
"We're looking at bringing in a forward. We still have the greatest player in Roma's history here, Francesco Totti. He's playing well and saying important things for the club. I liked what he said about Benatia too. And I thank him. A few years ago I put forward an idea. I said, 'I'd love it if Totti were to take a group of promising youngsters under his wing.' And that's what he's doing now. I'm very proud of him.
"Destro? He'll stay here. He's a superb player, a determined, ambitious kid. He'll have to improve certain sides of his character and his performances, but he scored 13 goals in 18 games - an impressive figure."

AFRICA
"Will the Africa Cup of Nations influence our transfer choices? It will a bit, yes. Some of our players will be taking part. It's an important tournament for them and we couldn't ask them not to go."

RENEWALS AND LOANS
"Toloi and Bastos? Roma love these two players. Toloi is a fantastic guy and an excellent player. We're trying to bring his price down. We want to keep him, he deserves to play for Roma.

"We'll look at Bastos too. We'd like to renegotiate his contract and fee. If it doesn't happen we'll be very sorry. He's an experienced player who's played a lot in the Champions League. If he doesn't stay, we'll sign someone else with similar qualities.

"Viviani? He's done very well at Latina. Latina have an option on co-ownership which has gone now. We have a counter-option but we want to set out a great career path for him because he deserves it.

"Bertolacci? He wants to play regular football. I rate him a lot but I can't guarantee he'll get 30 games a year at Roma.

"Taddei? That's a real torment for me. He's a great guy and a consummate professional. I'm the bearer of bad news. We think his time at Roma has come to an end. When I explained to him that there was very little chance he'd be staying at Roma, he accepted the decision with great dignity and said, 'I just want to tell you what a good job I think you've done over the years.' It was like a blow to the kidneys. I'd like to take this opportunity to say that it's been an honor to work with him during this time."

[Italiamia]

A massive amount of bullshit from a bullshitter. Cerci back at Roma is a good thing. Samuel, I love the guy, but he's past it now.

[Basso]

Looks like Tacopina has real trouble on his hands in the States now! http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-tea ... -1.1816132

[RomaShield27]

DE ROSSI REFLECTS: “IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEAVE ROMA”
http://romapress.us/?p=4607

Daniele De Rossi spoke to La Repubblica today and reflected on his Roma and Italian national team tenure:

What do you think now at age 31?
“That at aged 20 I would’ve liked to have left Italy to experience life and football abroad. I would have played more in the Champions League and perhaps in more finals. I would’ve broaden my boundaries and even my professionalism. But I’ve never been able to. I always go to lunch with my mom and dad, who live three minutes away from me. It’s difficult to leave a comfortable bed. It’s almost impossible to leave Roma. The fans love you, follow you, if you fall, they wait for your return.”

You’re in your third World Cup…
“It’s also sort of a ‘goodbye’. I know it is the last time I will play with Andrea Pirlo, I don’t want to think about it, anyways I’m touched. When in Germany I was in pieces because of the disqualification for four days, Andrea took me to dinner with his family and made me feel like I was not an outcast. And then there was also Alessandro Nesta, who suffered a bad injury, who also joined us.”

The foul on McBride: you’re the man who raised his elbow…
“I’m ashamed. I’m not a killer or a pig. If someone tackles me, I do not harbor revenge, I don’t collect red cards. From when I was little, I wasn’t a troublemaker. But I can’t stand when somebody holds me back or grabs me. It’s a matter of physics, it bothers me.”

[forzaitalia]

Seydou Keita then. Strange one, especially at 34 and he'd spent a couple of years in China (moves like that normally signal the end of your career) before going to Valencia.

Garcia must think he can do a job though, let's hope so.

[RomaShield27]

Keita spent a couple of years in China? Didn't know that. Also didn't realise he's 34. Bit of a peculiar move alright – I can only presume those in charge seen him play a bit for Valencia this season to see what he's like. Although wiki says he only made 11 appearances? Dunno. European experience? Dunno about that either. Taddei has European experience.