THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[Italiamia]

[p_maldini_3]

He chased the dollar, he chased the dream.

He's not the first and he won't be the last.

[DCGweez]

[Lupa]

http://media1.sulia.com/static/user_ima ... 13eb60.png

De Rossi's the highest paid player in the league. Borriello's 3rd after Totti on Roma? He's up there as far as the league, too.

[RomaShield27]

Always some good stuff from Saba. The journo's must love him, he rambles on like a good thing. Interesting that Bayern said to Roma they'd prefer if we didn't talk further to the media about Benatia (and then Saba rambles on about him, lolz).


Walter Sabatini: Roma Have Not Listened To Offers For Kevin Strootman
/ Thursday, 11 September 2014 20:04 / Anthony Wright

With the transfer window now finally closed, Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini took the opportunity to discuss the club's summer transfer dealings in a press conference on Thursday.

The summer transfer window closed not long ago and already there is talk about January, particularly regarding Kevin Strootman. Will he turn out to be Roma's big signing?
Certainly, a huge signing, we lost him [to injury] and that hindered us a lot. He's an extraordinary player but we aren't creating the next transfer market, the media is doing that. Our strong and justified wish is to keep Kevin, who is continuing to be a strong point for us even while he's injured. We'll see him back on the pitch soon, he played an exemplary role last season along with everyone else.

In your mind, how close is the squad to being the finished article?
There's always a certain disquiet inside me, I'm never completely calm or satisfied. Of course I'm sure that this group can be competitive but this doesn't alter my apprehension, I want to see what else we can do. That's my prerogative, which I'd struggle to give up. It gives me the strength to keep looking, keep battling and keep sticking my nose into other people's affairs. This will never change for me.

Another player who has been spoken about is Rabiot - how close are you to him?
He's an exceptional player who has made great progress. We can't not keep tabs on him, it would be a mistake and actually we rate him very highly. He's a player who we want but we'll negotiate in good faith, we're not expecting to sign him on a free transfer. We don't like that as a strategy, remember that we were able to sign an excellent player in Sanabria but we bought him after coming to an agreement with Barcelona. If we have the option and the desire to open discussions with Rabiot we'll do it in accordance with PSG. But I think it will be difficult, his contract situation is well known. We'll try to proceed with it as prestigious clubs ought to do, at the moment their prestige maybe slightly superior because they have been making huge investments. We want to work with every big club in Europe in the same way, because we are a big club and we behave like one.

What annoyed you most about the Benatia case?
The president has been thorough and final in clearing up the situation. There is also some other news regarding Bayern Munich, who made it known to us that they would like these public discussions to end. I would add one thing though, I think I have to in order to restore a bit of truth. Benatia tried to do a few things properly, then he made errors, but the prerequisites were good. When I tried to sign him [last year], he had an offer from an Italian team that was far better than ours, but he accepted ours in an incredible way. He did so by evaluating the strength that he could give to this team, giving up on the money [from the other offer]. Then in January foreign clubs came to him with offers and he came to us saying that he had major offers and would like to stay at Roma under certain conditions. If these did not materialise he would feel offended and disappointed with Roma. It's the same as if I were to ask for more money after a good transfer campaign. We told him that Roma could not and did not want to give him that amount of money, but that we would improve his contract on the basis of what he had lost out on from his previous choice. The events in January were a one off, because the offer was more hypothetical than real. But we offered him a significant increase and hoped to keep him until May and beyond. In May I said that Benatia's price was €61 million because I was referring to the rock of Benatia that we had had. The price we sold him for and for which I can be taken to task was for a Benatia who did not have the strength, desire or determination to continue to be the player who we had admired. I won't say anything else because we have had messages from Bayern asking us to stop talking about this, though it is not entirely up to us as we have heard this person say some indecent things. Now we must let it go. Pallotta has explained things thoroughly.

So Strootman is not for sale?
Definitely. He is unsellable now, but we have to contextualise - by that I don't mean that he is for sale. We will receive offers, we'll protect him and we'll defend him but I don't know what will happen. For now we'll make the most of him even while he's injured, his mentality is what gives him strength. He has helped us a lot and also helped his team-mates a lot. We are not thinking in the slightest about selling him, we're waiting him to return in an acceptable physical state. We need to be patient but we're waiting for him, and he's determined to return.

Maicon has returned, how is he? Is the Brazilian saga behind him?
I have to make a little preface to this. In order to come to Roma, Maicon turned down an immeasurable sum and left it by the wayside at Manchester City, accepting a modest offer from Roma compared to his real value. When I read that Maicon is trying to be a bit clever about money it horrifies me, because he gave up a lot of money to come here. We must give him respect, there is a Roma with him and there is one without him. Each of us lives three lives - a public one, a private one and a secret one. We're letting him get on how he wants with two of them as long as he works in training. Last year he played 28 games at an exceptional level, he often went onto the pitch having used painkillers, he played in difficult conditions but he wanted to do so for Roma. I'm talking about a champion, we're treating him with the dignity he deserves. He's fine, he played against Colombia and played a good game.

Was there anything you wanted to do in the transfer market that you weren't able to do?
I am never completely happy at the end of a transfer campaign. Some doubts always creep into my mind after a while. Rudi Garcia is happy though, we're competitive. I said that I wanted to give the team two players for every position, three in some cases, and we've achieved this in every area we wanted. Now we're expecting strength, desire and the conviction to be a great team from the players. They have showed this to an extent, there were a few doubts after the friendlies but the game against Fiorentina cleared those away - for 60 minutes the team replicated their football from their best moments of last season.

Since you've been at Roma I've heard you speak with a lot of passion about Lamela and Dodo, now both have been sold. Did that happen because the coach asked you to, or to show that there is no room for sentiment in football?
When a transfer campaign finishes, I always feel very badly whatever has happened. We're restricted, I'm restricted to making choices that hurt me and the situations that arise are very painful. They are two very good players, I'd also add Marquinhos to them. They were compulsory decisions, though each case is individual. Dodo was sold but don't have a go at me, because I was convinced that he wouldn't be able to grow in this environment where he has always been criticised. You aren't responsible for Dodo's sale, but I had to take that aspect into account. I made a very difficult choice but I believe I was fair. Maybe he will get a few 7s in the player ratings now, it never happened here - here he always got a meagre 6 even when the team won 6-0. Maybe it happened because I unwisely said that he would be a champion. He was primarily sold to save his life. The others were sold for financial and technical-tactical reasons.

Are you surprised by the debates surrounding Lotito? Can you appreciate De Rossi's irritation?
Obviously it is a bit unsettling for me to talk about Lotito, I can't forget that he was previously my president. I would expect that he isn't saying no one can talk about him because they are beneath him, they are talking under conditions that everyone respects. When De Rossi speaks it would be better if everyone listened to him, he hasn't said banal things and he wasn't offensive.

In your press conference in May you spoke about a Roma team aiming for the title. Do you still believe in that? Do you regret calling Sissoko a wandering minstrel?
I was actually too generous... Garcia didn't go against what I said, by entertaining the fans you win the title. I'd say that a team that gets 85 points and who are aiming to improve must be thinking about the scudetto. The team has all the prerequisites to fight for the scudetto, but don't forget that every team has reinforced by making prudent choices. I will forget someone, but Inter have done it, Milan have brought in three excellent players in Torres, van Ginkel and Bonaventura, Lazio have made intelligent choices, Fiorentina are in the fray and naturally also Napoli are still strong despite their elimination [from the Champions League]. We will be going out to win the title, we have to.

Can you define Iturbe for us? Would you give up cigarettes for a month for the title?
No, give me another suggestion. A man can give up more important things than smoking. A cigarette would be celebratory for me. Iturbe is a very strong player, he doesn't know how good, he's had a difficult start because he's correctly sought to understand his team-mates and their movements by leaving aside his instincts. He will find the middle ground between being part of a team and making his deep attacking runs as his instinct tells him to.

Did Roma ever think about selling Destro? Were there offers?
You always listen to the market. I also listened when it concerned Destro, it also helps me as a measure to see how our players are thought of. I had meetings regarding Destro, but in my heart I never thought about selling him. If you ask me how I value him, I consider him to be a great centre-forward. I understand that he isn't sure what's happening t the moment as there are other players ahead of him but we know that he is Destro and he will do very well. I don't deny that I listened to offers, but in my mind I wasn't going to sell him. It's partly vanity, I like being able to say no to big offers.

What would you say to those who lost out in transfer negotiations to Roma and then accuse you of overpaying for players?
It's a shoddy defence, Roma pay what a player is worth. I divide players into three price categories: there's a bottom price of 0-€4m, a middle of €4m-€12m and a higher one of €12m-€61m. I know how it's done, when I pay for a player I pay the right price. Someone is trying to say that we overpay for players but Roma pay the right price, sometimes less.

It's been noted that you've left a non-EU spot free, was that a deliberate choice?
I preferred to make that choice. The transfer market allowed us to keep a spot free, and it could be decisive when reinforcing the team whenever that may be necessary.

Is this Roma stronger than Juventus?
Garcia said something on this - Juventus are the same as last year with a few new players. We can't think that they've weakened. We've made choices to lessen the gap, which wasn't really 17 points as in the last few games we made different choices and gave up a little bit. The gap isn't that big, but it would be a mistake not to think of Juventus as a team that got 102 points.

If Benatia was worth €61m, how much is Strootman worth? What rating would you give the transfer market?
Benatia was worth €60m at the time when I was talking about his price, I was talking about the rock of Benatia who had fire in his belly which, together with his technical ability, made him into an extraordinary player. The Benatia we sold for €28m plus €4m was the shadow. Football is made up of exigent circumstances, I thought I could get Benatia back to normal in May. I was convinced that he was worth €61m. He was broken down by desires so I was limited to selling an excellent player and an excellent defender can be sold at that price. Strootman isn't worth much because he isn't on the market. You start talking about figures when a player is on the market, we haven't listened to offers. I'm not thinking about a price for Kevin, he will be our January signing when he regains his best condition. I'll give you a rating when I see the team on the pitch winning games or at least wanting to win games. Roma must be highly competitive.

How do you talk to unsellable players?
I talk about the club's ideas, but I also talk about the market which can be unpredictable. We would have to sit down and talk, in that case. A club always knows which players it wants to sell, Juventus knew the players they wanted to get rid of but it depends on the market.

What can Roma do in the Champions League?
Roma will play the strongest team in the group next week, the least famous, but CSKA are a phenomenal team who win titles and who own players that I would like and everyone would like. I know we're playing against the team most in form right now. Attitudes can change in football but at the moment they're the strongest team. We want to win but it will be very difficult, we want to measure ourselves against the best teams. When I talk about our players so well it's not bravado, I can't give us a low objective for the group.

How does a club deal with players who want to renegotiate contracts after one good season?
Some of you act behind the agents, I often see news about contracts that need to be renewed, sometimes it says that tomorrow it's this person or that person's turn. I've read about an agreement to renegotiate De Sanctis' deal, but we need to talk about other things with him. It's a problem, players who have a claim or a right to want to renegotiate their own deals. The Pjanic situation was challenging, we wanted to renegotiate his deal because we didn't want to lose him for nothing. We had to accept a law of the transfer market, that Roma are on the stock market. But everything was resolved, we worked and we found a balance. The players are a very intelligent group of people, an extraordinary group. Every transfer market goes to the extreme, it's not just buying and selling. It all leads to commitments and disappointments. It was tough this year, for instance having to let Taddei go. He's an extraordinary and exemplary professional, there was a strong external and internal pressure to keep him. It was uncomfortable for me to announce that we weren't renewing his deal. I did it because I had to, so that we could buy a player of similar age with more international experience. It still hurts, but I'd like to take the chance to thank Rodrigo. I hope he initiates a new successful chapter for himself and takes Perugia back into Serie A.

[Italiamia]

Of course Bayern wants our camp to desist from discussing the situation. Their fan base will realize that their team over paid for a complete scumbag with a very short resume.

[RomaShield27]

Exactly, they want Roma to shut-up so as to not give a bad impression of the man. Of course, he's done pretty much all himself, really. There are some who still defend him, though, the old 'sure he's just an employee looking to earn as much as possible' routine. I wonder if Colly still thinks that way?

Not that I was all that impressed with Pallotta's statement on Benatia, either. A bit blunt, no? Then again, it is a bit refreshing to call a player out like that, I dunno. Pallotta certainly does thinks differently, anyway, which may not be a bad thing.

Our immediate fixture list. Seven matches in 17 days. Thats a game every 3/4 days, ending with trips to Man City and Rube. Safe to say the season starts now?

[Italiamia]

http://m.vocegiallorossa.it/primo-piano ... nter-76204

[RomaShield27]

Roma-Cska Mosca FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI: Torosidis al posto di Cole, davanti Iturbe-Totti-Gervinho
Inizia la Champions League della Roma di Garcia: i giallorossi affrontano nella prima giornata i russi del Cska Mosca

http://www.forzaroma.info/2014/09/17/ro ... nho/372091
di Redazione ForzaRoma.info 17 settembre 2014 | 17.50 |

Segui in diretta su ForzaRoma.info Roma-Cska Mosca valida come prima partita di Champions League. Sarai aggiornato in qualsiasi istante sul risultato del match e potrai leggere in tempo reale la cronaca della partita anche su Twitter dal profilo ufficiale @forzaroma.

ROMA (4-3-3): De Sanctis; Maicon, Manolas, Astori, Torosidis; Nainggolan, Keita, Pjanic; Iturbe, Totti, Gervinho.
A disp.: Skorupski, Cole,Paredes, Yanga-Mbiwa, Florenzi, Destro, Ljajic.

CSKA MOSCA (4-2-3-1): Akinfeev; Fernandes, Berezutski, Ignashevich, Nababkin; Milanov, Natcho; Tosic, Eremenko, Musa; Doumbia
A disp.: Chepchougov, Chernov, Efremov, Panchenko, A. Berezutski, Bazeliuk, Schennikov
All.: Slutski

Arbitro: David Fernández Borbalán
Assistenti: Raúl Cabanero Martínez, Roberto Alonso
IV uomo: José Miranda
Assistenti di porta Carlos Del Cerro-Jesús Gil Manzano

[Italiamia]

I knew it would not take long folks: http://www.vocegiallorossa.it/primo-pia ... bili-76442

[RomaShield27]

Wouldn't take long for what, for UEFA to comment on it? Im surprised he said there's likely to be no sanctions. I don't want to sound like it was all the fault of CSKA fans, and say that Roma fans are angels, because we no they're not, but it did seem like it was the CSKA fans who were to blame, no? Maybe Colly can tell us more. Roma fans sung "Ukraine Ukraine" toward them, and of course there were fights outside by the river were some dope stabbed some dope (but not in the ass – Ultra style, they were keen to point out. The Ultras apparently had a promise of 'no more stabbings'), but inside the stadium it looked like CSKA were the aggressors.

[DCGweez]

Our most recent signing. CL 2030 here we come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqTZ2ShNjyc

[Italiamia]

I do not interpret that article in the same manner as you, Edzo.

Where did Rudy find this beauty and who is she.

[DCGweez]

She's the voice of Roma Radio, Francesca Brienza.

http://www.oggi.it/gossip/amori/2014/09 ... re-dicono/

[maro]

It's Giuly he should be worried about. I think thredz misunderstood the last sentence of the article.

[DavidP]

yes, i was just going to ask what the last sentence meant exactly. how long does it take for these things to be 'investigated' by uefa?

[RomaShield27]

Oh I see, there will be sanctions – he's just not clear yet what they will be? It would be odd not to have some punishment handed down. Likely that CSKA will have to play a few games behind closed doors (they were in trouble previously), but the question is if there'll be any punishment for Roma.

[RomaShield27]

So, is everyone ready to welcome the return of Zemanlandia to the Olimpico this weekend? It should be quite the spectacle.

http://www.forzaroma.info/2014/09/19/ze ... uno/372573

[maro]

Hard not to like the man on the back of an interview like that. Are you not going to pick out the bits that you think are particularly interesting, threadmund? Mine would be these:

A guidarla in campo c’è sempre un eterno ragazzo con la maglia numero 10: cosa vuole dire a Totti?
«Checco, sei sempre il più grande di tutti. A 38 anni quello che sta facendo lui non lo ha mai fatto nessuno».

La cessione di Benatia si fa sentire?
«No, penso dipenda da un atteggiamento di squadra ancora più offensivo.


A higher defensive line this year? One of my takes on Wednesday's game was that Manolas looks like he's already a better player than both Benatia and Marquinhos (quicker and more agile than the former; more composed and powerful than the latter). We shall see, of course, but Benatia doesn't just lack a substantial CV, as gio likes to observe; he also lacks a yard of pace that the very best cbs have. I'd have thought he'd fit better at Chelski than at Bayern. Certainly Manolas is quicker in a way that looks as though it could make a very material difference.

[maro]

Oh, and then these bits:

Come sta il suo Cagliari?
«Sta cercando di imparare. Contro l’Atalanta non meritavamo di perdere. Abbiamo fatto 900 passaggi, come il Barcellona. Solo che loro sanno perché li fanno. Noi ancora no…».


E il suo rapporto con i sardi?
«Pensavo fossero silenziosi e invece parlano tanto, ma spesso non li capisco».




Allora quei cartelloni sulla campagna abbonamenti con il suo volto e le frasi in dialetto?
«Non so cosa vogliano dire, ma visto l’affetto che la gente mi dimostra, quelle frasi sono state scelte bene…»