THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[maro]

I'd have thought the real problem with Destro is that he doesn't have big enough balls. He needs to feel important, I'd say, before he can really show his best, but hasn't got the balls to get stuck in, head down, and earn the right to be felt important. Small balls means he's perfectly cut out for Arsewipe or one of the Bilan clubs. Like Mexes and Menez, say.

[DavidP]

ironically that is a much cleaner way of putting it.

[maro]

He's got a bit of the Bojan and the Aquilani about him.

[maro]

http://www.forzaroma.info/2014/12/21/ro ... tto/399666

Just give us the bleedin' trophy now.

We did miss Pjanic, Davit, and I think the game might have given you further food for thought on your Pjanic-Keita thing. When Pjanic is on the pitch he doesn't only make plays, he also makes room for others if teams concentrate on closing him down. My hunch is that's why Keita's taken on more of those responsibilities than you'd like and why Pjanic hasn't been at the centre of games as much as you'd like. Let's hope Strootman's properly back (and not in Manchester) while Keita's away. And let's hope Paredes gets a bit more game time too (Ucan and Sanabria seem too far gone for this season); the boys looked shot in the second half yesterday - perhaps Holebas, Destro, and Ljajic excluded (the latter two, of course, having come from the bench, and I'm not saying they contributed all that much, but they didn't look knackered when there was a goal to be chased).

[DavidP]

thanks, that's interesting, but why would you post it here? we have a shitebox you know: chat.php

[RomaShield27]

Just watched the game there. Disappointing performance alright, a bad two points dropped, would have been nice to go into the Christmas break with a victory and only a point behind the merda. The game typified our recent slump in many ways. No creativity (of course no Pjanic didn't help), lack of ideas and urgency, players looking tired. We badly need the winter break alright. Recharge the batteries (I see Totti jetted off to the Maldives today, most of the other players on holidays too) and hopefully rediscover the form we seen at the start of the season.

[maro]

http://www.forzaroma.info/2014/12/23/ca ... man/400352

Wow. All I can say is that were he still at Roma this would never have happened. If only the Cagliari board had listened to him and brought in Taxi for him it might all have been so different.

[maro]

I wonder what Sabre and Roodi would make of this - http://www.calciomercato.com/news/manch ... ell-270770
I suppose much depends on the doctors' verdict on his knees - my sense is that those who suffer bad knee injuries young tend to have an underlying vulnerability there and he's quite possibly only one bad knee injury from being a much much more ordinary player. Those are tough stakes for a club Roma's size to gamble on - but small change for Manure.

[Italiamia]

Where are the kool aid drinkers who said Roma should have given Zeman more time and to let him coach through his contract. Come on boys, let's hear from you. Edzo, you start things off.

Man I'm tired of being right.

[RomaShield27]

Not sure about Roma, but Cagliari definitely should've given him more time. You know what you get with him, he was never going to change tactics or his approach, but it seems as if Cagliari's new owners went for a bit of a quick fix, an exciting new manager and style of play to keep the fans happy for a bit, but not much long term thinking.

---------

Great interview with Rudi Garcia on Roma Radio:

http://asroma.co.uk/news/interviews/ite ... rt-of-roma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUuCVpY ... e=youtu.be

[RomaShield27]

Good start to the New Year...

CLUB STATEMENT: ALESSANDRO FLORENZI 01/03/2015
AS Roma is pleased to announce that Alessandro Florenzi has signed a contract extension with the club. His new deal will run until June 30, 2019.

http://www.asroma.it/en/news/club_state ... _florenzi/

[RomaShield27]

Roma Coach Rudi Garcia: Davide Astori Goal Was Valid
Tuesday, 06 January 2015 19:00 / http://asroma.co.uk/news/interviews/ite ... -was-valid

Roma coach Rudi Garcia defended the performance of referee Marco Guida in the Giallorossi's win over Udinese on Tuesday, insisting that Davide Astori's goal was valid and that there should not have been a penalty awarded against Urby Emanuelson.

Garcia to Sky Sport

Roma were looking for the win and didn't give much up, was that the response you were looking for?

Yes it's a good way to start again, we're on a good path. The guys worked hard and played the right game. The best thing would have been to score another goal because we had a lot of chances. Regarding the goal I've not changed my mind - there wouldn't be debates if we had technology. It was a goal but it would be better for referees if we had something to make it certain.

The decision was made by Guida, not the goalline referee

Yes, it's always the referee who is in charge on the pitch and you can clearly see that he's well placed. A bit less [well-placed] than the assistant, but well enough to see that it was in.

Why did you choose Totti over Destro? How is Ljajic?

Adem took a real blow to the knee but he won't have a problem for Sunday given that we have four or five days now. On the other choice, I wanted players with different characteristics. Francesco helped us with his movement and had a good hour for us. With the pace of Iturbe and the pace of Ljajic, we had more options. It was already decided that Florenzi would come on and he had a good chance.

Have you put pressure on Juventus?

Yes, it's important to win when we play first because then we can enjoy the other games that interest us. Tonight we'll be in front of the TV to see if Juventus or Inter play the better game.

Stramaccioni was furious, including for the challenge by Emanuelson

I don't know about that, I didn't see anything wrong, but it makes me smile that he says he doesn't like controversies and then only talks about a couple of incidents. The referee did well throughout the game, you can see that Urby touches the ball but it's not up to me, it's up to the referee.

Do you want technology instead of referees or is there another solution?

It should be added because the referee should be in charge of everything, not just if the ball goes in or not.

What sort of derby will it be?

It's first or second against third. This means it will be a top quality game, which we coaches and especially the players like to be involved in. It's good to be playing again, I'm happy that we've got back into action today.

Garcia to Roma TV

Nainggolan and Florenzi both benched, was that with the derby in mind?

It was important to start Strootman, we've seen that he's back at 100%, and it was equally important to see Iturbe play as he has something to show in the second half of the season. They did well and we've negated the risk of [playing] Radja and Florenzi.

Iturbe and Ljajic were useful defensively

Manuel did very well, I liked him going forwards as well. He was the only one who gave us any depth, it's a shame he didn't score but he played with confidence. Psychologically he has taken a step forward today.

Video technology or goalline assistants

There are six referees out there to see things, not just one. Guida did well, he had an excellent position to see if the ball went in. But a bit of goal-line technology wouldn't be a bad thing to lower tensions.

The defence was organised and solid, are you pleased?

Yes, we haven't conceded a goal for three games now and that's important. If we're solid then we just need one goal to win. I liked the fact we scored from a set piece, we need to be efficient in those situations. We had four opportunities to close the game out but everything else was positive. It's hard to win here in Udine.

Is something lacking offensively?

Defensively this Roma team is an improved team. We've changed a lot there, from last season['s squad] only Maicon played today. The centre backs who have come in are top quality. As long as we create goalscoring chances then everything is fine. We have to be more efficient in front of goal but if we're creating chances then that means Roma are playing well.

Are Juventus under pressure?

Absolutely yes, when one team wins then it always puts the team ahead under pressure.

[DavidP]

-ljajic had a terrible game. he hasn't been linking up well with totti at all (haven't most of his good performances come when totti was off?) and totti didn't play to his usual standards either, as a result we looked like shit for most of the game.

-maicon couldn't do anything right, easily the worst player on the pitch. our form this year has regressed along with him.

-daniele didn't look like a player who was about to cost us a goal for a change. it was just udinese and an udinese that offered little going forward but he had much worse performances against the likes of atalanta, so it may well have been a fitness issue (both physical and mental) which is now solved.

-pjanic is such an amazing player but also a whiny little bitch. he threw 2 little teenage fits at totti in the second half, like wtf? who does he think he is, pablo osvaldo?

-holebas has been very solid in the last month or so - ever since dcg started hating on him in fact. hopefully it works on iturbe too.

[AS Collie]

I don't like to criticise other writers, but this is just nonsense. The root of what he's saying might be true, but he's over-egged his pudding with a few silly opinions tarted up as facts.

Enrique fell out with DDR? The player seemed to love him. Totti didn't like the fitness programme? He was possibly the only one who didn't have a problem with Zeman's mental training methods. I also never met anyone here who had a problem with him suspending Osvaldo.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editor ... um=twitter

[RomaShield27]

Ha, big time, it looks as if he's blown the whole affair out of proportion just to make some headlines and make a comparison to Messi at Barca. Totti wasn't happy about being dropped a few times, but thats only normal when a player isn't playing. He didn't cause a fuss or have a fall-out with LE that I can rememember.

"At first, things didn't go well. "Maybe at the beginning we didn't understand each other, I don't know why. I didn't understand what I was doing wrong at that time. It was said that I was at the centre of the project but then I found myself on the bench. Either I didn't understand or I was being made fun of."

Did Totti actually say that? Could be just me but I don't remember that at all. De Rossi excelled under LE and had one of his best seasons in years, he was a key player for him. None of the players wanted LE to go when he did.

[RomaShield27]

Marco Cassetti: Roma Will Easily Beat Lazio In The Derby
http://asroma.co.uk/news/interviews/ite ... -the-derby

Rome booms as Milan falls in Italian power-shift
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/rom ... ower-shift

[RomaShield27]

http://www.espnfc.com/italian-serie-a/1 ... horncastle

A little bit worried about the Derby if I’m being honest. Our form isn’t the best while Lazio are probably the most on-form side in the league. Have to hope that old adage of ‘form goes out the window in a derby’ holds true (although for once its us the side not on form: strange that).

Its going forward were the side has been struggling the most, with Totti not quite on top of his game as of late and the whole forward unit not gelling as good as earlier in the season (host of reasons why). I wonder if Totti's beginning to feel his age, heaven forbid. Gervinho’s absence will be felt. Not that he’s been on better form, but his pace was one key weapon we had. Big game for Iturbe, providing he starts (I’d imagine Totti and Florenzi have to start, and one from Iturbe/Ljajic, and the latter still has a bruised knee), we really need him to step up to the plate now.

Our defence will have its hands full. Its great that De Rossi was back to his best against Udinese. He will be our most important player I feel, with Anderson, Candreva and Mauri all looking very dangerous (the latter in a gay sort of way). Him and Nainggolan will be key, alongside Pjanic (I’d say Strootman will be on the bench), the midfield is were we will need to step up and win this game.

[RomaShield27]

Roma-Lazio FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI, davanti Iturbe-Totti-Florenzi. Out Strootman torna Nainggolan. In difesa Astori preferito a Yanga Mbiwa – DIRETTA

E' tutto pronto per l'attesissimo derby della Capitale, Garcia pronto a schierare la migliore formazione a disposizione con Florenzi-Totti-Iturbe dal primo minuto


di Redazione 11 gennaio 2015 | 11.21 |
Segui in diretta su Forzaroma.info Roma-Lazio. Sarai aggiornato in qualsiasi istante sul risultato del match e leggere in tempo reale la cronaca della partita anche su nostro account twitter @forzaroma.

Il grande giorno è arrivato. La domenica per la quale si aspetta un’intera stagione, la domenica dove un’intra città si ferma e resta a guardare quelle due squadre in campo. E’ la domenica di Roma-Lazio, il derby della Capitale. Con una vittoria la Roma potrebbe superare la Juventus, se i bianconeri dovessero fare un passo falso al San Paolo contro il Napoli. Rudi Garcia carico più che mai, vuole i tre punti e schiererà la migliore formazione a disposizione, preferito Astori a Yanga Mbiwa, a centrocampo out Strootman dentro Nainggolan con De Rossi e Pjanic. In attacco invece non ce la fa Ljajic dentro Florenzi, Totti ed Iturbe


FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI

ROMA (4-3-3): De Sanctis; Maicon, Manolas, Astori, Holebas; Pjanic, De Rossi, Nainggolan; Florenzi, Totti, Iturbe
A disp.: Lobont, Skorupski, Yanga-Mbiwa, Somma, Cole, Torosidis, Emanuelson, Paredes, Strootman, Destro, Ljajic, Borriello.
All.: Garcia

LAZIO (4-2-3-1): Marchetti; Basta, De Vrij, Cana, Radu; Parolo, Biglia; Candreva, S. Mauri, F. Anderson; Djordjevic
A disp.: Berisha, Strakosha, Novaretti, Konko, Cavanda, Ledesma, Onazi, Pereirinha, Cataldi, Keita, Klose.
All.: Pioli

Arbitro: Orsato
Guardalinee: Tonolini – Manganelli
IV Uomo: Nicoletti
Addizionali: Banti - Gervasoni

[DavidP]

terrible first half. i guess the plan was to outrun them but they left no spaces in which to run. strootman changed the whole game and totti is a better #9 than destro ever will be.

[RomaShield27]

Totti is better now, but will Destro ever develop into that world-class centre-forward? The question to ask, though, is would Destro have scored those two chances Totti did today? My guess would be no, he'd have probably tried to head it and injure himself or something.

Appalling first-half, but much better in the second, all to do with that early goal and the momentum and belief it brought. We're still not playing well, though, as an attacking unit we're still missing that bit of something to make us click. Even after the equaliser we could've pushed on for the winner, but didn't have the legs I guess. Overall we done well to come out in the second-half and rescue it, but I think Lazio will be more disappointed they didn't win the game then we will.