THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[DavidP]

yes, it's a shame that we couldn't maintain that intensity and keep asking questions for the last 15 minutes. were it not for de sanctis and manolas' heroics we could have easily gone down again too.

[RomaShield27]

Sure its only an exclusive interview with Francesco Totti by none other than Colly:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2322 ... ty-ronaldo

[RomaShield27]

Sure no wonder he's been quiet here. Now its an exclusive with Alberto De Rossi. Who's next, Rudi Garcia?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2327 ... revolution

[DavidP]

that was an enjoyable read, good stuff collie.

[maro]

Wise words: "Tra Palermo e Fiorentina la Roma farà due punti, la Juve invece sei nelle prossime due. E poi cominciamo ad aprire le case al mare e a tirare fuori gli ombrelloni.” Looking forward to it.

[RomaShield27]

Palermo-Roma LE FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI

Roma (4-2-3-1): De Sanctis, Florenzi, Astori, Yanga-Mbiwa, Cholevas; Strootman, Paredes; Ljajic, Pjanic, Iturbe; Destro.
A disp.: Skorupski, Lobont, Torosidis, Manolas, Calabresi, Somma, Cole, Emanuelson, Maicon, Verde, Totti, Borriello.
All.: Garcia.

Palermo (3-5-2): Sorrentino, Vitiello, Gonzalez, Feddal, Morganella, Rigoni, Maresca, Barreto, Lazaar, Vazquez, Dybala.
A disp: Ujkani, Terzi, Pisano, Munoz, Andelkovic, Emerson, Della Rocca, Chochev, Bolzoni, Quaison, Belotti, Joao Silva. All.: Iachini.

Arbitro: Damato di Barletta.
Assistenti di linea: Nicoletti e Vuoto.
Quarto uomo: De Luca.
Arbitri addizionali: Peruzzo e Ghersini.

[maro]

First time in ages Garcia's selections (particularly his rotation within the squad) has made obvious sense to me.

[RomaShield27]

Very interesting to see what Paredes can do. Full of talent, no doubt, and gets the nod tonight. A pity Ucan isn't quite fit, he's just back from injury, I thought he could've got a start. On the bench though so we shall see.

Quite an attacking line-up, not much defensive cover. Strootman needs to be on his game in midfield. And interesting to see Florenzi at full-back. Maicon's fitness issues are becoming a big problem, but can Florenzi grow into a full-back full time?

[DavidP]

from reports it sounds like pjanic is back to being the inconsistent player we had seen in previous years. i guess i owe seydou an apology. we're not going to win anything if he doesn't step it up soon, i think. i was hoping that having strootman back would allow him to shine - it certainly helped daniele, albeit in a totally different way - but he looked very mediocre vs. udinese and lazio and apparently palermo last night.

[maro]

So PSG are one down. Who cares? Well, if they lose again, surely no-one will be surprised if Rudi starts getting linked with a move?

I thought Pjanic suffered yesterday in large part because the movement of the front three seemed very disjointed. They didn't do much to allow him to create things. Well, that's true of the whole team, but there were times when I couldn't see quite what the front three were supposed to be doing together.

[RomaShield27]

Does anyone have any doubts creeping in about Garcia at this stage? Is talk of such thing as this stage typical over-reaction and the usual nonsense? I'm a very patient man when it comes to football and giving managers and players lots of time, and that same applies to Garcia no question, but there are a few raising some questions about him. Are they right to do so?

I think he has shown a bit of tactical inefficiency at times, and too rigidly sticks to the 4-3-3 system when its not working. Of course, there's a host of other reasons the system and style of play hasn't been working this season, but as a team its going forward were all the problems have been. Garcia has changed to a 4-2-3-1 at times but not too often, and he's also slow to make changes in games when things aren't going our way. He has done wonders since he's been with us and I think this is the first real slump in his tenure, but we need to see a real improvement in the way the team is playing over the next few weeks.

[DavidP]

lots of talk about a deal for salah. supposedly he will be "replacing" florenzi, who now seems to be considered more of an option at right back, but it makes you wonder if garcia and co are actually becoming impatient with iturbe.

[RomaShield27]

Don't understand the move for Salah myself. I think we've enough options up top in wide positions. Even if Florenzi becomes more of a full-back, he can still be backup for wing-forward. Don't think its anything to do with being impatient with Iturbe – at least I hope not – I still think Iturbe will come good and could be great in his second season when more settled. Our attack is so reliant on Gervinho and his pace that you could say one of the main reasons we've been so dysfunctional attacking this season is that pretty much the same was expected of Iturbe, that he'd be lethal with his pace and offer that outlet like Gervinho, but it hasn't quote worked out that way. Its been hard for him: his first season in a big team, his injury problems, extra pressure, but I still think he'll come good.

Good piece from Jimmy Horncastle highlighting our recent struggles:

http://www.whoscored.com/Articles/mmkig ... s-Juventus

[DavidP]

[RomaShield27]

FIORENTINA (3-5-1-1): Tatarusanu; Tomovic, G. Rodriguez, Basanta; Joaquin, M. Fernandez, Pizarro, B. Valero, Pasqual; Cuadrado; M. Gomez
A disp.: Lezzerini, Rosati, Alonso, Richards, Hegazi, Ilicic, Vargas, Kurtic, Diamanti, Babacar.
All.: Montella

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

Arbitro: Banti di Livorno.
Assistenti: Faverani e Passeri.
IV uomo: Costanzo.
Assistenti di porta: Rizzoli e Gervasoni.

[maro]

http://www.calciomercato.com/news/rudi- ... unt-178752 - Osvaldo, surely, is the obvious choice at this stage.

[RomaShield27]

Difficult to know what to think with the Destro move. Clearly he wasn't happy here and Garcia and co weren't quite happy with him and how things were going, so a change of scenery was probably best for all. Still can't help but be a bit disappointed by it all, I felt he has the potential to be a world-class goal-scorer.

Ideally a loan spell were it was just that – a six month move to a smaller team to play regularly – would've been great, so we could have him back when Totti is that bit older, but financially it wouldn't work. Its still possible he could return, of course, as there's no option to buy in the deal (a bad deal, really, not much money, on loan, and to Milan), but typically its just the type of loan done these days which is more or less a permanent transfer. But with Milan and their situation you never know.

He could go either way with Milan, now, explode and fulfil his potential and bag load of goals, or more likely continue to frustrate, especially in that current Milan side. Good luck to him anyway.

We're close to signing Doumbia as his replacement. He does seem like a better fit to Garcia's system, even if he's not a pure bomber, with his pace and mobility he could play in any forward position. Gervinho, Doumbia and Iturbe must potentially be the fastest forward line on the planet.

Good piece here on just what he can offer:

http://www.forzaroma.info/2015/01/30/ad ... ata/410197

[p_maldini_3]

he did make a move to a smaller team to play regularly.

and you guys replaced him with an african. those niggaz dont fuk around.

[DavidP]

the fastest forward line on the planet and maybe the most frustrating to watch too. that doumbia seemed very very similar to gervinho in the home game vs. cska, he created 3-4 chances all by himself and screwed all of them up by outrunning the ball. having 1 player like that is fine but all 3 seems insane.

[Italiamia]

Civitavecchia 1 - Alghero 0