THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[marco]

[Jamoldo]

[edge_xeno]

[stefano]

[oily]

[g.smiley]

[SPqR]

[Amantino Mancini]

[RomaShield27]

[Totti_10]

I wonder if Galliani wants the Sensi's to hold on to Roma because he knows we have peaked and can't go much further with them as our owners.

[Totti_10]

We can't start players like Panucci (at this point) Cassetti, and Taddei in the CL quarterfinals if we want to win. I think we have to change some players as well as our tactics. We play beautiful football but all of that is supported by Totti. Vucinic is terrific but he can't play Totti's role in the system. The truth is there is no other player like Totti in the world (I am not saying he is the best player in the world but he offers different qualities). His vision and touch are unbelievable. The problem is he can no longer take the knocks he took in the past. Our squad depth has improved but our substitutes don't exactly fit the system.

I might disagree with Soros' politics but he is ridiculously rich. We would be a massive club over night. Hicks, Gillett, and Glazer have money but they are small compared to Soros. Part of why I love this club is because we weren't like Milan, Inter, or Juventus. It is nice to root for the underdog but we have to make a change because there is no other way to compete. We need to spend big this summer. We should be able to get players like Huntelaar or Gomez, Vargas and Mathieu. We have been standing still for far too long.

[RomaShield27]

I agree that we are still to reliant on Totti. Our entire system and style of play was created around Spalletti's decision (forced or not) to move Totti to centre-forward, which was a revelation at the time, with no clear out-and-out striker in the line-up. Even when Totti went down with his ankle injury we coped very well, even setting new Serie A records, but that period was horribly stretched and pushed us to the limits, and we would like to believe we have come on since then. Nowadays, when there's no Totti in the team, we lack that brilliant bit of magic and the unexpected to our play which we sorely missed against ManUsa. I amazingly heard and seen several times from commentators and pundits how Roma might actually be better off [i]without[/] Totti in their team for both games with the Manure, because he is just a 'lazy flashy player', which is just another example in the long list of ignorance and stupidity these Totti-haters come out with, but we clearly missed the influence of the top scorer in European football last season, with our style of play clearly not being as effective as per normal (coupled with the absence of Perrotta, in both legs), and even resorted to pure long-ball tactics at stages during the game in Rome. But you hear none of these pundits or commentators mentioning that fact, and just say we look out of ideas and unable to break down Gayniteds back-line.

When we have Vucinic in there, he brings other qualities like being able to win a long ball or being able to hold it and keep possession (or bang in hatricks), but it is completely different as he is often isolated and doesn't come as deep as Totti. Minus Totti we lose creativity in the final third, as Taddei and Perrotta and even Mancini, now, are more hard grafters then creative types (Mancini has gone off the boil in this regard). I just don't think you can simply do a straight swap of Totti for Vucinic – or anyone else, for that matter – and expect to keep the same style of play and level of skill in games when it really matters, as we just don't have the technical quality to do so with the likes of Taddei, Perrotta, Mancini and even Vucinic. We need alternative systems, different formations, whether it'd be switching to a straight-forward 4-4-2 and bringing in another quality striker alongside Mirko (when Totti is absent) or trying something completely new, I don't know. Of course a lot of things may change over the coming few weeks.

[Totti_10]

With the current players at our disposal a guy like Taddei is needed because of his work rate. It would be nice to start Esposito or Giuly but we need Taddei to cover for Cicinho or Panucci. We just need a couple of top class players. Players like Panucci, Cassetti, Taddei, Tonetto, Giuly, and Esposito are valuable to add depth to win domestically but to count on several of them on the pitch during a CL quarterfinal is asking for trouble.

[RomaShield27]

Its true, to move up a level (keep in touch with the European big guns?) we need more quality, and that means benching the likes of Panucci, Cassetti, Taddei, Tonetto, and even the likes of Mancini and Perotta when they're not in form, and replacing them with the likes of a new quality winger like Quaresma, a new left-full like Vargas, and a big-name goalscoring monster like Huntelaar or Gomez or Keane. But thats not going to happen under the Sensi's, regardless of how much we think we can raise for funds from players sales, CL revenue, TV rights etc., and they're not going to spend big on such players.

And so we face a very serious conundrum. Do we sell out to Soras, become the first Italian club ever under foreign management, and have an unlimited check book ala Chel$ki or ManUsa, leading the club down a very perilous road, or do we remain as we are?

[g.smiley]

Sell out sell out!

Can anyone clarify what's going on with the Berlusconi, Veltroni, and Totti commentary?

[RomaShield27]

Really Smiley, sell out? And what you on about with Berlusconi/Veltroni/Totti?

[Italiamia]

Will the Sensi's be making a deal with the devil? What do we want as fans Shield. We are in a tough position. Do we want continued disappointment every year because we do not have enough quality to win anything; or, do we want a foreign owner who has the money to buy any player in the world without regard to cost? If we opt for the latter, then the question is will Roma lose its identity and become and artificial or synthetic club like rubentus where there is no real passion. Do we want to be a Chelsea, or Real Madrid. Whether something like that could happen is another question entirely. I would like to think that because of our fans, and the city of Rome, that we could never become a purely marketed team drawing in shallow, synthetic fans. Also, what I do not want to see are players coming to Roma because Soros can pay them any wage they desire. They have to want to be here or forget it. The players on this team now wanted to be here. Certainly, once a player comes to Roma they quickly realise what kind of fans support the club and the connection that exists between the players and the fans. Then you have Romans like Totti, De Rossi and Aquilani who will help new players adjust to the city. They take them to the their homes and neighborhoods to meet Romans and help them find adequate housing for their stay with the club. I don't know how much of this happens with other clubs, but it is the rule at Roma.

This is a difficult conversation for me. It's hard to change. I want to win, but I don't want to lose Roma in the process. I don't know if I am saying I would rather be happy with the status quo because certainly I want to win something. But even if we win, will we as Roma fans be losing in the end.

[Italiamia]

Oh yes, one more thing. This Soros approach to buy Roma is no joke. From what I am told, it is more serious than the Russian debacle several years ago. I think the rumour over the last few days has been that the Sensi's like what they are hearing from Soros. However, Soros wants to have his lawyers and accountants look at the club from the top on down. Perhaps this is where he will realize what a mess the Sensi's have made of things and is not looking for a project. Make no mistake about it, Roma is not operated professionally and old George will learn that immediately. You see, there are what you call standard business and accounting practices and then you have Italian business and accounting practices and I can assure you they are not one in the same.

[maro]

There are hailstones the size of Fonz's backed-up cojones hammering into my window. God I love the English spring. This time last week we were eating gelato on the Via dei Serpenti. I can't wait to ride to the station.