THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[Kroo]

Yeah I agree maro, it was a solid game and a great performance but we should be no quickly say that the team is back. Menez shone today, but I think he can play even better. He fought hard and worked his ass off which he showed in the last few games he played in.

Aquilani has been our best player so far in my opinion. Panucci is a close second.

[maro]

I only observed today that it's Me'nez rather than Menez, as it were. Does that mean we should nickname him But(t)nose? I quite like it. He was busy today, Kroo, and showed some nice confidence, but some of his decisions were poor (as, for instance, poaching that early chance of Perrotta's boot when he really ought to have had a sense that he was offside, but also in a lot of his passing). I have to say that I do like him a lot - I think he has a lot more potential than Mancini did. Technically he seems to carry more of a threat on the ball and I also get the sense that he's a little bit quicker. If he can become a tidy and accurate player, too, making the right decisions and runs, then he can be terrific. Spags probably won't get much credit for it, but his tactics were very, very good today - Menez was given much more licence to get forward than Taddei, so there were plenty of times in that first half when he was playing alongside Vooch rather than behind him. Menez also worked very hard in defence, but going forward he got to play much more as a forward than as a trequartista and I think it suited him. It will be very interesting to see how he links up with Totti and with Perrotta when Simone gets to play in a more advanced role. The signs are certainly very encouraging. If we can scrape a win at Bordeaux, things will be a lot rosier. It's that loss against Cluj which is the real stinger at the moment. If we can get some players back fit and in-form, then we can have our say in Serie A. It's just a question of staying in touch over the next 7 or 8 weeks, and then we can start to take stock properly.

[SPqR]

Looks like we're on the same page about this game maro...While Menez he showed some flashes today, he lacks an entire jar full of polish at his ripe age. Some of the passes started getting on my nerves, jumping in on that ball labeled for Perrotta was fairly amateur...But overall I think he will learn those things while you cannot teach the pure skill that he has.

I passed out at the start of the second half (I needed to in order to avoid killing myself over the Massa fuck up in the F1 race) so my analysis is not complete, but Cicinho was an absolute star today. Played confidently at the back and pushed forward like Roberto Carlos...Hopefully this form is permanent.

EDIT: I just read Goal.com's ratings on Cicinh
"Cicinho 6.5 - Did well in the first half, bombing forward at every opportunity. Displayed some improved defending too. Not so prominent after the break."

Liked Perrotta today, not so much with Taddei. I just don't think he brings enough to the table offensively game in game out...Still seems to be slowed by his injury.

Spaletti is going to have to find a way for Brighi to start every match possible.
Panucci was great but too many long balls to no one.

What a difference Mexes makes...my God.

[maro]

[giallo-rossi.ie]

[maro]

[pocari_fenrir]

[romawi]

[RomaShield27]

[aba_bab]

[maro]

[SPqR]

[SPqR]

[RomaShield27]

[stefano]

[SPqR]

[stefano]

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

[stefano]