THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[marco]

wicked goal by menez! well deserved reward for an incredible game. 4 points from 4th and (an extra game in hand). off to go watch the battle of the merdas.

happy birthday, edge.

[RomaShield27]

HA, EVERYONE LUCK AT THAT, MARO SPELLDEDED 'lepercorn' WRONG, EVERYONE SEEN IT, OMG HA HA HA.

See, he's not that clever.

[stefano]

I'm watching the battle of the merde right now. I despise Inter, but hate Lazio so much that I can't even hope that they get a point.

Happy birthday, Edge.

[RomaShield27]

Ah only messin Maro, enjoy your night out in Ely. Ely is such a lovely countryside area. For anyone who's not familiar with the area, this is Maro's house which he PM'd me a while ago:





Its amazing you get broadband out there, Tom.

And his back garden is lovely too, lots of nice things to do:

[edge_xeno]

[Jamoldo]

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

[Jamoldo]

Yeah Edge give us some juicy Egyptian gossip... omfg did I like just say that?

[vtec]

[RomaShield27]

I CONVOCATI PER ROMA-BORDEAUX: C´È ANCHE VUCINIC, ASSENTE TADDEI
http://www.romanews.eu/news.asp?newsID=9692&pag=2 – pubblicata lunedì 8 dicembre 2008

Ecco la lista dei 18 convocati della Roma per la partita con il Bordeaux:
Artur, Baptista, Brighi, Brosco, Cassetti, Cicinho, De Rossi, Juan, Loria, Doni, Menez, Mexes, Montella, Panucci, Perrotta, Riise, Totti, Vucinic

Out: Taddei, Aquilani, Pizarro, Okaka e Tonetto

[maro]

Bringing Vooch back in suggests that Spags wants to give the second-stringers a run in an easy game like this. Do you think he'll relegate Menez to be bench again, to save him for the more important fixtures coming up?

[RomaShield27]

Yes. We should give Vooch and De Rossi and Mexes and that Francesco fella a run out in this one, so they don't start feeling too left out like. Will Menez start? Its a tough one, and I think with Vucinic almost certainly to come back into the team alongside Il Capitano it will be between The Beast and Menez for that trequartista position. Baptista's strength versus Menez's pace, I would go with Menez, but knowing Spalletti, he will probably start... Montella.

Here's a question for ye food connoisseurs. How long of a waiting time should you expect and want in between courses in an Italian restaurant? When we were in Rome last we went back to La Scala in Trastevere, and while the food, wine and atmosphere was as delightful as the last time we were there, the service was terrible. We were still eating our antipasto when our primi was brought out by the waiter, unbeknownst to us, and left on a table behind ours for a few seconds, before another waiter cleared away our plates just as we put the last of our antipasto into our mouths and then gave us our primi. We got talking to a Scottish couple sitting beside us and they said they done the exact same thing to them. Anyway, we were ravenous and didn't mind and ate our primi. When we had finished, I was looking forward to letting it settle, get a good taste of my wine and enjoy a smoke (sitting outside) before our secondi arrived. No chance. It came down, once again, straight away, and herself discovered that her filet of beef was barely cooked – she asked for it well done – so we sent them back to the kitchen (after some explaining) for a while and took our time like we wanted too. It felt like they were trying to rush us out the door all evening even though the place was half empty, but we ended up taking our time over our secondi and polished off a second bottle of wine in the process.

[maro]

Edzo, I'd be surprised if Menez starts ahead of the Beast. I suspect quite a lot depends, in fact, on how fit Vooch is. If he's not 100% he may start from the bench. The thing, I think, is that Spags has this tactical obsession with 'profondita''. I don't know how many times he mentioned this in his comments after the game on Saturday, but I think it was either 38 times or 39. Something like that. He's always on about guys who attack space because it pushes the defence back and creates room for the ball players. Or, really, it creates space for Totti and Baptista to pick the ball up in between the opposition's defensive and midfield lines. Menez's pace inevitable carries that kind of threat in behind and Spags picked out specifically that Menez had played 'in profondita'' in the second half, as if trying to say that it wasn't just the flicks and dribbling which mattered - for instance, Spags wanted to emphasise Menez's movement for the goal as much as the obvious technique of the finish. And it is, of course, exactly this kind of movement that Vooch is asked to give us, so I'd be surprised if Spags started with both of them tomorrow. I suspect we may see Jeremy playing as a wide midfielder in times to come, so that you could see all four of those forwards on the pitch at the same time. And this might certainly happen were we to need to chase a goal tomorrow - heaven forbid. It will be interesting, too, to see what Spags does on the weekend without Brighi. The obvious options, presumably, would be with Taddei and Perrotta either side of DDR or perhaps Aquilani will be available again. I wouldn't be entirely surprised to see him look to play Menez in there, though, as much of a risk as that might be.

[maro]

Frenchesco, we're over to Toulouse for the weekend. Is there any business you want us to sort out while we're in the area? The moglie will be eating only cassoulet and I shall, no doubt, have some Armagnac from Auch at some stage.

[Frenchesco]

This game tomorrow is worrying me...Players and the thousands of supporters at the Olimpico better be ready because Bordeaux is not coming to have some fun.
This is their last chance and they are not going to have as much pressure as us. We must take this game very seriously and I have no doubt Spalletti and the squad have prepared themselves the right way.
Whoever is playing, we should give everything and play with determination but calm. I am not sure whether Menez or Baptista should start but obviously if Vucinic is 100% I d like to see Baptista as trequartista and Totti with Mirko upfront. The midfield is gonna have a lot of work tomorrow and De Rossi will have to be very close to Gourcuff. We need to keep possession of the ball and make them run...until they get very impatient and start creating space for our attack.
I m confident we'll win but we really need 100%.

[Frenchesco]

Oh really Maro??? That's nice...even though it is surely not the best season to go and enjoy some holidays there. Or is it for business Maro? :)
Sorry...what do u mean by business to sort out by the way...

[RomaShield27]

I haven't had a chance to read up on the latest reports but hopefully The LitM is fully fit and can start from the off. I see no reason why, in time, a forward line consisting of Vucinic and Menez playing just off and either side of Totti couldn't work, but perhaps for tomorrow it could be a little bit of a gamble trying something new and seeing how those two players work together and effect the rest of the team. So, what your saying, Maro, is that with both Vucinic and Menez playing upfront we could be seeing too much 'profondita' and not enough Beasts in the mixer to take advantage of that space? So it will be one from Vucinic or Menez and the Beast in support of Totti? Sounds about right to me.

[maro]

Yes, Edzo, that's pretty much exactly what I'm suggesting - too much running away from the ball and not perhaps quite enough solidity keeping the ball in tight spaces in the midfield.

Frence', we've got some good friends in Toulouse so we're just going to spend some time with them. We've done a bit of travel in that neck of the woods in the past, when the weather's been better, but it should be a nice, relaxing trip and a good chance to catch up after too long. As far as business goes, I don't know. Popping in on your parents to tell them what a fine young man you are and how you've been working so hard you've hardly had time to post on the Roma board let alone spend any time chasing those salacious Malaysian girls. That kind of thing.

[Frenchesco]

Ahah...nice of u Maro.
Wish I could be there and I would have shared a drink or two with u.
But pls...if u see my parents, do not tell them I am running after girls here in Malaysia...They actually think I m a good boy
How can u call those Malaysian girls salacious by the way???...they r just perfect and certainly not as fast as French ones...thus making it much easier to run after...