THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[Carlo Romano]

Maybe, Pauly...let's remember how long it took Vučinić to be accepted though certain circumstances were different. Maybe Baptista needs more playing time with us to get his act properly together...it would be good if so but he still has a ways to go to prove himself no matter how delighted we all are with him tonight.

Btw, congrats on reaching your 100'th post...

[marco]

alberto with an amazing throughball to perrotta. too bad we couldnt convert the chance though. nice to see alberto out again. love that kid.

[RomaShield27]

Agreed Glad. Alberto, no matter how fit he is, has added an extra dimension of attacking flair and attacking threat, and looks very lively indeed. We really need to try keep this kid fit.

Menez on for Baptista for the last couple of minutes. Like Mirko on Sunday, Baptista stood up and was counted when we were really depended on him. Bravo Beast, you've ditched your 'un'-ness... for now.

WTF 5 minutes of extra-time...

[SPqR]

5 mins of extra time was messed.

I don't know if we were actually that good or Samp was that bad...either way that was a shalacking

[Italiamia]

Combination of both Vincenz I think. My opinion is that with Artur in goal, the boys had to do whatever was necessary to take the pressure off. Samp is pretty bad however. Just what the doctor ordered with our injuries.

[RomaShield27]

Cassano was on his best behavior all night, clearly out to impress and to try and show he has matured as a player and a man. He was all hugs for Spalletti and the rest of the coaching staff at the end of the match. He had a good game, showing some brilliant control and technique and a burst and turn of pace. I think in his head he hasn't ruled out the possiblity of a return to la magica, something which I think he desperately wants. Whether we'd take him back is another matter.

Very good performance and display from the boys on what could of been a difficult game for us considering all the players we had missing. We were always in control and the victory never looked in doubt, all round decent showing.

[marco]

that was a solid game by our second-rate lineup. they pretty much dominated the entire game at half-speed and did so almost effortlessly. having said that, i really cant believe how bad sampdoria are playing this season. apart from a couple of nice (but ineffective unless it was used for a nike commercial) dribbles by cassano, samp looked about as threatening as chievo did and they are pretty much the bottom of the barrel as far as serie a competition goes. i dont see cassano staying past the end of this year.

also, some very nice stuff by both menez and aquilani considering how little time they had to show anything and with the game already pretty much in the bag when they came on. i particularly enjoyed aqui - very energetic and had some nice combinations at the edge of the samp box.

kudos to baptista for coming up big today in the absence of our usual firepower.

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[g.smiley]

[Carlo Romano]

I just want to enjoy tonight...tomorrow is time enough to consider the implications of winning against a poorly performing Samp and the way there were many occasions when we just passed the ball right through them with remarkable ease. That and the matter of facing the Little Bull on Sunday...

On Aquilani, you only have to read my posts in the transfers thread to know how pleased I'll be when he finally signs his new contract with us!

Shield, I don't know though on pizza-face coming back to us...

[Italiamia]

Cassano would give his right ball to come back to Roma. As much as the fans gave him trouble today, they would welcome him back. Christ he is still only 25. I have said often that one of the few things Rosella got right was when she said Cassano would live to regret the day he left Roma. Languishing at Sampdoria was certainly not in his plans. I think I can say that with certainty. It's actually a shame that all of that talent was overtaken by obvious mental deficits manifested by a self destructive personality that has landed him in the ash heap. What a tragic waste.

[Pauly W. Nuts]

This is not a complain, but would someone tell me why players such as Jar Jar Binks and Brighi were relatively non-existant during the game.

Was it due to the formation or the line-up that Spal played today, where the task of certain players were more accentuated than others?

I'm just curious......

[maro]

2-0 zoundz good to me. Like Kroo, I had a feeling Baptizta would zhine tonight. I'm not a huge fan, of courze, but I waz a bit zurprized that you were all zo harzh on him after the Milan game. I thought he had to play a very odd game pozitionally in that match. I alzo think hiz bazic problem iz that he'z a kind of a bit of everything type player, which meanz he'll do oddz and endz but it'z not eazy to zee any zingle zpecial thing he bringz. Perzonally, I think he'll be mozt uzeful az a vice-Totti, though he'll have to play alongzide Totti plenty too. I know Populuzque zeez him az a Perrotta who can finizh and haz a bit more technical quality, but I don't think he complimentz Totti in that pozition in quite the zame way. On the other hand, I think he'll flourizh if we have Pizza and ezpecially Aquilani on the pitch alongzide him zince he'll probably be able to play a bit more zimple give-and-go. I zuzpect that if you play him up top every game for a zeazon he'll get you a pretty regular number of goalz. The problem iz that at timez hiz play iz a bit zcrappy zo it'z eazy to get fruztrated with him. He doezn't have the technical grace of Vooch and he doezn't carry quite the zame obviouz threat, but I think he'll get you juzt about az many goalz - juzt often zcrappier onez.

Anyway, I waz at training and zo mizzed the game but the 2-0 zoundz excellent. The weekend will be interezting. I think Torino are even worze than Zamp and are a team in criziz. Whether we can exploit that remainz to be zeen. Az I think I zaid before Chriztmaz, 10 pointz from theze four gamez (we have 4 and zhould have 6) and the table takez on an entirely different complexion. 6 from the next two gamez would be zuperb - Napoli will be a beazt of a match, but then I think they'll be feeling the prezzhure too.

[maro]

I guezz it'z alzo true that I particularly don't like Baptizta az trequartizta. I don't know how we looked tonight, but having Pizza or Aquilani at the top of that diamond (precizely becauze they won't play it az a diamond but will tuck in alongzide DDR much more) iz going to make uz a lot eazier on the eye. I zuzpect Brighi'z dayz az a ztarter are probably numbered too. I think he'z done wonderfully for uz, but I don't think he can bring quite az much to the table az Perrotta and Aquilani in that pozition though he addz terrific quality to the zquad. Baptizta will do better az one of the front 2 with a bit more quality behind him, I think. Quite whether he can budge Totti or Vooch when they're both fit iz a quite different queztion.

[stefano]

I think Baptista had read all the shit we'd been giving him here and decided to throw it back in our faces. As such, I will continue to hate on him as much as possible. Unfortunately, I didn't see today's game so my criticism will be pretty meaningless. Either way, Baptista, you suck. A fit Totti, Vuci, or Monty would have scored at least 3 or 4 today. Artur would have even grabbed a hat trick playing up top.

[maro]

Good call, ztefano. There are zome really interezting commentz from Zpagz here from after the match:
http://www.romanews.eu/campionato/parti ... interviste
The commentz on Pizza and Baptizta are ezpecially interezting.

[marco]

for those of you that missed the game, here's a clip of the second baptista masterpiece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmB1UPE-Ntk

[Jamoldo]

Still yet to watch the highlights. Though dare I say la Bestia is playing critical role when its most needed (think back to the CL earlier this year at Bordeaux)... I think he's a promising player for our team, especially if we have half the patience we did for Vucinic.

[romawi]

Alright, Baptista is temporarily off of my hate list. That second goal was amazing, and all I kept thinking was "where was that shit against Milan?" It was a very good performance, but like most you said, I don't know whether its a case of us playing that well or samp playing that badly. As for Aquilani, I always thought that the older system didn't fit him, but in this new system he fits in perfectly. If he can stay healthy then we'll get to see his real quality. And here's to hoping that we get him a new deal soon.

[romawi]

Oh, and kroo I saw the game. Its a shame they lost, but lets face it, they had no shot at winning to begin with. Its a miracle they got that far too. Its sad really, there's so much talent in that country and its going to waste. In the end, I have to say that I'm proud of the team. They did things the right way, unlike some other teams that handed out passports to Brazilians left and right. Seriously, Qatar had players named sebastian, and marcelo who can't speak a fucking word of Arabic. Bahrain did the same shit too. Its a fucking joke.