THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[red]

[Jamoldo]

[aba_bab]

[Jamoldo]

[marco]

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[Jamoldo]

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[Jamoldo]

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[vtec]

[Jamoldo]

[red]

[SPqR]

[Carlo Romano]

I'm still numb after last night! Not shocked though...this is all part of being a Romanista, reaching for the stars because of our desire and passion and by no means always getting what we want. We are told we are fourth of importance in Italy, we don't have the resources of the big three...yet last night wasn't the first time nor will it be the last that Mamma Italia looks to her Roman sons to bring home the bacon while her others fail.

On those occasions when we do deliver, and because of our circumstances by comparison to others, those moments are extra special, perhaps because they don't come along so often, who knows...but riding the Roma express is an undeniable roller coaster experience that I wouldn't swap, the highs send us into ecstasy, the lows to despair. I must confess it would be nice though for the highs to be just a little more frequent!

I really hope i nostri ragazzi can pick themselves up to face i Doriani on Sunday. We well know that apart from it being an awkward trasferta, some of our starting options will not be at 100% after a gruelling extra time midweek match. Yet should this be one of those occasions we play badly but win I for one will be more than content!

Much is being made of how La Viola have a golden opportunity to stuff Inter...I don't think that will happen, Fiorentina are going through a bad patch and I mention this simply because, as we are reminded, they along with Genoa are our main opposition to finishing fourth and qualifying again for the CL. We can do it provided our lads keep last night's belief and spirit...

[marco]

if anyone subscribes to the guardian football weekly podcast, with james richardson, i recommend a listen to today's podcast. i though there was a very balanced assessment / review of the cl games between the epl and serie a teams and good conversation with the rest of the panel on the 'english dominance' myth(?). one of the guest panel (simon burnton) made an interesting point that suggests having the same 3-4 epl teams going deep into the cl for the last few years is NOT a testament of the epl on the whole being 'superior' at all. rather, "simply just a testament of the strength of those 3-4 clubs, that's all". he also suggests that this manopoly of the epl by those teams comes at a expense of the rest of the league (which continue to seperate from those top 4) and the inherent development of their domestic players who play on those other teams.

[arthurfonzarelli]

Just a few thoughts:
1-) Baptista wasn't totally fit either or Spaletti would have started a different formation with him as a starter. His miss probably cost us but he stepped up to take the peno with confidence and converted. It's not totally fair to say that the other guys that were injured were courageous warriors and he was totally worthless.
2-) Arsenal were really good and lucky at converting penos. We were very good too and a little unlucky. Almunia only saved Vucinic's peno because he didn't dive early enough to one side.
3-) I probably feel less bad than any of you guys. I was expecting us to get blown out and was satisfied with the performance and courageous display. It's games like last night that make me care to watch the game. COmpare this to how I felt after going out against man United the last two years. I felt completely humiliated. Plus, if we would have gone through (and don't get me wrong, I would give up 18 inches from my dick to be able to see Roma into the quarters) we would have faced Barca or Man United or maybe even Liverfekkin'wankscum (who were a machine on Tuesday) and most probably would not have been able to measure up.
4-) We absolutely need to qualify for the CL again next year as it will garantee consitency and $. We can't possible have bad uck with injuries next year as we did this one.

[p_maldini_3]

glad, heres an article from the guardian i posted in the shoutbox earlier, its a great article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/20 ... ue-premier