THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[RomaShield27]

[Lupa]

Is Okaka even allowed to play for us at this point? What if he gets injured? I guess papers haven't been signed so the deal would be off.

That's some strike force we have lined up.

[Italiamia]

Curci is the man of the match. Comments?

[maro]

Curci's good at saving lots of shots when they're coming at him thick and fast. I'm not sure he's so good at keeping his concentration and making key saves after long stretches of quiet. I missed the game, though, so what do I know? All I can say is that had I been watching it I'd have smacked Ranieri around the head when I saw that starting 11 - no Cerci and no Okaka, with no Vooch, means no profondita. I see romanews are saying Baptista was terrible - no wonder playing in that role in that formation. He's likely to be shit when Ranieri goes out of his way to make things easy for him, but seriously? Anyway, what a cracking way to send Okaka off. Even better, what a cracking way it would have been for him to get a head of steam up heading into a few more opportunities for Roma.

[Jamoldo]

[RomaShield27]

Missed the game yesterday too. Tried watching the first-half but gave up and fell back into bed. Good win, the three points was all that mattered with the players we had absent. Great for Okaka to score, lovely finish, although quite strange to see him leave the very next day. Hopefully he will return a better player.

Fulham sign striker Stefano Okaka on loan from Roma
– Monday 1 February 2010 12.55 GMT

Stefano Okaka is hoping his move to Fulham will help him develop as a player. The striker joined the London club today on a six-month loan deal from Roma with an option to remain for a further season in England.

"I have been with Roma for five years," said Okaka. "I have grown thanks to the advice of my team-mates. But to have a leap in quality it is crucial for me to go to England and play in the Premiershit. I hope I can return stronger than before. The loan deal expires in June but there is the option to remain there for a further year. We shall see."

Okaka secured a late winner for Roma in yesterday's 2-1 defeat of Siena but the Italian club's manager, Claudio Ranieri, has no regrets over sanctioning the player's exit and hopes his time in London will benefit the team in the long term.

"Stefano is a great lad," said Ranieri. "I have no regrets. He has been at Roma for five years and I believe the experience in England could mark a turning point in his career. He can do a lot more and the Premiershit will give us back a much stronger player."

Okaka has made seven league appearances for Roma this season, all as a substitute. The 20-year-old is under contract with the Serie A club until June 2012. He scored against Fulham in the Cottagers' 2-1 defeat at Roma in November.

------------------------------------

L'Equipe: La Roma rifiuta 8 milioni del Psg per Menez
| oggi - ore 14:09

La Roma dice il 'no' definitivo al Paris Saint Germain per Jeremy Menez. Secondo il quotidiano francese, la Roma avrebbe rifiutato otto milioni di euro offerti dal club francese per l'esterno. Il Psg incassa un altro no anche dal Manchester United: i Red Devils hanno rifiutato la richiesta di prestito per il centrocampista brasiliano Anderson, nonostante la rottura tra il giocatore e il tecnico tender Alex Ferguson.

------------------------------------

According to L'Equipe, PSG made and offer of €8m for Menez, which we refused.

Also, according to the , Ahmed Barusso has joined Torino on loan, having been at Brescia for the first half of the season.

[Jamoldo]

[RomaShield27]

[Jamoldo]

[RomaShield27]

TRIGORIA, RANIERI CARICA LA SQUADRA: ´FORZA RAGAZZI, L´UDINESE CI HA GIA´ BATTUTO´
– pubblicata martedì 2 febbraio 2010

Allenamento mattutino per la Roma in vista del match casalingo di Coppa Italia contro l'Udinese . Al centro sportivo di Trigoria, alle 11, cielo sereno ma temperature gelide: poco piu' di 5 gradi. La squadra entra in campo alle 11.05. Buone notizie per Claudio Ranieri: Totti partecipa all'allenamento col gruppo, cosi come Taddei e Perrotta, usciti malconci dalla sfida casalinga con il Siena. Assenti Toni, Menez e Pizarro.

11.25: il gruppo inizia l'esercizio di circolazione della palla. Ranieri carica i suoi: "Forza ragazzi che questi (l'Udinese, ndr) ci hanno battutto in campionato, sono una bella squadra", riferendosi alla partita di campionato persa ad Udine. Ranieri sprona a più ripresde Faty, troppo poco reattivo nell'esercizio di scatti e appoggi con il pallone: "Piu' veloce, dai che sei lento, a questa velocità lo faccio anch'io!".

11.35: Il tecnico divide il gruppo in due squadre:
ROSSI: Mexes, Riise, Motta, Vucinic, Totti, Cerci, Brighi, Burdisso, Faty
VERDI: Perrotta, Taddei, De Rossi, Baptista, Cicinho, Tonetto, Juan, Cassetti, Andreolli,

Qualche battuta anche verso Juan, a cui il tecnico rimprovera bonariamente una eccessiva flemma. A seguire la squadra si sposta dal campo 'C' al 'B', il più lontano dalla postazione dei cronisti, dove il tecnico si ferma con il gruppo per una breve riunione tecnica. A seguire, lavoro atletico per la squadra che rimane sul campo 'B'. I portieri lavorano a parte con il preparatore Pellizzaro.


PROSSIMA PARTITA: Roma-Udinese (Coppa Italia, semifinali andata - giovedì 4 febbraio 2010, ore 21)
INDISPONIBILI: Toni, Tonetto.
IN DUBBIO: Menez
SQUALIFICATI: /
DIFFIDATI: De Rossi, Pizarro.
PROBABILE FORMAZIONE (4-3-1-2): Doni; Cassetti, Mexes, Burdisso, Riise; De Rossi, Brighi; Taddei, Perrotta, Vucinic; Totti.
BALLOTTAGGI: Julio Sergio/Doni;


Totti returned to full training today, as did Taddei and Perrotta. who both suffered knocks in the game against Siena. Toni, Menez and Pizarro didn't train.

[maro]

This is probably a bit insane, but I'd really like to see Ranieri try Menez in midfield instead of Pizza at some stage this season - it's a pity the one-legged Coppa games give less opportunity to give other players a run. At the moment Ranieri has Pizza playing in front of the back four, at the bottom of the rombo, with DDR given licence to get forward a bit more and Simone as trequartista. I'd like to see Menez as trequartista, with DDR at the base and then Taddei and Simone or Brighi in the inside-right and left positions. It'd have to be after an hour in a game we were in control of, but it'd give Pizza a break and I think it's also the best position for Menez in this side. With Pizza and Totti on the pitch he doesn't get to be a playmaker and plays much more direct, always looking to get the ball down and run with it. As the play-maker in midfield, I think the pressure comes off him a little bit to make things happen every time he gets the ball and it would mean he'd be involved in play much more, more central to the shape of the team. You couldn't play him at the bottom of the diamond in the way Pizza's playing, but I think that 4-3-1-2 could work in its own way.

[RomaShield27]

ROMA-UDINESE: I CONVOCATI RIENTRANO TOTTI E VUCINIC
– pubblicata mercoledì 3 febbraio 2010

Il tecnico Caludio Ranieri ha diramato la lista di giocatori per la semifinale di andata Coppa Italia di domani all'Olimpico tra Roma e Udinese.

I CONVOCATI

Andreolli
Baptista
Brighi
Burdisso
Cassetti
Cicinho
Cerci
De Rossi
Faty
Juan
Lobont
Marangon
Menez
Mexes
Motta
Perrotta
Pizarro
Riise
Taddei
Totti
Vucinic

[maro]

Thank god glad's not mod around here any more. At least the new mod keeps things bubbling along with cracking contributions.

[maro]

Cicinho's agent talks too much. As does Cicinho, of course:
http://www.romanews.eu/news.asp?newsID= ... 50&spag=14
I was going to say he should let his playing do his talking for him, only then I realised that wouldn't be quite so easy as it sounds.

[Italiamia]

[maro]

I'm thinking more in terms of an alternative to Pizza to give Pizza a rest at times - or if he gets injured. I'm hardly suggesting the team gets constructed in a way to push Pizza to the margins. I just think he's played an awful lot of minutes and it'd be one way of giving him a breather without sacrificing the shape of the side too much.

[stefano]

Now is the time to experiment when we have a solid lead in a game. If Pizza goes down injured and we have no viable personnel and tactical alternatives we will be in trouble.

[maro]

As it stands, if Pizza goes down I think Ranieri would bring DDR back to the bottom of the diamond and Brighi in alongside Taddei and Perrotta. And that for me totally changes the way the side can play, because without Pizza we don't have anyone to stitch things together and control play from the back. I would like to see Ranieri work towards giving Menez a chance in that kind of situation - and working towards it presumably means trying it before he has to, as it were.

[RomaShield27]

[Italiamia]