THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[Carlo Romano]

Steve, I couldn't go into this detail on the Shoutbox...yes, we can have a debate based on cogent reasoning there but a lot is left unsaid and points can be misunderstood...

I've seen much on other forums since yesterday evening, ranging from the sublime to the absolutely ridiculous regarding not just the Bologna match but on where our team is at right now! Because most of us are too depressed to post here, I've broken with protocol and taken the liberty of giving the URLs to some posts from XTT where there are quite a number of Romanisti who tend to talk common sense. They know their football. I agree with the references made by these guys with whom I used to post on a regular basis at one time. (It is a big forum though and it lacks the air of companionship we have here.)

Lack of fitness and tiredness is mentioned, points Tommaso brought up here on the Shoutbox, as is my point on the need for our club to be now sold as quickly as is possible to bring stability. The fact our team shows balls when all is well but collapses in pressure situations is mentioned. The return of the psychological problems too. The fact that our coach, for all his admirable Roman loyalties and his other good qualities, will never be a big winner because he has always been guilty of dubious substitutions and formations, another of my thoughts. The fact we are handicapped now by a growing injuries list...some fans seem to have conveniently forgotten we are without Riise, Vuci, and Taddei. Add Cassetti and De Rossi now to that though we should have Vučinić back for Brescia if not Taddei too...but we won't have Nico Burdisso, more's the pity because we know Mexes' head is more on reviving his career with les bleus which presumably means playing his club football elsewhere. He is supposed to have made a comment on not being willing to work as hard now while he is only second choice with us...but I haven't seen proper verification of that comment and we can't just take the word of a post on a chat forum.

But the bottom line seems to be the references to the fact that some of our squad just haven't got what it takes. Guillermo Burdisso isn't yet ready for the level he is being asked to play at, which goes for young Rosi too though he is nearer to the finished product and is coming along promisingly. Hopefully he learned from struggling with Di Vaio's experience yesterday.

Then there is Totti and this is my question. He still plays his captain's role in heart but his body won't do as quickly now what it did and if he loses the ball in midfield it can allow the opposition the chance to mount a counter attack. Can he still play as secondo punto to a target man? Has he the energy to play in the hole now behind Vuci and Borriello as an alternative? In truth I no longer consider him a full 90 min man, though heaven knows he shows more spirit than several who are younger than him.



Pocari and James have made a comment or two along the lines of these posts below but not in as much detail. I agree, make Baptista earn his keep for the time he has left with us. Taddei is out so why not? But there is another case in point, he is also no longer at the standard he once was. As for Gio's panic button, I still think that is at worst our option for the end of October rather than now. Time then to decide on Ranieri. I think he should stay until the winter break. If by that time he hasn't turned things around then it's likely he will lose the dressing room and will have to go. We need time to replace him adequately if we have to. But with whom?

Fahad, maybe some of these posts will answer your question on our options. The reason I have given the URLs and not done a copy/paste is because you all know these posts are in this form original and not in any way altered...

http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showpost. ... stcount=83

http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showpost. ... stcount=85

http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showpost. ... stcount=91

http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showpost. ... stcount=95

[Giacomo]

[RomaShield27]

Missed the game yesterday – was at the All-Ireland football final and so naturally on the piss afterward, in a bad way now, and I'm also in the process of moving house too which doesn't help. Very disappointing result, not good at all. Will have to find the match for download.

[juventino_italiano]

Matchday 4 is mid week....make your picks: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=611

[Carlo Romano]

Amongst all the current criticisms of Ranieri, an article from LaRoma24.it is saying he is now so confused he is coming up with ideas 40 years behind the times...they also mention, just as James posted, that it's highly likely we will see Guillermo Burdisso replace Cassetti and the smaller of our two Pilsbury Doughboys replace De Rossi, despite the fact LaRoma24 also mentions in a second piece that our medics are trying to get De Rossi and Cassetti useable for Wednesday.

With our current injuries, let's hope nothing happens to Julio Sergio. The thought of having to watch Doni do more flapping than a hysterical owl when trying to deal with high crossed balls or Lobont act like a petrified matador...

...makes me just delirious with joy!

I think I'll take a break for a few days, wait and see what happens next before making more posts. To say I'm bitterly disappointed in the way things have gone since we left our Brunico ritiro in July goes beyond understatement. The fact that we aren't the only ones to get off to a bad start is no consolation to us, especially as this was supposed to be a "move up to the next stage" season where we were to be mounting an even stronger challenge to Inter than last time!

Here is the Ranieri article: http://laroma24.it/archivio/27482/roma- ... sione.html

This is the one on De Rossi and Cassetti: http://laroma24.it/index.php?show=article&artid=27729

[Italiamia]

I see Unicredit's Alessandro Profumo resigned today. Interesting.

[RomaShield27]

Just finished watching Roma-Bolognese there, and I have to say I was glad they equalised. We didn't deserve to win that game, certainly not playing like we did in the second. If we showed half the enthusiasm and spirit of Bologna it probably would of been enough to win. We just didn't put it the effort in the second-half, we didn't chase them down hard enough and we certainly didn't close them down enough when they had possession in our half, and allowed them far too much time on the ball. We looked tired and drained and low on moral and our attitude of thinking we had done enough to win when we were two up was wrong. Certainly Cassetti and De Rossi's injury problems didn't help us – De Rossi should of been substituted much earlier, I think – but we didn't show the right attitude or desire in the second-half of that game to claim all three points. I know we had a tough game away to Bayern and some players may be tired, but to me that is no excuse whatsoever when it comes to putting in the effort you expect from a professional team to win what is a must-win home league game so early in the season. I can only hope the few enforced changes for tomorrows game has a positive effect. We need something to happen.

[RomaShield27]

Quiet in here. Everyone depressed?

I see our friend Al Capone has got himself and his site, http://www.asroma.no, a nice on RomaNews. Very nice stuff, Al, fair play to yis. Nice crest as well

LISTA CONVOCATI
1 BOGDAN LOBONT
2 CICERO JOAO DE CESARE (CICINHO)
4 JUAN SILVEIRA DOS SANTOS
5 PHILIPPE MEXES
7 DAVID MARCELO CORTES PIZARRO
8 RIBEIRO LEITE ADRIANO
9 MIRKO VUCINIC
13 VITORINO GABRIEL PACHECO ANTUNES
19 JULIO CESAR BAPTISTA
20 SIMONE PERROTTA
22 MARCO BORRIELLO
23 LEANDRO GRECO
25 GULLIERMO ENIO BURDISSO
27 JULIO SERGIO BERTAGNOLI
30 SIMPLICIO FABIO HENRIQUE
32 DONIEBER ALEXANDER MARANGON (DONI)
33 MATTEO BRIGHI
77 MARCO CASSETTI
87 ALEANDRO ROSI
94 JEREMY MENEZ

Brescia-Roma, le probabili formazioni
– Mercoledì 22 Settembre 2010 11:35

Vuole rimettersi in carreggiata la Roma di Claudio Ranieri dopo il pari interno con il Bologna. I giallorossi stasera scenderanno in campo contro il lanciatissimo Brescia di Iachini, reduce dal successo di Verona contro il Chievo. I padroni di casa si presentano con la stessa formazione di Verona. L'unica variante potrebbe essere a centrocampo con Filippini favorito su Baiocco e Kone. Nella Roma, Totti e De Rossi non sono stati convocati. Ranieri potrà però contare su Mirko Vucinic. L'attaccante montenegrino ha infatti recuperato dall'infortunio e giocherà in coppia con Borriello.

BRESCIA (4-3-1-2): Sereni; Berardi, Martinez, Bega, Dallamano; Hatemaj, Cordova, Filippini; Diamanti; Eder, Caracciolo.
A disposizione: Arcari, Daprela, De Maio, Baiocco, Kone, Budel, Possanzini. All.: Iachini
Squalificati: nessuno
Indisponibili: Mareco, Zebina, Vass

ROMA (4-3-1-2): Julio Sergio; Rosi, Mexes, Juan, Cassetti; Brighi, Pizarro, Perrotta; Simplicio; Vucinic, Borriello.
A disposizione: Lobont, G. Burdisso, Cicinho, Greco, Menez, Baptista, Adriano. All.: Ranieri
Squalificati: N. Burdisso (1)
Indisponibili: Riise, Taddei, Okaka, Castellini, Totti, De Rossi

Arbitro: Russo

[romawi]

Menez has to start ahead of Simplicio.

[RomaShield27]

I concur, Toona, but if we do see that proposed line-up it suggests Ranieri is going for caution in what will be a tricky enough away fixture. I suppose its not hard to blame home for being somewhat over-cautious given how things have gone so far, but I'd have Menez is there alright as he's playing well.

[maro]

At the moment, I'm not sure Menez doesn't offer considerably more defensively and offensively than Simplico, threadmund. He's working pretty hard these days and given the tired legs we clearly have within the squad, if Ranieri doesn't use him from the start it'd be pretty diriculous.

[RomaShield27]

Yes, I haven't enough of Simplicio to assess how he's coming along, but presumably Ranieri is seeing enough of him in training to see if he's match-ready and thinks he can offer a bit more defensively then Menez could. Menez was good against Bologna. He did try to be a bit too fancy upfront and tried the spectacular when he could of taken an easier option, but he did work hard and was impressive in his defensive duties.

[Carlo Romano]

Guys, Simplicio still looks nothing like match fit. In all common sense, Ménez must be played! Reading around, I see Vuci will be on pain killers to enable him to play tonight. So, is it to be another draw? I hate going by stats and previous results but in something like ten years we have only won away twice to Brescia?

One of my more jocular drinking companions said the only way our defence is going to stop Diamanti, Eder, and Caracciolo will be with a Kalashnikov...well, we have Ménez, Vučinić, and Borriello so even if we are like a boxer on the ropes right now, and even if we have to outscore Brescia to win, a win is possible!

FORZA,

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

There's nothing like our present situation to bring out more rumours, but in the cases of Doni and Mexes we have to say there really does look like there is little chance of either still being with us beyond next January.

LaRoma24.it today mentions a possible move to Spain (Seville) for Mexes. They also mention the possibility of the Doni for Shay Given exchange we first heard about toward the end of the summer mercato. The rumour was resurrected a couple of days ago by the Daily Mirror. I still can't really see it, having paid it no serious attention at all before. The difference now for what it's worth is that Il Trap, Given's national team coach is trying to talk him into coming to Serie A, quoting us as being the most interested party...


http://laroma24.it/archivio/27827/mexes ... iglia.html

[romawi]

Medes leaving in January doesn't make much sense. Our depth at CB isn't all that great, and we would need him. The best option is renew him now and then see at the end of the season if you still want to sell him. This is roma, however, and what makes less sense is usually done.

[pocari_fenrir]

didnt watch the game but im hearing alot of controversy. what's the verdict on this match?? good to see Borriello on the score sheets again. but more injuries and suspensions... gonna be a very LONG season

[Carlo Romano]

Pocari, you may not want to read this but I'd say it's an accurate enough consensus of opinions...

Everyone seems to have something to say after the event, Ranieri, Sensi, Pradè, Montali, probably even the damn lavatory attendant at Trigoria! Hindsight...

I couldn't believe il mister telling Mediaset Premium after the match, "Without doubt, it was the best Roma side of the season!" My question to him would have been, "Then why did we lose?"

That said, I thought we were denied one certain rigore, and just maybe two would have been given on another night, but certainly not by a ref who hadn't the balls to decide in favour of the away team! Mexes didn't at all deserve this particular sending off, but hell, doesn't he always somehow manage to tempt fate in a crunch situation? Rosi is coming on nicely but he just isn't ready for that kind of pressure and though he's no great defender, Cicinho has to play instead of him against Inter. Cassetti for his part did well enough but Brighi and Perrotta drifted in and out of the game. Vuci was doped up on pain killers to play at all and clearly is not fully fit. Juan seemed a bit low key but was worth his rating of 6. Menez' best act was that one terrific run early on but his finish was too typical of what we had started to think he had grown out of.

For me, our top players were Borriello followed by Pizarro. What really shocked me was seeing toward the end just how much determination was shown by "Big Fatso" Adriano, Cicinho who can attack but not defend, and Baptista who has dubious ball control to say the least...and for ages we have been calling these guys no hopers! They are actually...they just looked good after Signor Claudio's considered best available XI kept getting screwed over. In defence of them, it's not easy to keep the spirits up when arbitral decisions are going against you!

The saddest sight of all last night, I'm sure we agree, was Julio Sergio... the poor guy was in agony. It's lucky he hasn't broken his foot but he has badly bruised ligaments. I'm not looking forward to reading what our doctors have to say later today. Until he is fit again, as I already quipped, we will have to put up with Doni flapping at every crossed ball like a hysterical owl or worse, Lobont acting the petrified matador! This talk again of Shay Given won't happen, not with Celtic chasing him up, despite Trapattoni trying to talk him into coming to us in January.

On Leonardo and Lippi, the two main choices to replace Ranieri. The only other possible, Serse Cosmi isn't really a contender even if he is a giallorosso at heart. I read last night Ranieri blames Lippi for undermining him with Juventus and he thinks the same thing is happening again now. Well, I have to say though I don't really want any of those three guys coaching la nostra Roma, Lippi is the least of the three evils for my taste though I guess some of you won't agree. If we have yet another poor result against Inter on Saturday and then disappoint against Cluj next week, Ranieri's position has to be untenable and we are talking of needing a fast but capable replacement...

Romanews mentioned that the unnamed American who is on the Unicredit short list to buy us is that guy Fisher, the very first one to try to take us over, away back in November 2007 even before Soros. The Old Man who was then still alive, frightened him off, or to be more precise, Franco's message was carried to Fisher via Rosella if we recall. I'd always thought Franco had "background help." I'm also reminded of when he made that false passport business involving Cafu and his wife disappear as if by magic at literally the eleventh hour, to coin the old phrase!


But now we hear Profumo has been pushed out of Unicredit and that could delay our sale...


<< Penso che ora abbiamo bisogno dell'intervento divino di aiutarci! Tutto l'altrimenti sembra venire a mancare! >>

[vtec]

how much of the blame for this loss do you guys think lies with the referee (for awarding a peno for a foul that occurred outside the box and for a harsh sending off), and how much of it lies with ranieri (for making substitutions such as adriano for menez, baptista for vucinic, and for a first half substitution of cicinho for rosi - was rosi injured?)?

[Giacomo]

There was no foul by Mexes and he did not receive a direct red card, even if he should have if the referee penalsied him for fouling his opponenet in that position.

The referee also missed three blatant fouls which should have been penalties for Roma, the holiding of Borriello and the trip on Brighi in the first half, the latter should have been a red card also, and the obvious hand ball in the second half.

If the referee had been different Roma would have won comfortably.

[maro]

Carlo, I have never called any of those players a no-hoper. 'tec, from what I can gather Rosi was subbed because he was risking a red card (I would guess the parallel would be with his bringing Totti and De Rossi off at half-time in the derby) and Vooch was only just back from injury so quite possibly wouldn't have played at all had others been available so it was no surprise he didn't see the game through.

[maro]