THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[maro]

Sorry - some of their ratings in general; this particular one not so much.

[Italiamia]

Vucinic had a good game overall but his finishing was absolutely obscene. The man could have launched himself in the goal scoring lead against what really is a poor Lecce squad. Although, their keeper had a fine game indeed. He robbed Totti of a much needed goal. He should have got 5 years for larceny with that save.

I cannot understand the whining on Vuc's part. Something has to be bothering him.

[Giacomo]

I suspect Vucinic's problem is frustration: being one of the best attackers in Europe playing in a mid-table team which has no prospect of winning anything.

[Carlo Romano]

For our CL meeting with Basilea...

Mediaset is saying, based on info leaked from Trigoria, that Cicinho will play in Switzerland on Wednesday and that there will be a "ballotaggio" between Vuci and Borriello, presumably to partner Totti.

Juan apparently is to make way in central defence for a pairing of Burdisso - Mexes. We will see...



Lupa, it's possible there are more malcontents than the ones we know about... Adriano, Doni, and Baptista. Certainly, a few more positive results would lift the mood of the squad. However, the middle of this month is when, unless our management can somehow or other juggle a few figures, we could face problems over unpaid wages. It's become even more uncomfortably obvious with our projected December accounts being €50mil in arrears that there is so much now depending on a new and financially secure ownership. We all know the longer that situation drags out then even an improved league placing won't keep those players worth a bit of money with us indefinitely when they see the club is unable to strengthen the squad. There's more than disappointing results affecting our dressing room.

btw, I am always amused at the translation of players from Italian to English, gamblers! Which I guess to a point they are...Italian so often tends to be a practical language!

[Italiamia]

[juventino_italiano]

[Italiamia]

[Carlo Romano]

Gio, let's be frank here. We pin our hopes on guys like Mirko and Marco because they are good, by our standards.

Before asking the obvious "how good is that," I'm thinking of the collective opinion of the better calcio pundits in Italy that our biggest problem at this moment is our midfield for insufficient creation. Then our at times insecure defence, and finally our attack for the missed chances.

We blame injuries, too many module changes... but when it's all said and done, the players out there are the ones upon whose shoulders the responsibility of getting the job done rests, given that we are presuming the coach isn't making selection/tactical errors beyond an accepted norm... and when it goes beyond that, we then see the players ability or lack thereof to deal with difficult situations.

We don't have the very best players, sadly. How typically Roman!

[pocari_fenrir]

[maro]

I think the lack of a celebration was also because it was against Lecce, Pocari, his old club. He made a comment about this after the game - something along the lines of it's always sweet to score, except against Lecce.

[Giacomo]

The coach has made "selection/tactical errors beyond an accepted norm." He keeps picking the past-it and useless Perrotta for a start.

[Carlo Romano]

He's done worse than that and will probably continue to do so! My point is we have players which are good, up to a point. When did we last have a squad fit to truly and seriously contest the CL? 2006-07 and 2007-08? Though even they had their limitations.

[Italiamia]

[Giacomo]

Yes, he has, like replacing Menez on the right-side of attack at half-time against Cluj with a player - Adriano - that was not even fit enough to run!

The discussion about Roma in CL and Europe generally is a big one because the club has been under-achieving for years now, except for 2007 and 2008 under Spalletti. Now Roma one of the worst examples of calcio's general feebleness against teams some of which have considerably inferior resources. In Serie A the football is old-style and out of touch with the game as it is played elsewhere in Europe. That is why players like Taddei - and, no, we don't need him anywhere near the pitch! - are able to command the respect they receive.

[Giacomo]

[Italiamia]

[Carlo Romano]

Perrotta is one of the fading stars we have, Gio!

Like Taddei. We need them because we can't replace them. I'm grateful for what they have done but c'mon...does the "SuperSimo" who played for our Azzurri in Germany 2006 for example still look like the same guy to you? In Taddei's case, I continue to think he is one of those unfortunates who has never been the same after injuries. It's not age, he is hardly too old at 30.


James, I'll agree that Serie A is nowhere near as strong as it was in the 1990's but it's not as bad as you are suggesting!

[Italiamia]

[Giacomo]

Football has changed over the last few years, Ancelotti said so too in a candid interview recently. But in Serie A they generally continue as if the world has stopped, which is why they have slipped sensationally down the UEFA CL/EL Access List. The evidence is there in the tables and graphs.

Modern football as played by the best teams in CL and EL is based on movement, speed, technique and co-ordination, not on work-rate and following tactical instructions as most of the coaches in Serie A appear to think. Ancelotti said, "today, in football, the speed of the play is the most important thing." He 's spot on.

Watching CL and EL closely you can see that the best teams play in way that is generally alien to Serie A, they play with speed blended with excellent technique and coordination. That is why players like Cassetti, Taddei and Perrotta get found out in European games, the same for Totti too nowdays, because they cannot play at the speed of their opponents.

This is not an earth-shattering claim because even respected figures like Saachi have discussed it recently and it is being debated more and more in Italy.

[Carlo Romano]