THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[maro]

It's always your way or the highway isn't it, threadmund?

[Italiamia]

[RomaShield27]

I thought we were singing from the same hymnbook on this one, for once, Sheepofile?

[RomaShield27]

[RomaShield27]

[aba_bab]

Something's been wrong with this team ever since cicinho left

[RomaShield27]

Indeed, Aba, with Cici in there, at least we lost with sense of humour.

Extremely disappointing to see what we've become. I don't mind the first goal, it can happen after a team goes one-up, you can get a little complacent, and no doubt we were with Cassetti AWOL and Mexes and co all over the place for their first; and even the second goal can happen, a great strike, but the reaction and attitude of the boys was extremely disappointing to see. We are hugely low on confidence, but even after their second I think we took it to another level and just didn't have any sense of belief left in us at all. Riise slipped, it can happen too, but its all a sign of the bigger picture and the sheer lack of concentration throughout the team. CL is all about concentration for 90 minutes, but we can't even do it for 30. At least I should be grateful we weren't drawn against an english team.

Another sign of the problems within the team I felt was the attitude of Menez. Don't get me wrong, he done the good things very well and his goal was wonderful, but his demeanor throughout (and against Napoli) was poor to see and not acceptable in my opinion. His yellow card was just pathetic, cowardly, even. He knows he's on a yellow, he knows he needs to be careful, and yet does a pointless needless trip on the player down in our corner with about three other defenders around him, and he's out for the second-leg. It was lazy, it was careless, it was pointless and it was inconsiderate, and now the team has to pay the price in the return leg.

Totti was our best forward. When Totti plays like this, he still has a future at the top level of the game for many more years. He ran and he tried and he never gave up, and inspired us throughout. I just wonder why he can't do it in Serie A. He never bitched to the ref, when he was fouled he got up and he got on with it, he chased down, he worked his arse off, and he the magic at the end of it all to make stuff happen for us. It just wasn't enough for us in the end, and the fightback never really took off. Its all too much for the second-leg, especially as its in the Ukraine.

[maro]

What bigger picture was Riise's slipping a sign of?

I wonder if someone somewhere will be suggesting that Menez's tracking back like that to make the foul was a sign of his commitment and desperation.

[RomaShield27]

It was a dire last-man slip which shouldn't happen, he had plenty of time to clear the ball but lost all sense of himself and made a mistake. It shouldn't happen, and was symptomatic of the lack of concentration and belief required for a team at this level. I'm not slagging Menez's workrate and tracking back, but look at the challenge again, it was appalling, and plain lazy.

[stefano]

The tracking back was great. The foul was stupid.

[stefano]

I wonder if Frenche' has anything to add about how washed-up Totti is?

[RomaShield27]

[maro]

The foul was stupid but not lazy. And if anything Riise's mistake was the product of thinking too hard, trying too hard, which comes from a lack of confidence and a desperate desire to do well. Of course he had plenty of time to clear the ball: what he was trying to do was to pick exactly the right option, thinking himself into a corner.

[maro]

It is interesting, I think, threadzo, that I have had a completely different take from you on tonight's game and on the Sphincter game. I think it's quite revealing - it suggests that our responses to the games might reflect our own states of mind rather than anything objectively observed within the game itself. I thought we fell apart and gave up against Sphincter, in the familiar way, and only an enormous slice of luck got us backish. Tonight, on the other hand, I thought the overall performance was excellent. It was lovely to see Vooch running off Totti in the first half; he ran in behind in a way he's not done for ages. I thought Riise was getting forward in a way he hadn't for ages and giving us options and fluency down the left. And up until their first goal I thought the movement all round was excellent - the front players were mixing up their runs, rather than standing up against the back four doing jack shit. I liked what I saw - it was much better than we've looked with Borriello on the pitch for ages.

I have never expected us to win the CL. I'm not sure I ever 'expected' us to win this tie - I figured it was probably about 50-50 before tonight. So I enjoyed the way we played even though the result was disappointing. I'd rather play well and lose than play badly and ultimately end up not winning anything anyway.

[stefano]

[maro]

There was even a time when Totti took a step or two back to drag the backline with him and Vooch came five or six yards short to collect the ball in space - that was excellent and much better than anything at all I saw against Napoli, for instance. The team also misses Pizarro hugely. I knew that before tonight and am prepared to accept the performance in the light of it.

[RomaShield27]

[RomaShield27]

It seems Borriello wants to add his few cents to the grumble fund at Roma and was seen on camera while on the bench complaining to the other subs (I think remember the moment, too, when the camera panned to him) :

"Siamo sotto di 2 gol e sto cogl*** mi lascia in panchina che ho segnato più di tutti" – "We're down by two goals and this mor*n leaves me on the bench when I've scored more than everyone else."

Ranieri responded by saying: "Yes, but then he showed me in the last half hour he played."

http://www.vocegiallorossa.it/?action=r ... izia=13725

I think the entire squad needs to take a few steps back and have a good look in the mirror at themselves. We need to realise that yes we are having problems, this is a not a great period, and we need to work together as a team in order to pull through this and salvage something from this season. Its either that or continue the petty bickering and problems and egos and continuing sliding down the table and into the abyss. Its time for a fecking heart to heart. We also need to reintegrate Pizarro back into our midfield and let him work his own brand of magica and rebuild around him – give Castellini his chance in the first 11, give Riise a (much needed) break, tell him he can recover, work hard in training, and most importantly build up some much needed team spirit and enthusiasm and belief in ourselves once again.

[Frenchesco]

[Frenchesco]

By the way, if he is great for 5 games during the season, so you guys are satisfied?