On the Roman Affair

Roma again draws with a lower table team.

The statistics of the game show an unusual pattern.

Roma, as usuall controlled much of the possession. In fact, they were almost 70% tom Siena's paltry 30%. A look at this statistic might suggest an astronomical difference between the number of shots on target from both teams. Yet, Siena managed to exactly match the 14(4) of Roma. The fact that the Gillarossi had more than twice the position of Siena did not seem to phase the visitors, whose fortunes to score looked a matter of time in the capital.

Simply put, if you have 70% of the possession, you should not allow the opponent to get as many chances as you. Which speaks volumes about the lack of defensive policy in the Roman outfit. In the other end, half of Roma's chances were out of the box. Which is good if you have players that can shoot from there.

This impotence in attack today should be expected though, how in earth could Louis Enrique think of putting three static forwards against a defensive team. Can't he understand the resolution of Italian lower table teams. Must he be beaten by Novarra to get it into his mind that he needs some pace up front.

And how can he not see that Totti cannot be a left forward, his play-style is central, especially now that he is older. In fact, the average position of Totti was right in the middle of the field. Get it into your head Enrique that Totti is no left forward.

I can't see Roma doing well with a 4-3-3, and they should deploy a variant of 4-3-1-2. Totti will always go to the center, so Roma will only lose weadth by playing him in the left. Bojan needs to be assimilated into the team, and Borini is proving to be quite the guy. Also, THIS IS NOT ENTERTAINING ME, every time I watch Rome who I like play like this, I feel sick inside, lack of purpose and lack of ideas, no balls. Possession football is useless if not used properly, and Enrique is being naive if he cannot see that.

On a final note, I wish the Gillarossi luck, and I hope for the sake of Serie A and the beautiful football I used to watch from Roma that Enrique finds his path. It will need a lot of work, and it would help if he had a lot of time.

I am not saying Enrique is a bad choice, I am just analyzing the faults of Roma currently. If these areas are ironed out, they should have a much better campaign.

Forza Football

Totti is playing central though. Playing as a False 9 like he did under Spaletti.

Gil wrote:Totti is playing central though. Playing as a False 9 like he did under Spaletti.

You might be forgiven for thinking that if you see the game, since that is how he plays. However, he is deployed as a left forward. Hence, whenever he goes central you see a void in the left. Which is why most attacks come from the center and the flanks are rarely used.

It is not until Borini plays that the right flank gets used.

Check the Roma website, Goal.com, and ESPN for a look at the tactics.

3 games in...

That's all I'm gonna say on this matter.

My full thoughts are in the Roma section.

Whether it be the start of the season, or a few months from now, Roma is still going to have two major problems that Enrique needs to spot quickly.

1) Pace. The team lacks pace. You need to pick up a few quick and direct sort of players in January. I know Roma fans were mostly happy to see the back of Menez, but he was the only player that offered that directness and speed that catches defenses out.

By pace, I also mean pace of the build-ups, wow they are slow.. I feel that will correct itself when the new players gel together properly.

2) Burdisso. no further analysis needed.

MOAR time to gel needed. Performance is getting better with each game. Fitness is a bit of an issue though. Enrique's tactics involves players to run for 90 mins, but they start to fade after 70.

Of course more time is needed, and I am not calling for is head or anything. But no matter how many times you play Totti, Osvaldo, Borriello, those guys are not going to be dynamic. And how many times you play Totti on the left, he will not stay there.

Give them time bros.

Guardiola was also critizied when he started for Barca.

Lord Spencer wrote:Of course more time is needed, and I am not calling for is head or anything. But no matter how many times you play Totti, Osvaldo, Borriello, those guys are not going to be dynamic. And how many times you play Totti on the left, he will not stay there.

Don't think boriello is part of the 1st team and i agree they won't be dynamic together.

This is why Lamela would be a key for roma, as well as pjanic, bojan and Totti

The style of Calcio also plays a part in this. If Enrique thinks defences are going to open up because of you having a lot more possession as in Spain, he's wrong. I'm not sure, but that sort of style is going to be very hard to implement in Italy, apart from having the wrong players to do it as you say.

Once he faces some great counter attacking teams such as Udinese, he's going to run into problems.

Inb4sciacca DEFENSE > ALL

we have no defensive midfield. there's a HUGE gap between our defense and midfield. with de rossi more or less a sweeper now, we have no real ball winner, no work rate, and no stamina in central midfield


kjaer/derossi/burdisso are also seeing too much of the ball. most of the 70% of our possession is between the 3 of them. and with the opposition occupying the space in front of them, our defenders have no short passing options to pizarro/pjanic. our manager strictly won't allow the players to play long balls, and insists on creating from the back. so kjaer/derossi/burdisso can only pass between the 3 of them until one of them makes a misplaced pass to the opposition

slight exaggeration, but i hope you get my point

Gil wrote:Totti is playing central though. Playing as a False 9 like he did under Spaletti.

Well he did play as that type of Center Forward under Montella last season, and picked up 12 goals. However, it may look like that on paper, but realistically he plays more of a Trequartista role, as the strikers on the sides go ahead of them and he plays behind them when building up play.

Sushi Master wrote:The style of Calcio also plays a part in this. If Enrique thinks defences are going to open up because of you having a lot more possession as in Spain, he's wrong. I'm not sure, but that sort of style is going to be very hard to implement in Italy, apart from having the wrong players to do it as you say.

Once he faces some great counter attacking teams such as Udinese, he's going to run into problems.

Inb4sciacca DEFENSE > ALL

lol what's with this Inb4sciacca in a lot of threads?

If that means because I'm correct, then yes. Because what you just said is exactly what I've been saying for weeks now in the Roma section. Saying why LE is the problem and why his tactics just won't work in Serie A.

You must of stole my work