(Let’s talk about defense.)

In today’s Champions League tie between Roma and Sporting, the Roman defense let two into the net, and the team was fortunate to escape with a draw. (Thanks, Pizarro!) This lapse of strength in back is unfortunately only the most recent instance in a season replete with such defensive displays by the Giallorossi. You would think that with a defense that stops balls like a pasta strainer stops water, Roma would be at the bottom of the Serie A table. That is, you might think that until you notice that their all-or-nothing attack has managed to score more goals than well… anybody else’s. That combo is good enough for third place, apparently.

Let’s check out the Serie A table going into Week 12, sorted by Goals Allowed:

(Remember, that doesn’t account for goals allowed or scored during Champions League or UEFA Cup matches.)

Obviously, the take home message for Roma here is: Stop letting in so many damn goals! In response to their pasta strainer performance, Luciano Spalletti says that his ragazzi sometimes “do get a bit soft on the ball and loseWeight Exercise possession in a foolish fashion.” (Gosh, you think? Admitting that there’s a problem is the first step toward recovery, Luciano.) He also stated that he hopes “that it is not a part of the character of the squad.” Eleven weeks have passed. I’d hate to say it, but it looks like it’s a pretty substantial part of the squad’s character. Sorry.

The weirdness doesn’t end with Roma, although their stats do present the most striking disparity. Take a look at Milan and Catania; they’re hovering mid-pack at 9th and 10th place, respectively, but they also have two of the four best defenses in the league! With the back of the house doing its job, all that Milan and Catania need to challenge the front-runners is a spark up front. Speaking of which, it looked as though Milan had found just that in a rejuvenated Gilardino, but the Torino match didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Thankfully, they look to be back on track with the win over Shakhtar, (even though it was a last-gasp effort), but Gila’s silence and eventual substitution during that match was admittedly concerning. If they can start scoring at home, their season will open up. Catania, on the other hand, need to start scoring, period, although I’m sure Roma would love to have their defense at this point.

This season is getting stranger by the week. (Call me crazy, but I kinda like it.) Now if only somebody would take down ArgentInter!

Categories: Catania, Milan, Roma
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(A German for Juve? / MirkoTime / Genoa can Defeat Fiorentina!)

Alright! Week 9 of the Serie A season is suddenly upon us, and with all of the noise leading up to Roma’s visit to Milan, a couple things have flown under the radar of most calcio news outlets. (And when I say “most,” I’m excluding Goal.com, which did catch wind of the story I’m about to share, but which also really needs to get with 2007 and set up some friggin’ RSS feeds! Hey! You too, Channel 4 Italia! How ’bout some RSS!)

Continue to the rest of this post… »

Categories: Fiorentina, Genoa, Juventus, Milan, Roma
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Until now, I’ve purposely avoided posting transfer rumors, since they routinely consist of smoke and mirrors, frequently served up with a side of exaggeration. In this case, however, the player – not the agent – is doing the talking, and given the names involved, I’m paying special attention:

“Obviously it pleases me to be linked with Roma. However we will talk about this later at the end of the season. All I am thinking about at the moment is Udinese,” said Zebrette striker Antonio Di Natale to the Guerino Sportivo.

“With Luciano Spalletti at Udinese we had an explosive attack with Iaquinta, Di Michele and me. The year after we found things more difficult after Spalletti left.”

While it’s true that at this point, it’s just talk – probably nothing more, definitely nothing less – the fact that Di Natale is in top form now, combined with the fact that he has worked under Spalletti before, has me dizzy with the possibilities.

Continue to the rest of this post… »

Categories: Roma, transfers
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Alright, before anybody else nearly has a heart attack when they see the name “Totti” and the word “doping” in the same headline, listen up: HE’S NOT.

Apparently, the doping case against him has been dropped.

About now, if you’re saying, “Totti? Doping case? What doping case?” don’t feel bad, because I most definitely had no idea either (hence my heart jumping into my throat).

Here’s the lowdown: Il Capitano showed up to a routine test late on May 13th, and somebody – I don’t know who, but somebody – whispered into an ear / sent an e-mail / made a call, or jumped the gun in some other way, and the subject inquiry was the apparent result. Anyway, as it turns out, he was late because his second child, Chanel was born that day.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d say that’s a pretty damn good reason to be late.

Nonetheless, the investigation went forward, and despite the really, really iron-clad alibi, it can be opened up if any doping evidence comes to light.

I’ll go on-record right now and say that if “evidence” does surface, my first thought will be that someone is out to get Francesco Totti. (No, I mean someone other than the guys who have to mark him.)

Until now, Il Capitano has never had his name mentioned in reference to the use of drugs, so the fact that a baseless, sensationalist case like this made the news just irks the hell out of me, especially since Italian soccer has struggled to clean up its reputation following calciopoli.

Categories: Roma
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A tough road lies ahead for Napoli.

First, let me say that I don’t think Napoli are a bad team. Thus far, they’ve exceeded any expectations that could be placed upon a club that was just promoted to Serie A (excluding Juventus, of course; we’d expect a lot of them regardless). Nonetheless, the 2-1 loss to Inter, I fear, is just the first in a string of difficulties that the club will have to face in upcoming weeks, as they’ll have to play Roma, Juventus, and Fiorentina consecutively.

Prior to this week, I wouldn’t have put a surprise win over one of these teams past Napoli; they’ve already taken out Sampdoria and Udinese quite convincingly, but I fear that facing all of the most formidable sides in calcio (minus Milan – and yes, I’m still calling them formidable – see below) one after another will take the wind right out of poor Napoli’s sails, leaving them with low morale when they face lesser teams.

Write off Siena as an easy win, and pay out the anus.

Speaking of lesser teams, before this week, Siena hadn’t won this season… but I just knew that such a record wasn’t indicative of what this team can do. They have some good talent (Locatelli, Maccarone, and Grimi, to name a few), and although they finished just a couple steps above the relegated squads last season, they (and I don’t know if anybody else realizes this) only lost once by more than two goals. Indeed, they gave several of the big guns a really hard time.

Look, I’m not saying that Siena are going to start blowing the boots off of Inter or the like. I’m just saying that this week’s 3-0 win over Empoli is evidence of the fact that this team should not be taken lightly.

Milan and Roma are playing like… well… Milan and Roma again.

Finally! I was starting to get nervous there, but that’s probably understandable, considering the fact that the Rossoneri, defending Champions of Europe, had only won one Serie A match out of six.

Can you guess who else must’ve been a bit uneasy going into this week? How ‘bout Alberto Gilardino? Before Sunday’s showdown, a portion of the Milan faithful wanted to see the striker traded off, as he hadn’t scored since April. Well, Gila certainly shut the doubters up, didn’t he? Likewise, I’m sure that some of the people who doubted the entire Milan organization have been silenced. Five goals at Olimpico is nothing to scoff at, especially considering it was against a squad that tied Spanish powerhouse Real freakin’ Madrid just days ago in the same building. Hell – three goals would’ve been impressive. Throw Gila’s two-goal surprise on top of that, and you have a resounding message that the whole peninsula will hear.

I was also a bit concerned about Roma, albeit to a lesser degree. After drawing twice, losing to Inter (thanks in part to Giuly’s attempt at playing ‘keeper – more on that ridiculousness below) and then losing to Manchester United in a heart breaker, this week’s match against Parma was a must-win in terms of getting the Giallorossi back on track.

Enter Il Capitano, and it’s suddenly Parma 0-3 Roma.

Looking back, it seems almost silly to have had any doubts. After all, Roma have special memories of the Stadio Tardini.

Look! It’s Giuly the goalkeeper! (Wait… what?)

Those crazy, crazy Romans. You just can’t make this stuff up.

Apparently, at the end of a practice session going into week seven, members of the Giallorossi were taking free kicks with Ludovic Giuly in goal.

Yes, that Giuly.

I can only speculate as to why the hell they put the French midfielder in goal, but regardless of the reason, I think it’s hilarious. Anyway, getting back to why, I think that they were busting his chops a bit following his disastrous mid-match decision to fill in for the ‘keeper against Inter. He was handed a red card in that match, and as a result, he wasn’t allowed to play in Parma anyway. So, they probably decided to let him take it easy, and at the same time get a good laugh.

After all, who doesn’t like a good laugh at the expense of a Frenchman?

(Thanks to Lorenzo, who posted something about the Frenchman’s stint in goal on another calcio blog.)

–Look for a post on the Azzurri over the next few days. Our ragazzi have a Euro qualifier and a friendly coming up.–

Categories: Milan, Napoli, Roma, Siena
3 Comments »

I don’t like to make super-brief posts, but I just had to share THIS.

How great is that? Totti haters, say what you want; THAT was a classy move.

(Update: Check out the comments. The Guardian made it sound like Totti’s initiative, but it wasn’t, although he, Spaletti, and De Rossi were willing participants. I still say it’s a great gesture, and if you watch the vid, you can see that the Giallorossi trio made the recipient very happy.)

Categories: Champions League, Roma
6 Comments »

7-1.

No Romanista can forget it.

Back in April, after losing at the Stadio Olimpico, Manchester United hosted Roma and gave our Giallorossi a reception that still stings.

Now, five months later, divine intervention (that’s what I’m calling it) has put Roma in the same Champions League group as the “Red Devils,” subsequently guaranteeing the Giallorossi a chance – just a chance – to return what was given to them when they travel to Old Trafford once again.

To be certain, Il Capitano (and yes, there is only one) and company have their work cut out for them, and if you read most of the previews out there, the cards are stacked against Roma.

But are they?

Although Manchester United will be without their starting ‘keeper Van der Sar, the team has won five out of six matches in September, hasn’t lost at all at home, and can of course point to last season’s encounter at Old Trafford as evidence of their apparent superiority over Roma.

Roma, on the other hand, have won only half of their six September matches, most recently drawing with both Juventus and Fiorentina, and losing to Inter – at home (ouch) – 4-1. To make matters worse, with “7-1” still ringing in their ears, it looks as though Perrotta and Aquilani will be watching from the bench.

Despite all of this (and here’s the part where everybody will write me off as crazy), I’m still hopeful.

I’m still hopeful because over the years I’ve learned that Italian teams – both club and national – live and die based on their motivation, or lack thereof. That said, a highly motivated Roma is a world more formidable than one that plays to “not loseWeight Exercise,” and if the last meeting between these two teams – on top of yesterday’s loss to Inter – doesn’t light a fire under Roma’s collective ass, thus providing said motivation, then I don’t know what will. Roma has vital weapons at its disposal, most importantly its menacing, revolving door (a.k.a. “here comes the team picture”) attack. If we bring our whole armory… along with the aforementioned motivation, we could catch the “Red Devils” napping atop their laurels – which I think they very well may be, given the history behind these two teams.

Then, if all goes well, and our Giallorossi show Old Trafford what they can really do, we’ll be able to enjoy it all the more when Manchester United visits Stadio Olimpico once again, and has the opportunity to enjoy hospitality of the Roman variety:

Categories: Champions League, Roma
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