Michael Bradley to AS Roma?

I would splooge everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

wm72 needs to give us a scoop.

I've been wanting an italian team to follow, Romerica needs to happen.

At this point, I think the Bradley to AS Roma talk are mainly just based on a potential scenario.

What has base is simply:

1) Joe Tacopina (of the ownership group) has spoken publicly about the desire to sign an American player numerous times

2) Walter Sabatini has mentioned that he likes Bradley a couple of times. Agudelo is the only other American player Sabatini has ever mentioned though you'd think that would probably be an extreme long shot as AS Roma is actually pretty loaded with 17-20 year old attacking talent.

Everything beyond that may be educated guesses at this point. Though Bradley's success this season certainly has made it a very real possibility. Not to mention, his playing like a boss in the 2 fixtures against Roma this year. Roma has been sorely missing a player that has some steel and athleticism but also complements the smooth passing style in the midfield especially when De Rossi is out and we've used a midfield of Gago, Marquinho and Pjanic.




A lot of people expect Luis Enrique to step aside (he won't be fired) but that won't happen until the season ends. Then it's anyone's guess who'll replace him. It will certainly be someone who employs an attacking 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 type system to fit the roster.

I don't expect anything solid to come out until LE's situation is cleared up.

quote:

---

Has Bradley played a lot of minutes for Chievo?

---

Yes. More than any player aside from their striker, Pellisier I believe. He's the fixture in their midfield.

As much as I would LOVE him to come to Roma, there's a part of me that wonders if it wouldn't be best for him to play one more season at Chievo where he's become the main man in their midfield. Not to mention, he's arguably twice the player he was a year ago in terms of positioning / reading the game from a tactical side.


Though, on the other hand, I can't think of any player in the world better suited for Bradley to learn by playing along with and subbing on occasion than De Rossi.

They've been interested in Bradley for 2 years now. Last offseason, they tried to get Landon Donovan and/or Bradley. If I recall correctly.

quote:

---

You really think Enrique goes? It seemed to me like a major long-term overhaul by the new owners, commitment to a new way of playing.

---

Yes, I think it's a bit more likely that he resigns than stays.

This may sound odd but I believe the reason will be that he doesn't feel as though he's getting the job done himself.

Baldini/Sabatini and the ownership group seem to really want him to stay and are publicly saying flat out that they are currently trying to convince him. The players, especially Totti and De Rossi have been extremely vocal about how much they like him.

However, Enrique is really a character cut from a different mold. Coaching / Tactics aside, he always comes across as a pretty exemplary man which is very odd for a successful coach in any sport at a high level. You can see that he's really taking the team's failure to improve over the 2nd half of the season extremely hard. Probably too hard, IMO.


I'd like for him to stay and see if he can "grow" with the club. His main (visible) problem as a manager has been how often he's been out-maneuvered tactically. But, if there's one thing Serie A has in abundance, it's managers that will do that to newcomers and a lot more established, successful managers than LE have had the same problem.

Anyway, this is simply to say that I don't see this coming from impatient management and I'm sure that any new hire will certainly try to fit a similar style.

quote:

---

How is the midfield at Roma looking for next season?

---

The first choice midfield at the time is: De Rossi playing deepest in a regista role with Gago and Pjanic in front.

Marquinho came from Santos on loan and has been playing a LOT as well. He's a very solid technical player that's strong going forward but slight of build and not a great defensive presence. I would imagine Roma will take the option to buy him as he can also slot over to LB in a formation like LE's.




Gago is on loan with a fairly cheap option from Real. He says he wants to stay in Rome and it'll probably just be a matter of his price (5 or 6 million) vs other options.

We'll still have Simplicio and Perrotta but those are more squad players at this point that are settled in Rome and want to see out their contracts. Not much competition for Bradley.


The main competition Bradley may have down the line would be the kid Federico Viviani. He's a 19 yo prodigy in the De Rossi mold whose gotten quite a few call ups to the senior team this year. Bradley would certainly step in ahead of him next year but he seems like the real deal coming on in the not too distant future.


Even if we sign Gago and Marquinho, we'll still need 1 quality midfielder like Bradley. I think you'd see a rotation of those 5 depending on tactics. Gago is under rated IMO however a midfield of Gago, Marquinho and Pjanic when De Rossi rests is just way too lightweight.

quote:

---

I'd like for him to stay and see if he can "grow" with the club. His main visible problem as a manager has been how often he's been out-maneuvered tactically. But, if there's one thing Serie A has in abundance it's managers that will do that to newcomers and a lot more established, successful managers than LE have had the same problem.

---

Hopefully he will stay and learn from his mistakes. He sounds like the kind of person you would want to build a club around.

quote:

---

Gago is under rated IMO

---

I've never really rated him if I'm being honest. Is the permanent signing pretty much a sure thing? The price sounds good but I thought the same thing about Acquilani and AC Milan. What would you describe as Gago's strengths? He's never really seemed like he's particularly good at any part of the game from what I've seen. Of course that is only about a dozen performances between Real Madrid, Roma and Argentina.

quote:

---

You just typed more about the Italian league in that post than anyone has in the last month combined.

---

Yes, I need to revive my old form for frequent long posts about Serie A that soar downward toward to page 2 on extended wings in hopes of making a Soccer Board CL run.