re: AS ROMA 2011-12 Season Thread

Go Roma!!! Three points would be awesome.

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Go Roma!!! Three points would be awesome.

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Another dreadful draw. Team lacks any kind of creativity in final third. Should have been a loss, really.

Enrique's tactics are stiff and stubborn.

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Completely agree. Siena should feel sick to only come away with a point.

I'm disappointed in the progress so far but not that surprised. I wrote in the preview here that I was afraid 1) Enrique would be such a total believer in Barca's "system" that he would be arrogantly slow to tweek it or realize that they win mainly because they have the best players in the world hand selected for it and that 2) Serie A managers were beside themselves in joy at the thought of playing against a system that levels the quality gap for teams that are defensively disciplined and patient but need to rely mainly on counters for offense.

It's only three games so I'm trying to be patient realizing that Serie A is very different tactically than La Liga. In fact, as much as they shredded our defense, the friendly against Valencia was the only time we created tons of chances; literally twice as much, if not more, in that match as all 3 Serie A matches combined.

But, it's frustrating as hell to know that we could very easily have 9 points with the same players simply playing an attacking 4-3-3 like last year under interim coach Montella, fresh as he was from coaching the 13 year olds.

I'm thinking the lack of creativity has to be put squarely on LE's tactics or at least his ability to teach them so far?

I expected the leaky defense (especially without Juan) but if you followed the team last year you know that creating chances wasn't really the problem. We scored as much as anyone we just gave up twice as many goals as the teams above us.

To Enrique's credit he seems to have enthusiastic support from the players but I'm concerned how long that lasts when teams without a single player that would be in our starting rotation come into Olimpico and dominate us simply because they're strategically better?

Ma 'affanculo!

I'm just tired of seeing De Rossi stuck in the middle of a back three. Pjanic has his moments but can't seem to find the game. Pizzaro adds more right now, but not much. Totti is disinterested or something.

Happy Birfday Totti Celebrating by playing Fifa 12 all night

Roma started a twitter a page today and, according to the Roma Giallo Rossa fansite, got offf to a good start by sending this photo update on Totti's injury sunday.

AS ROMA v AC MILAN
12pm EST Saturday (Fox Soccer Plus, ESPN Deportes)


Well, after 8 matches I have to say there have been some disappointing results but overall I have a positive feeling about Luis Enrique and most of the new signings.

Also, there's a logjam at the top of Serie A due to some of the mid to lower table teams (Atalanta, Cagliari ect) coming out in excellent form with a lot of young talent so pretty much everyone, Roma included, is still very much in the hunt for CL spots.

Losing the derby to Lazio was painful but it was a microcosm of the season so far in that we've dropped a lot of points in matches to against the run of play due to just not finishing our chances combined with a couple of horrible defensive lapses in the final few minutes.

Both Pjanic and Totti are probably out again for AC Milan this Saturday. We need one of those 2 on the pitch as Bojan isn't nearly as creative playing centrally in the 4-3-1-2.

Lamela is the other option and probably the future here but is so young that I'm sure Enrique is hesitant to put too much on his shoulders too soon. However, it did only take him 5 minutes into his first match to score a fantastic strike in his first match against Palermo this past weekend which is just the type of flair we've been missing.

We have injury problems at RB that may force Perrotta to continue playing out of position there. This will obviously be the area that's addressed int he next transfer window.


Gago --- I like him. He does nothing flashy and has been one of the problems in not finishing scoring chances but his positioning just seems sublime at times. A geometer. However, he's so low key on the pitch that he'll have hard time deflecting criticism from fans about his passion for the shirt which in Roma is probably more insane than anywhere and what's led to players like Vuci leaving.


Stekelenberg -- High hopes but he's really had his share of ups and downs so far. Some fantastic saves against Palermo but a couple of saves he should have made have cost us points.


Osvaldo --- Fans were upset at the amount of his transfer but he seems passionate to play for Roma beyond any expectation to the point of obviously studying youtube to mimic vintage Batistuta goal celebrations. Like all the new signings he's still finding his rhythm in the new system but I think he'll turn into a favorite for years to come.

Bojan --- I like him but he's just missing something that's hard to define so far. Not playing poorly but nothing so far that really jumps out and impresses either. Is it that he's just closer to player like Borini than how he was hyped at Barca?


Pjanic -- Really unfortunate to have the minor injury holding him out while Totti is out too. Not only ffor the team but he also seemed to shine more when the offense moved through him with Totti not on the pitch. He's going to be fantastic in the future though.

Borini -- For all the bigger name signings, his was the most savvy. Quality young attacker that has shown a knack to get the ball into dangerous positions with more consistency than any of the more hyped signings so far. Needs to finish better though.

Angel -- He'll be our left back for a long time. Fantastic kid with a fantastic attitude and all kinds of quality in the attack but he's young and his defense is still just plain bad. Really bad.