http://football-italia.net/19584/official-zeman-takes-roma-job


So its offical. What can we expect? Interesting summer in transfers for sure. Does Zeman favor traditional, low defensive line?

E viva er Boemo!!!!! Welcome back!

We could expect a few tactical changes here and there, but attacking football nonetheless, that much is super obvious. He favors a high line, a deep regista in front of the defense and a pure center forward rather than a false 9. For the latter, I would expect Totti to be somewhere in between, naturally he will drop back, but he'll definitely find himself in a more advanced role compared to his positioning under Luis Enrique. It will be interesting to see how Zeman decides to approach this since, the last time around, Zeman used Totti as a left winger. I doubt he's going to revert back to this since it was over a decade ago, I see him moving someone like Borini out to the wing.

In midfield, as I said, he likes a deep lying regista accompanied by two "box-to-box" midfielders, though that term seems to have lost its true meaning lately lol. I think Pjanic may be dropped deeper to cover that regista role, with De Rossi and Marquinho on either side of him. An alternative solution which is being discussed is moving Pjanic up to LW, but that would mean even less space for Bojan, Osvaldo, and co.

At the back, both fullbacks will have a license to attack as they wish. We'll be playing with a similar back line, high upfield, so Kjaer is shit out of luck imo. One thing Zeman will be happy about is having Stekelenburg in goal, a keeper very much capable of charging out and playing the ball with ease.

All in all, we're looking at a more direct approach than Luis Enrique, but an approach which carries the same risks, that of being beaten on the counter. Generally, I think Zeman is the right way to go since we won't be dismantling the work we've done in the past year, we have a team ready to take on a high work load and another coach ready to focus on our youth despite his love for Totti... the perfect mix.

ErPupone wrote:E viva er Boemo!!!!! Welcome back!

We could expect a few tactical changes here and there, but attacking football nonetheless, that much is super obvious. He favors a high line, a deep regista in front of the defense and a pure center forward rather than a false 9. For the latter, I would expect Totti to be somewhere in between, naturally he will drop back, but he'll definitely find himself in a more advanced role compared to his positioning under Luis Enrique. It will be interesting to see how Zeman decides to approach this since, the last time around, Zeman used Totti as a left winger. I doubt he's going to revert back to this since it was over a decade ago, I see him moving someone like Borini out to the wing.

In midfield, as I said, he likes a deep lying regista accompanied by two "box-to-box" midfielders, though that term seems to have lost its true meaning lately lol. I think Pjanic may be dropped deeper to cover that regista role, with De Rossi and Marquinho on either side of him. An alternative solution which is being discussed is moving Pjanic up to LW, but that would mean even less space for Bojan, Osvaldo, and co.

At the back, both fullbacks will have a license to attack as they wish. We'll be playing with a similar back line, high upfield, so Kjaer is shit out of luck imo. One thing Zeman will be happy about is having Stekelenburg in goal, a keeper very much capable of charging out and playing the ball with ease.

All in all, we're looking at a more direct approach than Luis Enrique, but an approach which carries the same risks, that of being beaten on the counter. Generally, I think Zeman is the right way to go since we won't be dismantling the work we've done in the past year, we have a team ready to take on a high work load and another coach ready to focus on our youth despite his love for Totti... the perfect mix.

Great summary of what we may expect. I'm curious to see what transfers happen this summer. I see us playing much better this season. As much as I like LE I think he still has much to learn in managing. Great potential though. I think Zeman will be able to get the most out of the players and a less possession orientated strategy will make the players more comfortable in their decision making IMO. Possession can be tough for many players not use to it.

He is good with using youngsters and even though he himself is a chain smoker he has actual knowledge about fitness thats why most of the teams that he managed were physically ready for football , He is credited with the development of Francesco Totti at Roma, by placing him on a fitness regime to improve his physique and stamina and he is the one who first gave Nesta playing time at Nazio

He like dynamic players , His full back are pretty much expected to be wing forward , he prefers his mids to play tight and compact , i wont be surprised if he uses Totti as a complete midfielder this time around

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577444361592390248.html


Great read here about Zeman by Gab Marcotti one of the best pundit's around imo,worth checking out.

I doubt Totti will be able to keep up with Zemans training sessions,I hear they are really intense.

Patrick Bateman wrote:I doubt Totti will be able to keep up with Zemans training sessions,I hear they are really intense.

Nah don't worry about that. Zeman does have intense training sessions, though apparently he's eased up on them in recent years. Also, LE had pretty intense training sessions as well, especially at the beginning of the season, and we saw Totti in great shape. And let's not forget, if there's one coach in the world that Totti would work his ass off for, it's Zeman.

"But playing for results is not the same as playing soccer—my teams play soccer," he said in 2009. "The way some so-called winning teams play today, it's all about the players. The managers just focus on not conceding and leave everything up to the players. Guys like [Fabio] Capello and [Jose] Mourinho are hailed as geniuses because they win. Well, they win because they have the best players, not because of what they do. I could put my dead grandfather in charge of their teams and they would still win."

"But playing for results is not the same as playing soccer—my teams play soccer," he said in 2009. "The way some so-called winning teams play today, it's all about the players. The managers just focus on not conceding and leave everything up to the players. Guys like [Fabio] Capello and [Jose] Mourinho are hailed as geniuses because they win. Well, they win because they have the best players, not because of what they do. I could put my dead grandfather in charge of their teams and they would still win."

The comment is intentionally antagonistic and therefore troll-ish

But on serious Note

Zeman sounds like the Czech Bielsa in many aspects (preferred formation, intense training sessions, style, cult following), except for always speaking his mind. In that aspect he's more like Maradona, of Argentine coaches

ZeMANIA is running wild

ErPupone wrote:

Patrick Bateman wrote:I doubt Totti will be able to keep up with Zemans training sessions,I hear they are really intense.

Nah don't worry about that. Zeman does have intense training sessions, though apparently he's eased up on them in recent years. Also, LE had pretty intense training sessions as well, especially at the beginning of the season, and we saw Totti in great shape. And let's not forget, if there's one coach in the world that Totti would work his ass off for, it's Zeman.

I hope you're right Mike.Enrique's training sessions when he first arrived were pretty intense but that was only in pre-season to get the players back into shape after that it was supposed to be pretty relaxed,sure many times during last season as soon as we reached the 70 minute mark you could see most players were shagged out,with Zeman we won't see this thankfully.

http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2012/04/legend-of-calcio-zdenek-zeman/

“this sport is hugely popular not because of big business or pharmacies but because in every corner of the world there is a child having fun with a football…”