Roma v Sampdoria: Match Discussion

Possibly our sternest test thus far this season. Sampdoria have been a complete revelation since returning from Serie B under Ciro Ferrara as they currently remain undefeated following wins of Milan, Siena and Pescara as well as a draw with Torino. They've so far scored 4 goals away from home while only allowing 2, which should be a bit alarming for our leaky defense, who will be put through the ringer tonight. Here's what I'm expecting for the squad:



Stek will maintain his place in goal behind the same back 4 of our last 2 games. Big new in midfield is that De Rossi is now training with the team meaning his back to fitness and could get a run out later today with Florenzi and Pjanic for company in midfield. Should he miss out, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tachtsidis continue on in the holding role, but Michael Bradley is also back as well so look for him to get some minutes in later in the match. Pjanic appears to have pulled up with a thigh problem in training so he's possibly a doubt for this match, but I've kept him in the line up anyway. Upfront, Totti has also returned to training with the squad and could be in line for a start along with Destro and Lamela.

The Opposition

Coach: Ciro Ferrara



He's the man that Serie A knows well from his playing days as a hard-nosed defender with Juventus to his eventual appointment as Bianconeri head coach after the firing of Claudio Ranieri. Ferrara failed ultimately to get Juventus purring and so was sacked, only to take up the job with Italy's U-21 side, where he has re-established his coaching credentials. Sampdoria took notice of Ferrara's rise and brought him in to rejuvenated a down and out side who had languished in Serie B after an embarrassing relegation-bound season compounding by the taunts of their traditional rivals Genoa. Ferrara has done with Samp what he couldn't with Juve and it's safe to say....them being undefeated right now is not a fluke. They are the definition of surprise package thus far this season.

The Captain: Daniele Gastaldello



We were linked briefly with Gastaldello this summer before eventually bringing in Castan and Marquinhos, but that we were linked with him says quite a bit about this player. Not the most graceful of defenders, but he's got that Italian grit and he's definitely the one that marshals Samp's backline when they're under siege. Look for him to lead from the back and to try andsnuff out the threat of Destro.

The Dangerman: Maxi Lopez



3 goals and 4 matches so far for the former Barcelona and Milan man. He's proven a real livewire for Samp, further proving that his move to Milan was ill-timed and his style incompatible with the Rossoneri. He comprises one-third of a dangerous South American contingent including Eder and Marcelo Estigarribbia that is going to cause trouble for our backline today. It will be up to Nico Burdisso and Castan to keep him quiet however.

Keys to the Match & Prediction

- Other than keeping Lopez quiet, we also have to pay attention to Samp's midfield duo of Fernando Tissone and Andrea Poli, who have been in fantastic form. As we saw with Bologna, we tend to do well against midfields who are heavy on creativity, but with an introduction of a more workman-like player such as Gianni Munari, we may find possession tougher to come by so its important we get control of midfield early and maintain it.

- We're going to need to defend very well from the wings, especially with Lorenzo De Silvestre, Eder and Estigarribbia likely to come forward more often than not. Piris' positioning has been very suspect so he's the only one of our back line that I still have question marks about. He's going to need to pick his times to bomb forward a lot better as any space left will be used by Samp's wingers and full-backs.

Prediction: We don't have the best games against Samp at home and given their great run of form and our porous defense this season, I expect to give up a goal or 2 in this game, but what I also expect is for us to make as much if not more of an impact in the normally energetic first 30 minutes of the match. The danger in this is that we'll tire too early in the match, just as we did v Bologna. I can very much see a repeat of that happening here, but I sure hope I'm wrong.

2-1 Roma

Sampdoria still brings bad memories. Remember couple of years ago, when we were almost clinching the squdetto under Ranieri, but then we managed to lose to Samp and Mou claimed the squdetto..I seriously hate Sampdoria

I have some good news Poli,Tissone and Maxi lopez are all out of this fixture

No excuses I want 3 points.We need to get a good result and performance under our belt to take into the Juve game on Saturday.Also Ferrara has being talking smack about Zeman so that's another reason why I want us to steamroll this team.

And last but not least Osvaldo is available for selection after serving his match ban so I expect to see him lead the line tonight.

Great news indeed, PB

I'll need to pay more attention to the opposing team's injury news in my future previews.

If we can play our game for 2 halves instead of 1, I think we have a fantastic chance of winning today. And there's no Damato officiating this time

McLewis wrote:Great news indeed, PB

I'll need to pay more attention to the opposing team's injury news in my future previews.

If we can play our game for 2 halves instead of 1, I think we have a fantastic chance of winning today. And there's no Damato officiating this time

This. If we let our guard down, we won't get the 3 points, that's for sure. If we play our game for the whole 90, we have every chance of winning this one. It's going to be that same story all year long.

Pjanic looks like he's out for this one, so I'd expect Tachtsidis to start with Florenzi and De Rossi. I also think Taddei may be chosen ahead of Piris this time around and rightfully so. Totti, Destro and Lamela are a lock up front, as Osvaldo is struggling with an injury.

De Rossi on the bench, that means Tachtsidis, Florenzi and Marquinho are starting. Taddei has also been chosen ahead of Piris.


ROMA (4-3-3): Stekelenburg; Taddei, Burdisso, Castan, Balzaretti; Marquinho, Tachtsidis, Florenzi; Lamela, Destro, Totti.
A disp.: Goicoechea, Svedkauskas, Piris, Marquinhos, Romagnoli, Bradley, De Rossi, Perrotta, Tallo, Lopez.
All. Zeman

SAMPDORIA (4-3-3): Romero; Berardi, Gastaldello, Rossini, Costa; Munari, Maresca, Obiang; Eder, Pozzi, Estigarribia.
A disp.: Berni, Castellini, De Silvestri, Mustafi. Poulsen, Krsticic, Renan, Soriano, Icardi.
All. Ferrara

Great match so far, hope to see more of the same in the second half. Samp have been completely pinned back in their own half, our pressing has been very successful. Ferrara has been ordering his back line to try to move further up, we need to make sure that doesn't happen and keep them as far back as possible.

Tachtsidis keeps on impressing me. He did miss a touch here and there, but he's been playing very well. He's comfortable on the ball and is picking out some good passes. Florenzi is doing well, looking better than Marquinho atm.

Destro is working well, only a matter of time until he scores. Lamela has seen quite a bit of the ball and looked pretty lively, he just needs to step his game up a notch in order to lock down his spot in the starting 11.

I hate Roma... why.. i wish we had a normal, balanced coach..

FFS

disappointment.. why roma games always make me drink.. we did better under sensi.. ffs..

Stekelenburg

This Roma reminds me a bit LE's,we seem to fall a part in the 2nd half of games most noticeably against Bologna and here again tonight we just looked shagged out,.Which I find very strange considering we have Zeman as our coach.

It hurts that we conceded the way we did. Stek is quite unlucky; the cross was awkward, but he should've held onto it. He was punished for his only mistake all game.

We slowed down incredibly in the second half, our movements forward were much to slow our passing lacked creativity. Sampdoria closed us down, our midfield had trouble controlling the game and Eder caused us some problems at the back.

Well done to Castan and Florenzi, our two best players on the pitch. Totti grabbed his goal well and played ok. Lamela looked better than usual but disappeared once Sampdoria equalized, like most of the team. Balzaretti covered a lot of ground and generally had a good game. Tachtsidis didn't do as well in the second half, while Destro wasn't given good service.

All in all, playing against a side with 10 men, we should have done better. We simply only played one half of football so the one point is all we could ask for tonight.

Osvaldo has proved his worth by sitting out these last two games. He really is our most dangerous goal threat. While Totti was brilliant against Inter, osvaldo was just as crucial with his goal and assist and it's clear the team is missing him. I would have to believe he would have scored at least one in both previous matches, if not more.

Destro has not quite found his touch, and he would probably better used as a sub for now until he can find his form. However not much we can do if Ossie is injured.

Osvaldo was declared fit today. I'd definitely expect him to replace Destro in the starting xi against Juve.

mentally we are very, very weak.

We should have probably held out for all the 3 points but Stek proves once again why Krul is the new Dutch no 1.

I honestly think this result hurts more than the Bologna one. It also proves that this team will not be ready to consistently carry out Zeman's style of play for quite a while. We're going to see more and more of these types of displays, especially against the smaller provincial sides. I expect us to up our game for the Juve clash though, similar to what we did against Inter.

As for this match, everyone played their part in not getting that W. Stek with his poor handling in the box will no doubt be the main culprit and scapegoat, which is rather unfair. Zeman's a brave man to keep him starting and while I do agree that it's still far too early to consider dropping him, Mauro Goicoechea must've sat up and took note of what was going on.

Our backline did rather well honestly. Far more solid with Taddei at RB than with Piris, but Eder caused us no end of trouble all game. Easily Samp's best player and IMO the MOTM. Castan has proven to be our best signing so far. Has not looked fazed at all in any of these games. It was Burdisso who looked more flustered. Balzaretti's combinations down the left with Totti were simply pure sex in the first half, but he tired noticeably in the 2nd has his approach play showed. Still a fine showing from him though.

Midfield is where I think we were weakest and thus lost control of the match. Tachtsidis especially looked suspect in the pass, primarily in the 2nd half. Florenzi's energy cannot be understated, but he also was guilty of giving away the ball a little too much. Marquinho was simply poor and it was his errant decision to try and dribble the ball out of the back with half the Samp players still in our half that got Stek into a bad spot, thus resulting in the goal. Beyond that, he simply didn't have the required influence needed of him. De Rossi's introduction, while great for his fitness, did not do much for the team. Slow to pass on the ball and far too timid in the shot, he showed his trade mark bite in the tackle at least. He'll need to pick it up for the weekend.

Up front, Totti sparkled simply put. His touches were fantastic, his passing range on full display was sumptuous and his poaching ability is still there as evidenced by his 216th goal, taking him 3rd all time. Like everyone else though, he tired in the 2nd half, exhausting from the mad pressing game in the 1st. Destro did everything he was supposed to do tonight, but score a goal. He had ample chances and simply spurned them all. A great young player who will only get better with time, but we needed Osvaldo's combative ability to bully defenders in this match. Lamela, easily the odd man out of the front 3. He shows glimpses and hints of his undoubted potential, but was never really able to make things happen from the right flank and it was no surprised when he faded in the 2nd half.

Overall, we're a 45 minute team right now and if games were played to only that time, we'd be top of the table probably.

I said before that we needed 2 halves of our football to get a result today. This is what happens and what will keep happening when we only get 1 half of that football. Zemanlandia has produced some fantastic play and even better goals, but it's not all Shangri-La, as we're now finding out. Games like this are inevitably the downside to Zeman's style and it's a pity because with better emphasis on defense, we'd be really formidable.

Sampdoria is really good when they park the bus, won against Milan and Pescara away (also Barcelona but it was a friendly) but struggled against Siena and Torino at home, they have a good keeper and defense, strong midfield and wings that always cover the fullback, I expected a good result from Samp but not in this way, we were really lucky even though Icardi had a good chance. I think that for the way Zeman plays and the players you have at the back you're always going to concede some, you just have to score more goals, which is not really unthinkable seeing how many chance you got in the games you played until now and I think Osvaldo can help to score 2,3 or even more goals , than the opposition would be destroyed mentally and wouldn't even try to react. I wouldn't be as desperated as you if I were a Roma fan (I'm not speaking just about this section, but Roma fans in general)