Easily our toughest fixture this entire season. Juve have dominated us in this fixture for almost a decade, with only 1 win to our name in the last 14 attempts. This does not bode well at all considering Juve's air tight defense and energetic midfield when met with our profligacy in front of goal and lack of cohesion at the back as well as Stekelenburg's form. To be absolutely honest, I see us losing this match, but if we can do it while playing 2 halves of great football, I'll take that moral victory.

The Squad

Stekelenburg will remain in goal, having received Zeman's vote of confidence following his howler against Sampdoria. Taddei had a decent game against the Bluchiarati, but Zeman may still opt for Ivan Piris at RB consider the energy he brings. Either play is likely to face a stern test from Kwadwo Asamoah down the right flank though. Castan, now considered our top defender will partner Burdisso again in the middle with Balzaretti on the left to once again combine with Totti further up. This may not be as frequent as we've seen so far considering the presence of Stephan Lichtsteiner, who loves to bomb forward himself.

Miralem Pjanic is confirmed out so we'll likely see De Rossi making his first start since the Inter game along with probably Marquinho and Florenzi, though I would prefer Tachtsidis over Marquinho. Michael Bradley was expected to be fit for this game, but has been left in Rome to continue undergoing physiotherapy along with Pjanic.

Pablo Osvaldo is expected to reclaim his starting spot up top with Totti and Lamela flanking him. Mattia Destro may drop to the bench, but I can see Zeman possibly preferring Destro on the right flank over Lamela, who has found it tough to settle into his game. New father Nico Lopez could also see time.




The Opposition

The Coaches: Antonio Conte & Massimo Carrera



Banned for 10 months as part of the scomesscopoli scandal, this does not seem to have fazed Antonio Conte's influence on a Juventus squad still unbeaten since their loss to Parma back in 2011. Force to sit in the stands for both league matches and Champions League matches, Conte has delegated his orders to his assistant Massimo Carrera, who has carried them out aptly. Former defender Carrera, who is also the Youth Sector's Technical Director, has proved an astute and energetic character on the sidelines, something to be expected from an assistant of Conte.

The Captain: Gianluigi Buffon



The legendary Buffon begins his first season as full-time captain for the Bianconeri after the departure of fellow legend Alex Del Piero. The long time vice-captain is equally a commanding and soothing presence to not just his defense, but his entire side, the mark of a truly world-class goalkeeper. He has shown typically infallible ability thus far this season so it will take something special to get the ball past him tomorrow.

The Dangermen : Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal, and Mirko Vucinic



As is the norm with facing former clubs, this match will be a special one for former #9 Vucinic,who has been in scintillating form this season. Look for him to cause a constant threat from either flank as well as down the middle behind the prima punta.

Andrea Pirlo looked stifled against Fiorentina and when something like that gets said, that's definitely a testament to the amount of work Montella had his troops doing in the middle of the park. We will have to put in the same type of work if not more if we're to keep Pirlo from finding his rhythm and his teammates.

One of those teammates that has caused just about everyone headaches since his arrival from Leverkusen is Arturo Vidal. The reportedly 50m-rated Chilean is pure gladiator and a complete midfielder of the same class as De Rossi. As evidence with his goal against Chelsea while carrying an injury, Vidal isn't one to let injuries stop him from influencing matches. Keeping Pirlo quiet is one matter, keeping Vidal quiet is quite another and I honestly don't think it's one that's possible.

Projected Juve XI: Buffon; Chiellini, Barzagli, Bonucci, Asamoah; Lichtsteiner, Pirlo, Vidal, Marchisio, Asamoah; Vucinic, Quagliarella

Match Objective/ Key Performers

- We must play our game, all game. That's the theme that we seem to come back to so far this season. The only time we've done that so far, we won resoundingly so we know that this is possible. Are the players up to that physically against one of the fittest sides in Europe? We'll know the answer to that tomorrow.

- Who needs a good performance tomorrow? I can think of 2 players specifically who are going to get extra scrutiny from me: Pablo Osvaldo & Daniele De Rossi. With Mattia Destro failing to take advantage of 2 starts from his preferred central striking position, he's either confined to the flanks or the bench as Osvaldo is a striker who's ability to dish out whatever he takes from defenders will be key considering he'll be up against Giorgio Chiellini, a complete and utterly dominant defender.

De Rossi returns to midfield where his job will be to snuff out the man he protected against the best midfields in the world. De Rossi's ability to read play and snuff out danger before it happens will be absolutely key when up against the master himself in Pirlo. It's indeed the battle of the beards.

v.

Prediction

As I said at the top of this preview, I don't see us winning here. We'll fight well in the first half, as we always do, but unlike against Inter, whom Juve are far better than, we will not be allowed to fade from the game and still get lucky with last ditch defending and poor finishing from our opponents. If we play that 2nd half like we did against Catania, Bologna and Sampdoria, it will be a very one-sided affair. However, if we show spirit and balance in our work load, I feel we can go the distance and though we may fall short in the end, we'll give a good account of ourselves.

3-1 Juventus

Amazing Preview mate.

De Rossi Will be the key in midfield and fully expecting Florenzi to play without any fear. Huge test for him against the amazing midfield trio of Juve.

It was a poor result against Sampdoria tbf, but Zeman probably gave all of them an earful. And knowing his dislike for juve lol, he probably will expect a performance of a lifetime from each of the players

Juve are probably favourites for the tie but i predict a 2-1 win for roma!

Florenzi is a superb young player.

Go Roma! De Rossi vs MVP is going to be fun to watch!

Excellent preview Neal.

But you should have named the thread title as Juve vs Zeman.


I'd like to see this lineup.


.............................Stek........................
Taddei.....Burdisso....Castan......Balzaretti
Florenzi............Tachtsidis.............De Rossi
Lopez.................Osvaldo...............Totti

I have a feeling Totti is going to get on the scoresheet again.

LET'S WIN THIS. FORZA ROMA!!!

ROMA (4-3-3): Stekelenburg; Taddei, Burdisso, Castan, Balzaretti; Tachtsidis, Florenzi, De Rossi, Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti

Bench
Goicoechea, Svedkauskas, Marquinhos, Romagnoli, Piris, Marquinho, Perrotta, Lopez


Juve (3-5-2): Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Caceres, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, De Ceglie, Matri, Vucinic

The exact lineup I wanted us to field. Bradley and Pjanic unavalable btw which is unfortunate.

We have to close down Vucinic and limit Pirlo's time on the ball. Having De Rossi on that right side will mean he could close down opponents quick while having Tachtsidis cover. Osvaldo cannot afford to be wasteful, while Lamela has to do well and provide that flair going up against Caceres.

Just hoping we make a good account of ourselves, win or lose.

I'm not even nervous

I quit supporting Roma. THis is pathetic

Don't let the door hit ya on the way out, brah.

We suck right now and we're getting our asses beat, but I will NEVER stop supporting this club.

That said, this is just as bad as I thought it would be. I officially can't support Zeman's tactics. This all-attack mentality will get us nowhere. I've had my suspicions about it, but this confirms it.

Penalty from Osvaldo.

At least my prediction is holding up

FT then....this is what happens when a coach doesn't drill his team in defensive tactics.

I'll post my full thoughts later on tonight or tomorrow morning.

This one hurts. I hate losing to these guys more then anything.

We had a real small club mentality in the opening 30 minutes, it reminded me of us vs Bayern a few years back. We really did look scared of Juve and it showed with those three quick goals.

Question, does anyone listen to Stek when he is setting up his wall? Apparently not, I have NO clue what Burdisso was going for on that Pirlo goal, I knew we were in for a long night after that.

We were just hemmed in our own half and it looked a lot like Enriques side from last year. What was De Rossi doing on the right side? Tachsidis absolutely failed in his position, gave up lots of balls, made bad passes, and closed down no one all night.

That brings me to DDR, this is the worst game I've seen him play for a long time, looked disinterested at times, and was no where to be found in defense. Didn't link up well with anyone also.

If there was one bright spot all game it was Florenzi.

I absolutely hated how we seemed to just quit going 2-0 down, heck the same could be said after the first goal.

Lamela was wasteful, and Totti was given almost no time on the ball. We looked sluggish against Juve who didn't even field their best lineup.

Also, What was Taddei doing starting? I know Piris has had a few bad outings but man is it painful seeing him collect the ball and try to make something happen, he is the slowest player in Serie A.

Maybe the directors should look to our board and see what we have been saying for years. Invest in a RB!

Why was Balzaretti subbed?

Defeats like this are indeed very disappointing, but I can't say I didn't see it coming.

I know ownership claim to have a project for this club, but as we saw with Enrique last year its almost impossible to have a "project" in Roma.

I hope the club and fans don't give up on Zeman, and I also hope hes got more balls then Enrique and can take the heat with the praise.

It's a long road guys, but I think for the style of play the club want's to institute, we most certainly have the right man. (Even if I don't necessarily agree with the way the club wants to play)

Sabatini tears Roma apart
By Football Italia staff

Director Walter Sabatini lambasted the Roma players and Zdenek Zeman after their Turin mauling. “Perhaps we over-valued some players.”

The Giallorossi were crushed 4-1 by Juventus and already 3-0 down within the opening 19 minutes.

“The first half? I have to search my vocabulary. It was disastrous,” shrugged Sabatini on Sky Sport Italia.

“Luis Enrique and Zeman are strong Coaches who focus on the attack, that doesn’t mean they are inadequate.

“We perhaps have to consider other decisions that we made or that we might’ve over-valued some players for their abilities to perform in this type of match.

“We should’ve approached it with different mentality, physicality, desire and ferocity. I am giving a negative view on what I see, which after tonight is inevitable.

“The lads who came here are on paper and in theory very talented, but they have to prove it every day on the pitch and in training. They must have the right attitude all the time.

“It is evident the team is midway through the learning process and that means there is a lack of balance, as some ideas have been assimilated and others not. However, we need other qualities during a game like this, such as determination and pace.

“Many people said Roma would be challenging the top clubs for the title, which up until tonight was fairly plausible. The Coach tries to give the team a certain approach, but they lack temperament on the field at times.

“We are asking ourselves questions with honesty. I say that more or less all the decisions were made with the Coach, so if there were mistakes in buying players then it was collective.”

Sabatini was asked whether Roma’s hierarchy now felt sorry they had picked Zeman rather than Vincenzo Montella this summer.

“Montella? No, of course we don’t feel regret. Montella is doing great things at Fiorentina and we are pleased for him, but Zeman is our Coach and we will all work together to do better as time goes on.”

flameas wrote:I quit supporting Roma. THis is pathetic

So gtfo then.

I for one will support this team win or lose and the same will be said by any true Roma fan. If you're unable to say that and stick by it, then you're not a true fan and, quite frankly, unwanted around here. At least that's how I see it.

Marseille got thumped 4-0 this morning by Valenciennes....I watched a bit of that match and honestly, I couldn't tell whether I was watching Marseille or Roma. It was THAT bad of a defensive display from them. It was like they were channeling us.

As for yesterday's match, I agree mostly with Narbez. We came out looking like Padova or Varese. Honestly, I shouldn't even insult them as even they would've put up more of a fight than we did.

I'm not going to blame Zeman for our mentality though. This is a Roma problem, not a Zeman or Enrique or Ranieri problem. The Roma teams of the past 10 years following our scudetto win have developed this fragile, weak mentality when we concede (especially rapidly last night) that is often coupled with the burgeoning attack-minded tactics of a coach like Spaletti, Enrique and now Zeman. Like Zeman, we lost heavily to Juve under both of those men as well. Only Ranieri kept this fixture respectable, even recording a shock 2-1 win AWAY to them at one point.

Here were our 2 worst players

Panagiotis Tachtsidis personified our fear of Juventus. He lost the ball constantly, looked completely rattled in the pass and did no defensive work to help our backline. He was a stranger out there just trying to get through the match. I'm sure he was relieve when his number was finally up.

Rodrigo Taddei just doesn't have the legs anymore. If he had been able to at least read Caceres' runs down the flank and intervene when possible, I would understand, but he had no business bombing forward when he no longer has the battery to get back. I honestly thought he was the better choice over Piris, but after that display, I would've paid to see Piris come on and at least provide some energy, even if he would've left swathes of space for Caceres to exploit.

Conversely:

It says alot when your teammates all around you have given up, your opponents have stolen a march on you and have amassed an unassailable lead to put the game to bed after a half-hour, and yet Alessandro Florenzi refused to be fazed by this. The 20-year old showed the character, the drive, and the hunger that his 29-year old vice-captain should've showed. He was our single best outlet in midfield and the only one willing to truly mix it up with Juve's midfield, even if he was chasing shadows basically all game. When we improved in the 2nd half, nearly all of our best moves came through him. This kid is indeed a star in the making and this game, more than any of the previous 3 he's played, proves it.

So where do we go from here? Should their be an inquisition into what should happen going forward? I believe so. Will there be? Probably not.

Zeman is a stubborn man. He has insisted that last night was not the Roma he's been molding for the past 3 months. There will be more losses like this this season, of that I'm absolutely sure. They may not be as severe a beating as the one Juve doled out, but our backline, because of Zeman's criminal refusal to recognize it as a unit that needs organization, will continue to get exposed and ripped to shreds repeatedly. They're proverbial Prometheus chained to a rock to have his innards repeatedly ripped out by buzzards only for them to grow back and suffer the same thing over and over again.

Just like there will be games like this in which we'll get smashed. There will be games where we'll play like we did against Inter. That is what is to be Roma. Inconsistency has always been there in our game, regardless of who owns us or coaches us. This is the reason why we have not won silverware in over 5 years. I expect us to respond appropriately against Atalanta next weekend, but it'll be another roller-coaster season. If anyone had any delusions of anything different, I'm sorry to break it to you like this.

^Great post and thanks for all the previews so far this year McLewis.

I'm starting to really get on the Florenzi hype train. Like you said he was a great bright spot.

Watching the highlight package, that first free kick was given wrong. Marchisio flew through the air like a WWF wrestler coming off the turnbuckles.

Should have been a Yellow for him, not Taddei. Rizzoli who is regarded as "the best" ref in Serie A had a bad game. He is known to crumble under pressure, and in that stadium against that team, I have a feeling that may have happened.

Also Castans handball was borderline. It should have probably been a FK but not a penalty because it was outside the box.

I feel a bit for Stek though. He kept this game from being 7-1 a few times, he seems to be low on confidence, and it seems like his team is starting to lose confidence in front of him.

It has to be said also Burdisso had his worst game in a long time. What was he doing on the Matri goal and Pirlo FK.

Dont really want to look back on this match, we lack quality at the back and there is absolutely no hiding that fact.

I am sure things will improve.

The wait for the winter window begins.

narbeZ wrote:^Great post and thanks for all the previews so far this year McLewis.

I'm starting to really get on the Florenzi hype train. Like you said he was a great bright spot.

Watching the highlight package, that first free kick was given wrong. Marchisio flew through the air like a WWF wrestler coming off the turnbuckles.

Should have been a Yellow for him, not Taddei. Rizzoli who is regarded as "the best" ref in Serie A had a bad game. He is known to crumble under pressure, and in that stadium against that team, I have a feeling that may have happened.

Also Castans handball was borderline. It should have probably been a FK but not a penalty because it was outside the box.

I feel a bit for Stek though. He kept this game from being 7-1 a few times, he seems to be low on confidence, and it seems like his team is starting to lose confidence in front of him.

It has to be said also Burdisso had his worst game in a long time. What was he doing on the Matri goal and Pirlo FK.

Agree on your points about the calls against, Matt. Honestly they were really harsh, but I prefer not to dwell on them as I don't think it would've changed the outcome of the match.

As for Stek and our defense, I think their feeding off each other's low-confidence honestly. Stek doesn't trust his defense and they don't trust him, that's why they didn't listen to him when he was trying to set up the wall for Pirlo's FK. Perhaps it's still a language issue...I mean there were 2 Brazilians, an Argentine and an Italian back there, but even this is problematic since it's been a year and I'm sure Stek's Italian has picked up since he moved here. That really only leaves a lack of trust. I can't say I blame any of them back there for that. It's what happens when you don't get the proper attention from the coach.

Wish we had signed Montella, not that idiot Zeman, who havent won anything in his career. Roma fans are tired of experiments, a solid Italian coach is what we need.

flameas wrote:Wish we had signed Montella, not that idiot Zeman, who havent won anything in his career. Roma fans are tired of experiments, a solid Italian coach is what we need.

You made the same comment on goal.com :p