Derby della Capitale: Match Discussion

The single most important game of our season to date couldn't have come at a more ominous time with both sides in such disturbingly even form. There is literally nothing to separate us from them in any aspect so far this season and I will expand on this near the end of this preview as it's really quite fascinating. It should suffice to say that this game has the potential to be one of the best derbies in recent memory and I think that will no doubt be down to Zeman's involvement as well as the form of players like Lamela and Hernanes and even the poor form of both sets of defenses.

Squad News/Probable XI

Stekelenburg failed to recover for this game so he will join Lobont on the injury list, meaning that Goicoechea will receive his 2nd start of the season as well as his debut in the derby. Svedkauskas is the backup on the bench.

Castan should return to partner Marquinhos in the center of defense, dropping Burdisso back to the bench. Balzaretti will continue on the left flank with Piris on the right. Dodo, Taddei, Romagnoli will join Burdisso as backups on the bench.

Midfield will be completely up for grabs again with everyone fit for this one. De Rossi is a certainty and what is more is that Zeman actually tried him out in the central role during training this week. Will be interesting to see if he will start in that position. Alongside him, I can only see one of Bradley/Tachtsidis starting and while I personally prefer Bradley, Zeman seems to prefer Tachtsidis so I wouldn't be surprised to see him get in the team after serving his ban. I can honestly see Florenzi dropping to the bench in this game for Pjanic, who could form a battle of wits with Hernanes in midfield. Just as likely that the young Roman could continue on though. Perrotta and Marquinho remain the reserve midfielders.

Up top, Destro suspension and inability to score consistently has made up Zeman's mind for him in terms of this game. Lamela, Osvaldo, and Totti, who are now being recognized as one of the best attacking trios in Europe, are absolute certainties to start this game, which leave Nico Lopez on the bench as our only attacking option there. Would've been a good time to call up a striker from the Primavera possibly.

With Zeman's unpredicatability in squad selections, especially in midfield, the squad I'm putting out is a complete guess at this point:



The Opposition: S.S Lazio



Lazio have coped overall well with their load this season so far. Like a typical Roman side, their form has been very inconsistent and unpredictable as they've gone from smashing Palermo to getting smashed by Napoli to squandering leads in a loss to Milan to getting smashed surprising by Catania before recovering to hammer Panathanaikos yesterday. Any of this sound familiar to anyone?

Probable line up - Lazio (4-5-1): Marchetti; Konko, Biava, Dias, Lulic; Candreva, Hernanes, Ledesma, Gonzalez, Mauri; Klose

The Coach: Vladimir Petkovic



One of only 2 foreign coaches in Serie A this season, the other being our very own Zeman, Petkovic has burst onto the scene this season as he has led Lazio to some excellent results and some equally embarrassing ones ("Sound familiar too?"). Having managed primarily in his native Bosnia as well as Serbia and Switzerland, Lazio is the first major job for 49-year old and while many questioned his appointment following the departure of Edy Reja this summer, he's done quite well for himself all things considered. I may hate the club, but this coach is growing on me. Looking forward to see how he continues to acquit himself in Italy.

The Captain: Stefano Mauri



With club captain Tommaso Rocchi continously out with injury issues, the club's vice-captain has stepped up to lead the side in his absence. Mauri went through a good patch of form during the last 2 seasons which culminated in call ups to the National team, where he delivered some painfully average performances and has since, disappeared off Prandelli's radar. I'm sure Italy fans are well pleased to see that. Capable of moments of brilliance and madness as befits a player for a Roman club, look for him to put himself about and work himself into dangerous positions.

The Danger Man: Hernanes



A two-footed, visionary central midfielder known by most for his brilliant attacking ability, Hernanes has well and truly come into his own in Serie A as he has caused every side he's played no end of problems this season, regardless of the result of the game. Not afraid to mix it up in midfield in order to win the ball and start play from deep, he's got basically an unlimited capacity for ways to hurt even the best teams. He will be forever tainted due to his affiliation with Lazio, but I'm not gonna deny that this lad is a high quality player. Very unfortunate he has fallen out with Mano Manezes as he's undoubtedly Kaka's heir in the Brazilian squad.

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned earlier, these 2 sides couldn't come into this game anymore even than they already are. 2 points separate us as they lie 5th and we are in 6th. We've scored more goals than them this season, but they have conceded less. And of course, there's the super patchy form that both clubs have suffered this season as they've looked just as brilliant and equally shambolic as us this season. So as I said and as is the norm with these derbies, form can't be relied upon and neither can history.

More than anything, this game is going to be about the individual stories that will pop up. We're going to be starting possibly 7 players who have never played in this fixture before in their careers, including a goalkeeper who is only playing his 3rd game in Serie A. More to that point, we will be missing me a keeper that for some reason or another just seems so unlucky in this fixture. That may prove to be a blessing for us as I would love to see this side take Lazio on with 11 men for once. Then there is Zeman, who has the unique and incredibly rare experience of coaching on both benches in this fixture and has retained the love of both sets of fans, which is even more bizarre. We will also follow a legendary captain who has only scored 1 goal in last 14 derbies, something that surely will be in his head at some point during the game. There's also the rising Argentine talent who could put himself in the Roma history books today if he scores in his 6th consecutive Seria A start.

So with all of this in mind, I really can't make a prediction for this game. Literally anything can happen here.

Great work mate

I can easily see this as a high scoring derby. However the defence looked much better in the last game for Roma. But then this is Lazio who possess some quality players and can score if there is a lapse in defence from roma.

Hopefully Roma can win this, it will be great for the fans, the manager and of course the team.

Lamela to keep his fine goal scoring form and Totti to maintain his title of "King of Rome"

I just want to see this side continue to play to its remarkable potential, like they did last weekend. Now I want to win this derby as much as any Roma fan, but as an American sports fan, I don't feel the hatred as much as an Italian fan would so for me, the football is what matters here more than the result.

You say that now, When the Derby starts. It will be.. THIS IS ROMAAA Attitude

I think we'll probably see Burdisso, Bradley and De Rossi ahead of Castan, Tachtsidis and Pjanic judging by the last few training sessions. Burdisso's experience at the back is the main factor in him being selected ahead of Castan. In midfield, Pjanic is most certainly starting on the bench, though I expect to see him come on at some point. That leaves De Rossi, Bradley and Tachtisidis. I most certainly see De Rossi getting back into the starting lineup for this one and it will be his most important Roma match in a long time, it's time for him to step it up a notch and show what he's really capable of. And it's a 50-50 between Bradley and Tachtsidis for me, it really could go either way. They both played well against Palermo, though Bradley was more of a stand out performer. Either way, the one thing I want is for those 11 players to play with their hearts on their sleeves which is the most important thing in any derby. This one match could really make or break our season given the timing of it; a win could give us that extra boost we need, while a loss could be the tipping point for most of the fan base and the team under Zeman. All I can say now is sempre sempre sempre forza Roma!!!

ohhh i just cant wait


game of the week tbh

My money would be on Lazio on this one. But it's looking evenly matched on paper.

RealGunner wrote:You say that now, When the Derby starts. It will be.. THIS IS ROMAAA Attitude

This is true. Like, Chelsea v Liverpool today, I think they'll wipe the floor with us, but starting to feel that sensation of a big LFC game approaching and blind hope taking over me. Bring it on, you f*****s!!

This is going to be epic! Forza Roma!

Goal of this game - no goals conceded because of stupidity or individual errors.

Meh, mistakes are going to be made. This is a given. As long as we're not the only side making them, we're in with a chance to correct those mistakes.

Call me a realist or a pragmatist, but Stek missing this one may well be for the best. Let's hope Goicoechea doesn't have the same misfortune.

Here we go then - Goicoechea; Piris, Marquinhos, Burdisso, Balzaretti; Bradley, De Rossi, Florenzi; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti.

SHIT DEFENDERS !! Totally hopeless.. Whoever sanctioned Piris's transfer probably should resign.

I hate my life sometimes

All I'm gonna say about this match is this: The day we beat Lazio is the day we finish the match with 11 men on the pitch.

Other than that, it was pretty typical stuff that we've seen so far this season.

Yup. Daniele got 3 games for that. Not going to judge his actions since, being in a derby, tensions are high and rash decisions can be made. Not going to excuse his actions either, since they came at the wrong time, nor should he have done that in the first place. I'm going to have to agree with what Carlo Zampa said after the game, saying that De Rossi should also apologize to the fans for what he did, not only to Mauri.

Aside from that, individual errors all round which cost us. You're never going to win a derby with those types of goalkeeping howlers and giving the ball away so easily (Piris).

PS- Tachtsidis and Burdisso also picking up suspensions due to cumulative yellows.

Very good game from Lazio.

Its all because of Zeman...

why do i have a feeling that zeman will work on implying his system on the club and the leave and his successor will improve the bits left ?

This game was painful and DDR's red card was brutal. What was he thinking? The derby definitely got to him.

This shows more then ever, that our best players available may not always be the right ones for the derby...

I was hoping we would see Nico Lopez, but the card effectively vetoed any chance of that happening.

I hope he gets some time against Torino, but I'm not holding my breath. I can't see when he will get his next look to be honest, with Destro coming back now.

One thing you can't say about this years edition of the team...is that they are not boring.

Win or lose so far, I have enjoyed every single game, sans the Juve Fiasco.

Obviously this won't be tolerated long though, the fan base is already getting on Zemans case.

He won't cave to their pressure, so I have full confidence that things are on the up and up.

la bestia negra wrote:why do i have a feeling that zeman will work on implying his system on the club and the leave and his successor will improve the bits left ?

That's what happened the last time. Zeman spent two years implementing his system, developing some important players like Totti, Delvecchio, Candela and Tommasi. After which, Capello came in to complete the team and win the scudetto.

Question remains though: Who will be the Capello-esque figure this time around?

Pep ?

RealGunner wrote:Pep ?

After the LE disaster I highly doubt it.My wish would be Spalletti

I hate that this happens on a Monday ffs, but I'll still get to watch it

So Osvaldo and Piris are suspended and Balza's got the flu so those appear to be our only doubts for this match.

Lazio are missing both Klose and Floccari still so this game is there for the taking.

I really don't want to see Lamela playing as a wing-back again though.

Thoughts, lads?

Wow, if Nazio only had Klose in the EL...

Good game on a Monday, now thats a treat

It would be stupid if Perrotta and Florenzi both start again and if Tach starts.. clearly we need more creativity and skill. we didnt have any ideas against Palermo..

Also, Marcuinhos must return.

Stek
Castan - Marquinhos - Burdisso
Torisidis - DDR - Pjanic - Marquinho
Lamela - Florenzi
Totti