Roma vs Cagliari

Really looking forward to see what kind of reaction the players give after all that's been said this week. If the players are really on Zeman's side, then they must give an outstanding performance against Cagliari.

I would be in favor of a shake-up in the starting XI. Starting in goal, after Goicoechea's poor performance against Bologna (he wasn't completely at fault, but should have done better nonetheless), I would give Stekelenburg his shot to put his money where his mouth is. As for the back four, Piris over Torosidis given his three assists in two games. That being said, I wouldn't be upset to see our new acquisition get the start, since Piris has been playing way too much for a player with his age and experience. Castan and Marquinhos are locks in the middle, while Dodo' should take up the left flank and provide a lot more drive than Balzaretti has lately.

In midfield, I would go for a near complete revolution. If there's one player who has the right mix of talent and determination, it's De Rossi. Now is his last chance to step up and show Zeman that he's willing to fight for the team. Bradley has done well lately, but with De Rossi back in the lineup, I have trouble seeing them together. Florenzi has also been playing well, but seems a little tired lately. My pick is Marquinho and Perrotta, the two midfielders most suited to Zeman's tactics. Now, I know this won't happen, but that's just my opinion. Realistically, Marquinho might have a chance to start given that he provided a lot more pace and more splitting runs once he came on against Bologna.

Up front, Totti is our only certainty. Osvaldo has to play in the middle, though he can't be as wasteful now. That leaves one spot for Lamela and Pjanic. Given my previous selections, Pjanic is the one that would best complete the formation. He would allow for our midfielders to push further up while still remaining somewhat covered against potential counters (or at least more covered than if Lamela was in there).

One thing is certain, whoever doesn't give 100% from now on should be benched. I don't care if your name is Stekelenburg, De Rossi, Piris or Lamela, it's time to play for the shirt.

Stek
Piris-Castan-Marquinhos-Dodo
Florenzi-DDR-Marquinho
Lamela-Totti-Pjanic

should be interesting

If DDR fit to play?

Why wouldn't DDR and Bradley fit together? DDR best game of the season was against Milan, and Bradley was slotted right in there with him. Just forced Bradley to be more of a destroyer and clean up man than a creator.

Motogp69 wrote:Why wouldn't DDR and Bradley fit together? DDR best game of the season was against Milan, and Bradley was slotted right in there with him. Just forced Bradley to be more of a destroyer and clean up man than a creator.

Exactly my point, they don't complement each other well enough in Zeman's view. Stats show that we tend to play deeper when De Rossi is on the field as opposed to Tachtsidis. This isn't a bad thing, since playing higher up the field doesn't necessarily mean playing better. But in that case, we need midfielders capable of providing a little more drive forward. Marquinho and Perrotta's direct running would do just that. I'm not saying Bradley can't slot in, but it isn't the best fit in my opinion. Then, all that would be missing is a little more creativity and support for our midfield, which is why I would choose Pjanic over Lamela (in this given case).

Well, my formation goes to shit. I overlooked Pjanic's suspension. De Rossi has been declared fit to play, as well as Perrotta. But, judging by the latter's training routine recently, I think he's still dealing with a knock.

Therefore, Lamela will start up front with Osvaldo and Totti, creating a slightly bigger gap between our midfield and front 3. In that case, I would choose one between Florenzi and Bradley to go into that midfield for Perrotta. Now, In THIS case, I would probably favor Bradley who won't be impeded by Pjanic's habit to move more centrally and who could allow Marquinho to push even further up.

No DDR again. A midfield on Bradley, tach and florenzi. Thats just not european material.

played the game on fifa 13 -com Vs Com , ended up 5-4 cagliari
change the Roma formation to 3-4-3 ended up 4-1 Roma

i know it sound overly optimistic but i expect a win , a good game with goals

the 4-3-1-2 works the best in fifa manager and football manager in romas case, but this is off topic.

so kickoff soon. weirdly its friday. football on fridays.. what are we.. germans now?

Roma 2013 is so depressing

By far the worst performance ive seen from this team this season, and I've only missed 2 games. It looked like 11 individuals out there, there was no team. Zemans attacking approach has fooled this players into thinking whoever has the ball should just run as fast as they can in the opposite direction.

Gioc is just an awful goalkeeper, not even worthy of the Roma jersey. Same can be said for Tachsidis, or whatever his name is. I havent really seen anything from him in any match that shows promise. He cant be our only deep playing mid. He cant pass, cant tackle, looks shaky on the ball. He Literally miss places several 5 foot passes today. Totally unacceptable that hes basically first choice in the regista role.

At the time of the season when the team should start coming together, they are actually looking considerably worse. I wouldnt say no to relieving Zeman from his duties at this point. Put Alberto De Rossi in charge for the remainder of the season, and if he does well keep him there.

Horrible Horrible performance.

well there are problems , one of them is the zeman Roma is predictable and lacks players .
the way that i see it is we don't have a proper registra and we try to add spice to the attack by bringing the full backs . In this particular game both of them together could not manage to do 1 useful cross and then it doesn't take a genius to figure out the weak point , yeah you probably guessed it right , make a lobbed pass to catch the full backs out of position and you successfully are two to two by 2 CB , that will give any team 80% chance to score , this happens in every game other than two games against fiorentina and Inter because fiorentina doesn't really have a pacy striker and tried shooting from distance and the same can be said about inter as far as attacking style , the only pacy guy they have is palacio that he scores pretty much in every match against Roma .

why didnt he play toro? at least for 10 mins
dodo is good offensively but forgets to track back or doesnt bother at all,
lamela is such a goat though