Udinese vs. Roma

A very tricky match this Saturday and for a number of reasons. Udinese is never an easy team to beat and they managed to grab full points against us last time around, though it was mainly due to a very dubious penalty decision. This time, we're going to be missing a number of players, starting with Castan and Marquinhos at the back, to Pjanic and Bradley in midfield. Andreazzoli is going to have a few tough decisions ahead of this one, this is what I expect (very few changes):


Here are Andreazzoli's main doubts going into the match:

Tachtsidis/Florenzi/Marquinho/Perrotta in the middle of midfield.
Marquinho/Balzaretti out on the left.
Whether to bench Lamela and/or Osvaldo. If so, whether to switch them with Lopez or move up one of the three midfielders mentioned above.

I definitely wouldn't be against benching Osvaldo for this one, he hasn't been living up to expectations at all since Aurelio has been in charge. Either we put in Lopez or move up Marquinho, therefore starting Balzaretti on the left (although he's not as flashy as Marquinho, he gives us a little more stability at the back than the Brazilian). If not, then we could put Marquinho back on the left, move Florenzi up front and start Tachtsidis. This might not be a bad solution since I'm not sure how Florenzi would perform alongside De Rossi against a side like Udinese who have the ability to over-run us in midfield.

One this is for sure, Andreazzoli is going to have to strike the right balance since Udinese has the fire power to hurt us. They have strong players out wide and have a good presence up front, especially through Di Natale.

Udinese is a one-man team. Take out Di Natale and they are done.

Play Perrotta next to Totti and Lamela upfront.

I would start Perrotta alongside De Rossi and one between Florenzi and Marquinho up front, depending on who starts between Marquinho and Balzaretti on the left.

Yeah agreed. If you're going to start Perrotta or play him at all in this system, he must be played in midfield. He's probably our only player who can read the movements of our forwards well enough to make the right runs, as we saw with his goal against Genoa.

As for this match, Udinese at the Friuli is never an easy match for us anyway. Aurelio has proven himself an astute tactician however so ultimately I think he'll make the right calls where our most pressing concerns lie.

id start with perotta alongside DDr and sub him for tachtsidis later on the game , start with marquinho in Left then Balzaretti

Andreazzoli split the team up like this today:

Yellow: Lobont; Piris, Castan, Dodò; Torosidis, Bradley, De Rossi, Balzaretti; Florenzi, Lopez; Totti.

Red: Goicoechea; Lucca, Burdisso, Romagnoli; Taddei, Perrotta, Tachtsidis, Marquinho; Lamela, Guberti; Osvaldo.

He likes to mix and match during training, so it's always difficult to decipher his starting 11. We should have a better idea tomorrow. But from this, it seems as if he's ready to give Lucca some attention, playing him over Piris in our 3 man back line.

In midfield, he seems to favor Balzaretti over Marquinho on the left. Finally, he used Lopez and Florenzi with Totti, fueling expectations that Osvaldo and Lamela will have to impress to keep their spots in the starting 11. According to reports, Florenzi impressed today in this position, along with Totti and Bradley who also did well.

Cant drop a talent like Lamela. I think Andreazolli knows that.

Well a drop may be what he needs to get him out of this gear he's stuck in. I'm not against it at this point. He's clearly talented, but he's not been a heavy influence on the game like other players have.

Lamela needs confidence and needs to work on his of the ball movements

I think the big thing here is that Udinese have been simply imperious at home. Juve were the last team to beat them at the Friuli and that was back in September. That's gotta one of the best home records in Europe if not in the league itself.

Beyond that, they have scored as much, but they've developed a talent for nicking games and doing the smash and grab after their defense locks the opponent up.

Very important that we take as many chances as possible. The Genoa was obviously surreal, but if we take away the euphoria and feel-good factor around that game, we see a team that still has some way to go. We give Udinese the chances we gave Genoa, it won't be a good day tomorrow.

Osvaldo , other than that and some individual mistake the team looked good , in second half it was lack of concentration that im glad we didn't end up conceding more , 4rth game undefeated , Forza Roma

lack of pjanic was too visible , there was no one to direct Florenzi's runs , Perotta is a Legend but he is not a good play maker , ATM all creativity comes from Totti , Osvaldo is selfish and ignorant and Lazy ,Lamela playing his own mini games and Florenzi runs are without direction . In Defende even worst Burdisso went in at goal like an armature player and vasilis made no attempt to block the ball .Im going back to my last opinion AA should use tacht in defense with castan and Marquinhos .

Ehh don't think Panas is quick enough to play in defense honestly, even though we're no longer using a high line. Would've preferred to see more Romagnoli today honestly. Burdisso was indeed having another rough game as was Castan, though his case is far more understandable. Overall, I think we defended rather well for the most part. Stek has to take some of the blame for Muriel's goal though along with Piris, who got turned so easily.

Yeah we were lacking creativity from midfield, but that was always going to be the case with Pjanic gone. Perrotta was primarily there not to try and make plays, but to cause problems with his movement, which he did reasonably well. Was good to see him out there today. Florenzi caused all sorts of problems for Udinese when he came on though. Just a straight up Energizer bunny with his running and his movement. He is well and truly going to be Perrotta's heir.

Osvaldo was simply profligate in front of goal yet again. He's obvious lost his mojo, but I'm not ready to dump him just yet. He's still quite a good player so we need to stick with him. There's still quite a bit of time before we'll see Destro up and about again. Maybe more Nico Lopez time would be the answer here.

Romagnoli is a decent player but we cant take the risk and destroy his confidence by playing game like this and as well in derby and he is slow as well , about dropping Osvaldo depends on the offers dont give him away cheap but in case of a good offer i dont see why not

We had similar fears about Florenzi as well, but I think Romagnoli is cut from the same cloth on evidence. I would also say he is probably quicker than Panas and he will likely read the play better as well considering that this is his natural position, whereas Panas would be just a makeshift CB. Panas is stronger, but I don't think that necessarily qualifies him as someone who can play CB.

the reason for that i keep bringing on that shift in position is i remember watching Greece in euro games if im not mistaking and they had two kinda players , defenders and forwards , there was no one in midfield that can save their life and as im looking toward greek players i don't see anyone who particularly mastered as a mid but they are good defenders , other than that our defenders have Small statures that makes us vulnerable and tacht is a tall defenders , in all honestly i can see him pulling of a matterazzi

also Osvaldo is going through a Divorce and that might be one reason for his bad performances , not completely professional but understandable

then he must say : im messed up right now, play somebody else.. not miss chances that will cost us europe