In praise(?) of the new Roma

*the above image does not take into account Cagliari's forfeited match
**big game = current top 4 (juve, napoli, milan, fio) + lazio; andreazoli still has to face milan and napoli, so his stats might look very different in 3 weeks.

Roma fired Zdenek to get results, and they got them. Zdenek left when he was in 8th position, they are now 5th. They conceded almost as many goals as they scored, today there is a healthy difference between amount scored and amount conceded.

But at what price? Roma are a Milan game away from being mathematically out of the CL place race. Milan's next game is against Pescara so baring a very unlikely upset this will likely be the case. They're not going to take the EL seriously, they don't have a deep squad and the management clearly prioritizes the league, so that will hurt Serie A. And what is worse, they've gone from the sexiest team in Europe to a team that bores for 90 minutes and wins off a corner kick in the 90th minute. If they were going to fire Zeman it really could have waited until the end of the season.

Arguments for the coach switch:

1. Higher placed finish is more respectable

2. Finishing above Lazio instead of behind them under Zeman

3. Winning more games = more $ from collective TV rights

4. Andreazzoli gets a trial run before the start of the next season

5. Stability for the club going into the transfer window and next season

6. Fans know what to expect for next season = increased membership sales

7. I don't believe that Zeman's style was sustainable for the long-term future of the club, no reason to keep him around any longer

8. Defence is hugely improved in a very short period of time

9. Being able to grind out results is a feature of the best teams

10. Andreazzoli has the dressing room onside