The 2015/2016 Calcio Saga II

The very fact that we only started playing well after Totti was brought on is indicative of how dependant we still are on him, even as he nears retirement. While it was refreshing to actually see a pass not go sideways or backwards, but actually split the defense, it also made me rather sad as this, along with the last year of football,  means we're still not ready for post-Totti Roma. The lack of preparation for this reality is honestly very damning. We've had years to prepare for this, but sentiment has got in the way of it, to the detriment of actual rational logic.

So yes, I am glad we won, but let's be honest. It's Frosinone and we struggled against them even before Totti came on. We play that way against Madrid and it's going to be hard to not get embarrassed in both legs.

We need the same defensive grit we showed against Juve along with an ability to split the defense with passing and movement. Not going to happen against a backline like Madrid's, but that's what needs to happen.

McLewis wrote:The very fact that we only started playing well after Totti was brought on is indicative of how dependant we still are on him, even as he nears retirement. While it was refreshing to actually see a pass not go sideways or backwards, but actually split the defense, it also made me rather sad as this, along with the last year of football,  means we're still not ready for post-Totti Roma. The lack of preparation for this reality is honestly very damning. We've had years to prepare for this, but sentiment has got in the way of it, to the detriment of actual rational logic.

So yes, I am glad we won, but let's be honest. It's Frosinone and we struggled against them even before Totti came on. We play that way against Madrid and it's going to be hard to not get embarrassed in both legs.

We need the same defensive grit we showed against Juve along with an ability to split the defense with passing and movement. Not going to happen against a backline like Madrid's, but that's what needs to happen.

TBH ML, thinking in those terms is regressive because Totti is a once in a generation player. They don't come about very often. Guardiolaitis has gripped most European clubs with the possession obssession. It's annoying to watch.

Almost for Higuain.

What a goal for Empoli. Now Napoli is in trouble.

Pipita.

El Pipita

ffs

2-1 Insigne

Insigne.

Great answer from Napoli going 0-1 down, sign of the people's champion.

It's not necessarily Guardiolaitis Jibers , at least not mainly the case with Roma in particular . It's what Spalletti said , players are afraid to take risks , suffering from the bad results lately which has them be too cautious . Or lack that madness which El Shaarawy showed like Spalletti said because he came from outside , the creativity if you like . It's a combination of bad results affecting them mentally and also trying to get rid of some of dat Garcia flaws off their system i guess. Besides , except Pjanic most other players only lob it or simply lack the vision to attempt such things most of the time . Totti is just a brilliant player who knows when to do what . Actually Totti agrees with Guardiolaitis if anything , it's just him can make it worth if anything .

Also , fully agree Mclewis . It's deeply worrying for Roma when Totti still makes the difference like no one else you have . One could noticeably tell the difference after he got in , he raised the spirits and Roma wanted to give that something more and was more on point about things . Eventually Totti and his through balls lead to another goal , with Pjanic finishing his chance with pure class . That one was really nice . Damn i love Totti , he is still a joy to watch even after all these years.

As for the next day .. I don't know what will happen tomorrow , but as far as i am concerned , you're not going to replace Totti any time soon . There's no player like Totti out there. Best thing you can do is pay big time for a really great player up front , regardless of characteristics being similar to Totti . Maybe you won't replace Totti , at least you can replace the impact a big player has on the pitch .

One thing is for sure , next day will suck without Totti . I am not a Roma fan and i don't like to think about it lol .

Harmonica wrote:Great answer from Napoli going 0-1 down, now i can push my Higuain > Maradona agenda even more

i suppose

S wrote:

Harmonica wrote:Great answer from Napoli going 0-1 down, now i can push my Higuain > Maradona agenda even more

i suppose

Harmonica the pattern solver.

How in the earth did Allan get a yellow and not the other player? Serie Lol.

@S

Why can't they stay for a long time? They won't necessarily leave.

Harmonica wrote:How in the earth did Allan get a yellow and not the other player? Serie Lol.

Without catching a replay that def looked like Allan should get a yellow. Commentators were calling for it as well

salmano9 wrote:@S

Why can't they stay for a long time? They won't necessarily leave.

Pogba in particular will be very hard to keep because other teams will be offering 2x more in wages.
I hope he can stay for one more year atleast and continue his development.

Higuain getting Neuered.

Who the hell is that old timer they keep showing?

Dante wrote:It's not necessarily Guardiolaitis Jibers , at least not mainly the case with Roma in particular . It's what Spalletti said , players are afraid to take risks , suffering from the bad results lately which has them be too cautious . Or lack that madness which El Shaarawy showed like Spalletti said because he came from outside , the creativity if you like . It's a combination of bad results affecting them mentally and also trying to get rid of some of dat Garcia flaws off their system i guess. Besides , except Pjanic most other players only lob it or simply lack the vision to attempt such things most of the time . Totti is just a brilliant player who knows when to do what . Actually Totti agrees with Guardiolaitis if anything , it's just him can make it worth if anything .

Also , fully agree Mclewis . It's deeply worrying for Roma when Totti still makes the difference like no one else you have . One could noticeably tell the difference after he got in , he raised the spirits and Roma wanted to give that something more and was more on point about things . Eventually Totti and his through balls lead to another goal , with Pjanic finishing his chance with pure class . That one was really nice . Damn i love Totti , he is still a joy to watch even after all these years.

As for the next day .. I don't know what will happen tomorrow , but as far as i am concerned , you're not going to replace Totti any time soon . There's no player like Totti out there. Best thing you can do is pay big time for a really great player up front , regardless of characteristics being similar to Totti . Maybe you won't replace Totti , at least you can replace the impact a big player has on the pitch .

One thing is for sure , next day will suck without Totti . I am not a Roma fan and i don't like to think about it lol .

I agree with what you said Dante but I am talking about in general terms. It's in fashion to have 60%+ possession and having a cm that has 200 passes with 98% pass completion rate. Pjanic should be able to pick those passes though, I think it will take Spaletti a while to fix Roma. Hopefully they don't get embarrassed by Madrid come Feb.

Juve 36/36. Unstoppable.

Higuains average going down.

Napoli is too good ffs. Can't wait till they play Juve

jibers wrote:

Dante wrote:It's not necessarily Guardiolaitis Jibers , at least not mainly the case with Roma in particular . It's what Spalletti said , players are afraid to take risks , suffering from the bad results lately which has them be too cautious . Or lack that madness which El Shaarawy showed like Spalletti said because he came from outside , the creativity if you like . It's a combination of bad results affecting them mentally and also trying to get rid of some of dat Garcia flaws off their system i guess. Besides , except Pjanic most other players only lob it or simply lack the vision to attempt such things most of the time . Totti is just a brilliant player who knows when to do what . Actually Totti agrees with Guardiolaitis if anything , it's just him can make it worth if anything .

Also , fully agree Mclewis . It's deeply worrying for Roma when Totti still makes the difference like no one else you have . One could noticeably tell the difference after he got in , he raised the spirits and Roma wanted to give that something more and was more on point about things . Eventually Totti and his through balls lead to another goal , with Pjanic finishing his chance with pure class . That one was really nice . Damn i love Totti , he is still a joy to watch even after all these years.

As for the next day .. I don't know what will happen tomorrow , but as far as i am concerned , you're not going to replace Totti any time soon . There's no player like Totti out there. Best thing you can do is pay big time for a really great player up front , regardless of characteristics being similar to Totti . Maybe you won't replace Totti , at least you can replace the impact a big player has on the pitch .

One thing is for sure , next day will suck without Totti . I am not a Roma fan and i don't like to think about it lol .

I agree with what you said Dante but I am talking about in general terms. It's in fashion to have 60%+ possession and having a cm that has 200 passes with 98% pass completion rate. Pjanic should be able to pick those passes though, I think it will take Spaletti a while to fix Roma. Hopefully they don't get embarrassed by Madrid come Feb.

It's like that yes , i am not denying it of course. After Guardiola there has been a certain obsession about possession everywhere. And i agree why players with certain similarities to Xavi are more appreciated these days .

I mean possession was important before Guardiola too , i remember teams valuing it's benefits traditionally , teams such as Liverpool , Milan , Barcelona themselves , Brazil , Roma under Spalletti , e.t.c and other teams pre Pep wanted to hold on to the ball more and build up play carefully , but nothing to this extend . Personally i approve , even though it's rather ridiculous when you don't have the means to do it . It's certainly not necessarily the right way to do it either .

As for Pjanic yes of course he can pick these up and he has done so in spectacular fashion many times before. When his teammates allowed for his traits to come to fruition that is . No matter how great your passing quality and range , if there's no players making movements and capitalizing as they come , it doesn't matter that much does it . All this passing and scheme is nonsense without off the ball play tbh , it's there Roma and others suffering from Guardiolaitis have to work on and can't replicate/match . Truth is people only look so close , take a step further back and see the entire picture , it becomes really obvious what actually makes the difference . It's the positioning and the movements .

Not Pjanic , you can have Xavi in his best day ever , when there's not the right off the ball movement , said player will have to resort to sideways and back passing . Xavi did anyway even on top of their game . Truth is you don't really need that many of them at the end of the day , you just need a few good ones at the correct moments . And the correct moments will never happen unless there's work off the ball , hence why most teams only suffer from Guardiolaitis and barely rip the actual benefits .

Pjanic passing and through balls in general are insane at times , he's simply a fantastic player . Won't be long till they get themselves together i believe , Pjanic will be much more effective then.

Also Napoli

A prime example of a team valuing possession and doing it correctly off the ball too.

Well this morning Juventus score 4 goals to proclaim 1st place.

How does Napoli responds? By scoring 5.

Serie A

Igli Tare  Lazio sport director fell asleep during Udinese - Lazio


Serie ZzZzZzZ

Official lineups:

Milan: Donnarumma; Abate, Alex, Romagnoli, Antonelli; Honda, Montolivo, Kucka, Bonaventura; Niang, Bacca

Inter: Handanovic; Santon, Miranda, Murillo, Juan Jesus; Brozovic, Medel; Perisic, Eder, Ljajic; Jovetic