Roma v ManU: Liveblog

it is not hypocritical when we criticize our players for it as well like we have done in the past

Im an aston villa fan so im not siding with any team here, but its hypocritical to say that Ronaldo dives a lot when the Italians are the best at it! I cant watch Spanish/Italian football sometimes as its like watching superman auditions.

Ok, game is now history, comments seem far too long to read, but if you want two cents from a neutral reader ( really) comments like these

"Ronaldo off the post. He is the only player in the world I would say I would be very happy to see get a career ending injury. A disgrace to athlete’s everywhere."

are shocking and you got no sympathy from me if it riles Man Utd fans. Maybe it is different in american sports, maybe it is different in pubs and stadium audiences, but your site seems pretty ambitious. If it was a personal blog sure your right to say what you want and I would be unlikely to stumble upon it, but this site seems to be trying to cover a LOT of football, the comments and new posts all get added to the little window on the right. If you got advertisers maybe you should think of some editorial guidelines about things which rile or shock even neutrals. You are wishing a career ending injury on somebody? It´s not going to gain you much of a support from neutrals. Just my two cents.

And for the sake of football wish your own players to be better and greater, instead of wishing injury on others. Normally I would have had some sympathy for Roma for the 7-1 and underdog status, your comments pretty much reset that to zero.

"You think they’d learn some humility after being embarrassed by Milan last year. Before the Roma - United games I would pray to God that United lose so their fans can learn what modesty is.."

Hehe, so, the only excuse yet that you shower of so called football fans haven't yet offered up is that Fergie somehow managed to hypnotise the Roma players using his well regarded powers of Paul McKenna-esque mind-bendery to make your team play shite!

Humility anyone? Modesty?

Pfft....It works both ways girls

Also, to think that Lyon offered 22m for Mancini last summer. I think Rosella did us a favor when she turned Aulas down.

Hopefully you'll be able to hoodwink a club into buying him and then get a young Italian stud to replace him.

Cheers Bashar.

Chris: What happened to the real Spalletti? :( I had high hopes for him. He's one of the few talented managers out there who isn't an ass. Is he losing control of the players or what? Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed, pronto.

I'm disappointed with the result . Roma need to win 3-0 at Old Trafford.

Doni and Mancini are sucked, let's focus on next week, and see what happen on Old Trafford. Today, we have lost, but we can looking for a future.

... and damn proud of it!!!

Say what you want.. I wont take offense.. I love my country.. But over here I'm Roman!!

That's fair.. it might be a coincidence with the name.. I'm ashamed now.. How does Francesco Beiruti sound? Max? Philippe? Alberto!!! hahaha..

Yeah Bashar -- no offense to you meant. I just wanted to get under his skin a bit. Roma's our big international family regardless of where you're from. Love of our team unites no matter where we're from.

Yeah, but unfortunately Philip is the extreme minority.

It appears to be a legit, nonspammer email address (real) Bashar, but I can't announce it, which I'm sure you can understand.

well that other bashar is kinda funny, jaja semi-professional jajaaj yeah MIlan is the current Cl holder and it is an amateur league...

I love our national team as much as Italy.. couldn't care for the Jordanian league though.. We did really well a few years back and went up to 35 in the rankings..

Please don't judge Jordanians by this guy.. He's just one of those people who don't watch anything outside the premiership and thinks he is bigger than God himself..

You think they'd learn some humility after being embarrassed by Milan last year. Before the Roma - United games I would pray to God that United lose so their fans can learn what modesty is..

Then again.. If their parents didn't teach them how to win and lose with dignity, I don't think the good United fans should suffer at their expense. That Philip guy was a class act. I was very shocked to hear comments like the ones he made.

Mancini give a shit factor today = ZERO...

So dissapointing...

"Roma and the Italian League in general have just been shown for what they really are, untalented, overpaid semi-professionals."

Does that mean that the World Cup players are all untalented, overpaid, semi-professionals?

"And as for the guy who was trying to claim that he hates the epl Arsenal, Liverpool and United "

That's their opinion and everyone is entitled to it.

"(and i know i’m saying this premeturaly but lets be honest you retards aren’t going to overturn a 2-0 home defeat against the mighty united)"

Stay classy.. Why the hell are you calling everyone retards? You think you are better than everyone because your team won?

Your an insult to Arabs and Jordanians everywhere. Don't embarrass us any more. Get a life.

Bashar: yeah, i know it wasn't didn't mean to slag you. just that idiot.

Just for the record.. That Bashar was not me.. Someone is pretending to be me.. Probably someone who knows me I assume.. I'm originally from Jordan but my flag shows the US.

Chris, can you figure out who's email that is?

A guy from Jordan is bashing Italians on how they play football? Get some perspective dude. Do you guys even have a league? A national team? I thought you're too busy getting your arse's kicked by Israel to play sports.

Roma certainly have the talent to overturn 2-0. But do they have the maturity and appetite for a fight is the question. One of the things that I thought Roma lacked today was that one person who injected energy, fight and lifted others. Kaka and Seedorf did it for Milan's campaign last yr. I admired Vuci's efforts in such a big game, but no one was giving him quality attacking support. Why was no ManU player other than CR hassled off the ball more often than not? Scholes was given too much space in the box to cross for the header.

Please, please, please hearing you guys making excuses is really pathetic. You were beat by the better team, but if talking about sportsmanship and all the other crap you guys were going on about helps you sleep better at night then be my guest. Roma and the Italian League in general have just been shown for what they really are, untalented, overpaid semi-professionals. And as for the guy who was trying to claim that he hates the epl Arsenal, Liverpool and United (and i know i'm saying this premeturaly but lets be honest you retards aren't going to overturn a 2-0 home defeat against the mighty united) have all knocked out Italian opposition so i really dont think your argument holds any basis.

at least we can still go for a win in OT even a 2-1 or a 1-0 so we can go down fighting.

dont blame Doni we shud have put away all our chances. dat was the first save he had to make in the game i guess he was caught sleeping. the defenders shud have cleared the loose ball cause it took Rooney a while to score.
We can still do it in OT.2-0 ET, 3-0 or 3-1 we're through,its still possible.
FORZA ROMA

Maybe this is the disappointment talking, but I almost think it's silly to believe we'll overturn this result at Old Trafford. If we go there and try to pour forward, we could get opened up pretty ruthlessly at the back and have the millstone of another embarassing scoreline hung 'round our necks. I say we go and play our game as normal, maybe staying a bit tighther than usual at the back, not expending ourselves too much in the attack, saving ourselves for a run at a possible domestic double. Maybe that's admitting defeat. But then again, maybe it's taking a tactical approach with a squad limited in depth and trying to win what is realistic to win. Which, after all, is a Scudetto and Coppa Italia. No shame there.

Don't throw Doni out yet. He did make some terrific saves against Inter.

Spalletti oozes class:

The result suggests United are on another level, but the game was not like that. The only thing I did not like is that we lost confidence after their second goal, otherwise we played as we should have. At the start of both halves we played well and deserved to score. Christian Panucci had the best chances of the game but was unlucky, while their second goal was quite fortunate even if Rooney did well to score. Now the situation is very difficult but we have to go to Manchester and try to do our best. We have scored two goals at many grounds in Europe before. United have great individuals but they were quite lucky at key moments tonight. Many people say Italian sides play defensively and counterattack but this Manchester United team is the most Italian side I have seen in this sense. They leave you with control of the midfield but find space behind for their attackers to exploit. I don't know if Francesco Totti will be available at Old Trafford but we are confident he can make it.

We have a very good team. But Manchester United have a CL champion. I think that was the difference tonight. We outplayed them the entire first half and pinned their ears back for a chunk of the second and still they snipered two goals. We missed open looks. I think Totti could have made a difference, but that is neither here nor there. Aquilani was terrible. Mancini was invisible. Mexes was actually pretty solid for much of the match, barring the Doni-influence flub. Vucinic was a warrior and my admiration for him grows dailys. Doni was warbly than my jibbly parts. Taddei sucked. Giuly injected much-needed pace and we looked a much better side when he came on. Anyway. blah. Blah. It's disappointing. Still, I'm proud of the boys for getting us this far. For a family-owned club that doesn't have the big bank, we do a hell-of-good-job of competing with the big boys and still feeling like a "hometown" real club, not a corporate marketing strategy.

Doni is too shaky to depend on in big games. Roma need 2-3 more world-beaters on their side to become consistent and solid--definitely a world class goalkeeper. Doni will do to Roma, what Dida has recently done to Milan--let them down in big games. Btw, just had a question on the laws of the game--C.Ronaldo came in very hard on Casseti. Can a player run in like tht and clearly knock over the defender and it not be a foul? I have seen similar tackles on goalkeepers which are almost always calld a foul.

Well, yes. But I wish a team tht wins as often as ManU could afford to show class more often than they do. Ronaldo is probably the most classless player I have watched in my lifetime, and for some neutrals like me--his actics take away more joy than his undoubted skills bring to the field. SAF is also not a class act-- he is a complete hypocrite in how he claims to read the laws of the game. But is still 2nd to Jose Mourinho in the "classlessness" stakes.

I just saw the highlights.. Panucci's miss was dreadful.. Absolutely dreadful..

Not that it wasn't deserved, but Ronaldo came in way too hard on Cassetti.. If he hadn't gotten his head to the ball a fraction of a second before taking Cassetti out, it would have been a foul and a card.

Doni... Horrible!! OMG.. I didn't know it was that bad.. Bring on Amelia.. for the love of God..

That's a very good point.. I think that it's easier to be classy when you win but know that the other team deserved a lot more. I remember that there wasn't much class coming out of them after the 7-1 win with Ronaldo especially poor..

But the stuff they are saying is still classy.. easy to say it or not.

Correction" "Class of team is not defined by how they respond when they win, it is by what they say after a loss."

Class of team is not defined by how they respond when they, it is by what they say after a loss. For eg, Ac Milan I thought were class when Arsenal outplayed them. The same ManU (and SAF) tht seems so classy sitting on a 2-0 win over Roma, said tht the "referee was on their side" when they got knowcked out by Portsmouth in the FA cup semi-final. Class comes easier when u r winning, right?

Man Utd's players have been very classy in the aftermath of this game.. Ferguson stated that they were very lucky Totti was out and we missed so many in the first half.. Evra thinks we're still in it, Ronaldo complemented Roma.

So Man Utd supporters.. Learn from them.

Unlike David Pizarro who called Ronaldo a big head.. haha. It's true but there was no point of that.

nice. lanciano is actually just my family's closest team. my family is from orsogna and castel frentano.

And what I meant to say is.....2-0 sounds like United comprehensively outplayed Roma. That's not true at all.

"Lilly - dont all goals come from lapses in defending lol?"

Not really. Maybe I should have been clearer. I meant silly mistakes - ignoring a dangerous player, howlers, etc.

In this case, it's Roma gifting the goals rather than a stroke of absolute genius from United. In this case, there's too much "if only we didn't make that mistakes." Some goals are simply just pieces of sublime skill that cannot be stopped, and it's not really the defender (or the gk)'s fault to concede.

wow, nick, lanciano is exactly the town where her family is from.

i was guessing she couldn't have been a lazio fan. strange things happen though. i tried but couldn't pull off supporting a serie c team(lanciano) from here. simply not enough info.

yes, i see that philadelphia just got awarded an mls franchise. i kind of caught the tail end of the nasl, particularly around 1979 (i was pretty young, though) when vancouver whitecaps won the title. i also got to witness roma playing here in vancouver the year after. an amazing experience for me since i also got to meet all the players from that era at a lunch put on my the local italian community here.

no, my wife doesnt support lazio. there likely wouldnt have been a marriage to begin with if she was. she is a pescara fan (kind of, although being in serie c can hardly give her much to cheer about) and 'roma sympathizer' - 'sympathiser' because she knows how my mood is generally tied to how the team performs.

Here is my hate list for today and the near future:
-I hate the EPL, the hatred increasing exponentially over time. I am exhausted with the incessant hype, lack of sportsmanship, ugliness of their game, moronic journalism flying at my face from any kind of media (dont be surprised if ManU is printing its own branded toilet papers as well as we speak)
-I hate commentators and experts taking away the beauty, grace and passion of the game by a never-ending lecture on the inevitability of which team will roll over whom. It looks like no one appreciates or wants the beauty in sports being the unpredictable-- the best team winning on the day, and so on. C'mon Roma knocking out ManU was not like we r refusing to accept the laws of gravity! Isn't it time we again respect the "underdogs", whether or not they win?
-I hate C.Ronaldo (since WC06, coz thats when I really noticed him). He is not the player that little 9-10 yr old kids should be watching and emulating. He may be the most skilled and effective player right now or maybe even for a few years, but he lacks tht one element tht makes a player truly great-- the respect for the game and for fellow professionals. Stop diving and cheating and whining! You may get 5-6 goals less in a season, but show some respect to the game.
-I hate that Messi is injured. He brings so much joy to the game, and makes fans across teams, clubs, countries root for him. He is a player who will surely enter the great list at a very tender age, and is more likely to get there after getting kicked, hacked, and cheated against more than he will dive in the box, complain, and ridicule other teams who apparently might "beg him for mercy". Mostly, I hate the fact that Messi being injured is going to mean that C.Ronaldo will run away with the best footballer prize this year, and the world may not be enough to contain his bloated head.
-I hate that Totti was not on the pitch. Maybe the result would not have changed, but at least there would be no "what ifs".
-I hate the fact tht no one in media will give the remotest chance to Roma at the OT. Do we watch sports because we know every result in the future?
-Finally, I hate that Roma did not show more fight at the end. But this is where good teams can turn into great: to take near impossible situations by the scruff of the neck and define their history by one day that everyone will remember. OT beckons.

I feel like we beat ourselves today. We were the better team for large portions of the match. We definatly need another striker in the summer, and another defender. I just hope they keep their heads up in Manchester.

gab, i can't help but feeling like roma could have scored if they hadn't given up though. 2-1 or 2-2 would look at lot nicer going to man u.

does your wife support lazio? unfortunately for my football fandom i was born in philly too young to remember the nasl league. loved the sport too much though and found teams to support from other places. italy being an easy jump to make. in a couple of years i'll have a nice local team to root for as well. it'll be nice actually seeing a game live i'm not playing in.

Chico ... I think that "giving up" was more ... let's not get carded, let's not get injured, let's not get another goal
basically let's get through this with minimal damage for the future

we need to bring the heat next game.. that means this is what the line up should be
Cicihno mexes Juan Tonetto
Vuci DDR Aquilani Mancini
Guily
Totti

nickt - i was born into it and have been a fan all my life. my father and mother are roman by birth. i spent many a sunday morning listening to serie a games on the radio ("calcio minuto per minuto") with my dad - obviously pre-dates the dawn of satellite tv. our household was diehard romanista.

interestingly enough, my wife is abruzzese (by birth) but i cant seem to convert her. i've already started the brainwashing on my young kids though.

My sister visited Roma about 11 years ago and fell in love with the city.
My father was a football player so we grew up watching it.
After seeing Roma playing we were hooked.

I became addicted to the club and the city itself and plan to move there this summer hopefully

yeah after the second goal everyone just stopped trying

Gabriella

I guess Spalletti didnt make them watch any of the Al Pacino clips. They must have watched some italian romantic comedy.

I accept loosing, but loosing without fighting I can't stand. Even Daniele gave up. Fuck it.

I hope we have Totti back and Vuci can play in Mancini's place. Also let's start Guily instead of Taddei.
Aquilani next to De Rossi

to be honest i got into roma thanks to lazio. my family is from abruzzo and when i picked up on italian football they're who i came across due to the abruzzese fan base but i couldn't do it. never liked them. found roma and livorno instead.

sorry about the tendons. i can tell my knees don't have a lot of years left in them.

Missed your question Nickt.
My wife and I went on our honey moon in Italy and spent a few days in Rome. In the summer of 2001. Saw the passion of the fans, murals everywhere and have been hooked eversince.

whatever it is it has to be attacking

Have a good night/day everyone. I was just a game and we will come out swinging against Genoa to paraphrase Sterling. It's late here in Ireland and I have to go to bed.

I feel worst now than last year after the 7-1

I was 20 when my tendons gave up in my knee. I had some treatment but ultimately I need surgery. They couldnt operate on me because I got pregnant with my daughter. Life has been busy ever since but I really hope that maybe this year or next it'll get sorted

do you guys think we need to change the formaiton for the next game?

how'd everyone here get into roma?

wow

wow, early too. i had an acl tear at 14 that took me out for all but 1 year during my teens. got back eventually though

For all of these comments, I sincerely hope that this page cracks 1K if we topple Inter and win the Scudetto.

If Man U win the Premier League Title for the second year in a row, I hope their total Offside posts explode into the teens.

Good day (because the sun's still shining over here in Cali), Godspeed, and let's come out swinging against Genoa.

no, ordeal. Our current record is 750 exaclty

doubt

wouldn't dount it. seems a lazio fan would just rub in the derby game.

750, JCS.

I had played basketball since I was 9 up to that second injury on my knee.

has this page ever gotten to 1,000 posts?

Luca is masquerading as Paulie, or vice versa, I doubt he's even Italian at all.

Daniele it also could have ended 4-0 ... so lets not bring that up

indeed it is, jeff. however, i think thet'll find a cure for cancer before luca figures out if it his junk actually qualifies as legit genitalia. until then it remains a hypothesis.

I played five a side a couple of times and could barely walk for the next week. This is better compare how shit WE are at football. :-)

gabs did you give up at that point or did someone have to sit you down and tell you not to play any more

Your goals came on luck, and we created many chances.

This match could have easily been 4-2.

This shit is not over.

Anything can happen.

That's a scientific experiment lamagica!

damn....i've got you beat in quantity of injuries but that's with a lot more games and no breaks

nick, its not quite so "auto" when you need the help of tweezers, a petrie dish and a microsope,

I played football twice in my life:
1st time I broke my ankle
2nd time I f***ed up my knee so badly I need a surgery

that is a useless personal information for today

Let's forget Champions League and focus on Scudetto.

good money in it if you can pull it off

autofellacio luca?

Line of the night:

"pathetic is “trying to “take the piss out of” someone over a game none of us actually played in"

Just a game, and I gather none of the braggarts here played any part in today's.

luca, thanks for reaffirming your stronghold on being the real embarrasment to italians. dutch whore, you say? what's his name?

I said what you are doing not what is being done on you

you speak for greg too luca? i'm feeling fine. sports don't make or break my life. i enjoy watching and discussing them with others. pathetic is "trying to "take the piss out of" someone over a game none of us actually played in. i'll wait for greg if he wants to respond. if not, oh well.

greg seriously, where are you getting all of this from... yeah you know so well now jajaja I just had to laugh when i read your post... yeah like all us Latinos are the same jajja

Dude I could care less where you are from, do you really think i am jelous of anyone from the USA? it is maybe one of th emost fucked up places to live in the world, much prefer my THIRD WORLD country to yours...

no i am being sucked off by my whore dutch girlfriend at the moment haha

isnt that what you are doing, Luca?

What signings are needed?Another winger and top class striker I daresay. I thought Panucci was very good in Central Defence and Tonetto was good too. Guily shouldve started

he is taking the piss ouit of roma fans and loving it, and you guys are playing into his hands. pathetic roma pathetic fans

greg, why are you here? no offense but what are you looking for?

Lilly - dont all goals come from lapses in defending lol?

sheps - you checking passports or something? if your looking to do a head count on fellow needle-dicked brits around here to make you feel a bit more 'manly', you've come to the right place.

Let's stop with the racist remarks now

Oh Fuck it FUCK OFF!!!

Shitting bricks? I like that saying LOL

I thought Roma held their own. They created some fantastic chances, and were unlucky not to score. Both of United's goals came from lapses in defending (or howler by Doni). I thought the 2-0 scoreline flattered United to the extreme.

I have always respected Roma, as they embody a lot of the values I cherish - loyalty, for example. I dislike the Premiership's mercenary-mentality too, and I understand that you feel frustrated that bigger teams can "buy" trophies and victories. But that's just the way football works in this day and age, there's no need for you to taint your love for your team with such bitterness. If I were a Roma fan, I'd feel proud of getting so far in the CL with a squad that's worth less than a single United player. Cheers.

And United fans: This guy's understandably upset about his team losing. No need to be such assholes and spread salt on the wound.