I hate the fact that they quit, but having put in 10+ months of excruciating work and having the season won the way it was, nearly all of you would’ve done the same. There is nothing more frustrating than having your ultimate fate decided, and decided unfavorably, by someone else. I hated the last 15 minutes of the ManU first leg infinitely more than I’ll ever hate the last 20+ against Catania.

Not the finest hour, but it was about more than just Roma v Catania. Circumstances.

On Brazilians: After the Champions League run had effectively ended, I believed the only way forward was to show two tantalizingly talented, wildly inconsistent Brazilians to be shown the exit door. A couple weeks ago rumors arose saying that Roma was interested in a Doni replacement and a highly gifted vice-Doni, and at the time I wouldn’t change my tune regarding the intellectually comatose Brazilian netminder. Last week Doni signed a four year extension, putting my cardiologist on call during weekends and occasionally midweek until at least 2012, and putting me on the lookout for a psychologist to talk through his performances with on Mondays. Safe to say I wasn’t thrilled.

I’m ready to change my tune. Sort of. Now only one tantalizingly talented, wildly inconsistent Brazilian needs to be shown the door. I can’t in good consciousness say that Doni is the keeper of the present and future, and that i lupi can reach the promised land between now and 2012 with Alex in between the sticks. His reflexes are fantastic and his skill is evident. It’s the lapses in concentration which can turn fortune into despair in the blink of an eye. All it takes is one game. One half. One shot. One set piece. One Livorno. (I still…just…god.)

Undoubtedly he’s made strides in knocking on the door of “world class” this year. Actually, he’s been flat out majestic at times. There are days when I wouldn’t trade him for Gigi Buffon & Lev Yashin’s lovechild. There are also days when I’d trade him for half of half of Pietro Pipolo & Carlo Zotti’s unloved bastard.

For now, he’s won me over. I’ll live contently with Doni as Roma’s starting keeper for 2008-09, and truly believe that if he takes another stride of the length that he did this year, he’ll be a world class keeper. However, if he reverts back to Old/Bad Doni, it’ll be time to blow it up. I still pray nightly that Gianluca Curci comes to fulfill 50% of the hype and turns out to be a good, solid worthy Serie A keeper who won’t cause me heart ailments and/or death. Thus I reserve the right to change course once Curci actually wanders out on loan and Doni has another full season of growth underneath his belt.

As far as Mancini goes, the day we see the back of him cannot come too soon. His performance was abysmal yesterday and, unfortunately, that’s become par for the course. The way I see it, we’ve had two Brazilian wingers this season out of form. Their origins are probably different – Mancini was hurt before the year, but this doesn’t appear to be a valid excuse, while Taddei has gone down a few times now and appears to be suffering from an injury-plagued year – but their contributions have been vastly different. When Taddei’s technique and skill fails him, as it has during stretches and understandably so, he makes up for it with his workrate, tenacity and will. When Mancini’s technique and skill fail him, not exactly a rare occurrence, Mancini accentuates it by dropping a figurative turd on the field. Roma might as well be handed a red card, because it’s X v XI.

I find it hard to believe which such big money floating around Mancini will be in red & yellow Kappa next season. His backside walking out of Trigoria for good this summer seems to be a matter of when, not if. And, depending on whether or not he loves Roma just as much as he says he does, it’ll probably be for a cut rate price. So we thank you, Andy Webster, for completely screwing up the sport for your selfish wants, you useless prick.

And Grazie Mancini, there were certainly some great times, but some things just run their course.

On De Rossi: 100% correct to say what he said, and I find it downright laughable anyone, especially Inter fans, whose team is being coached by the most classless man in calcio with some players equally devoid of class, would say otherwise. This has nothing to do with class or grace or anything of the type. Actually, scratch that. It does. I don’t want anyone with class or grace in defeat anywhere near my team. It’s all a bunch of bullshit.

“Show me a good and gracious loser and I’ll show you a failure.”

-Knute Rockne

Truer than true. This isn’t a fucking bake sale, Sally.

Also, Daniele’s right, which helps the argument.

On Mexes: In the most heated, most important game of the year, I think he was the calmest person on the pitch. My eyes must have been fooling me. The man is more Roman than half of Rome (the baby blue half). Couldn’t be.

On Brighi & Aquilani: There was a little question at the end of an interview yesterday with The Poobah on the contributions of Vucinic, and he quickly answered but made a point to mention the contributions of two others: Brighi & Aquilani. Matteo coming in after so many years on loan and becoming something of a defensively-inclined Simone and late game specialist. His workrate and grinding play is a huge boon late in games and allows Roma to close out when the legs are tired and in need of a crutch. Wouldn’t say he’s indispensable, but perhaps his contributions are underappreciated, much like that Simone guy. And who the hell knows, maybe one year in the system and next year we’ll see him fulfill that massive hype (and transfer fee) which came after he was named Serie A Young Player of the Year.

As for Aquilani, Spal mentioned the difference of healthy Aquilani in the lineup. The loss of Taddei obviosly forced a shift in the lineup, Simone over to the wing and KA up top, a position he’s less familiar with in the Spalletti system. I think we all see – along with Real, Barca, Juve, Inter, Arsenal, Chelsea, ManU, etc. etc. etc. – the insane qualities he possesses and that his future is mighty bright. An untouchable key piece of the puzzle, another year of maturation and, hopefully, major tournament experience, will do nothing to add to the experience and core of the Giallorossi next season. My heart always sides with the present, but my mind has always said 2008-09. One more year for Daniele De Rossi, now the best midfielder in Serie A, and one more year for Aquilani, a phenom oozing with technical qualities, means great things for the Roman midfield, and the whole of Rome, in 08-09.

* – And he’s not going anywhere. End of.

On Vucinic: I’m sorry I ever said comparing him to Zlatan was a bit exaggerated. It’s not. Vuci is just that good, and has proven himself to be a world class player. I have a hard time saying a guy who’s scored 19 games in a season before just had a “breakout year”, but he at least broke through to another universe. His goal-to-big game ratio is simply something to behold, and the fact that he creates just as much for his teammates as he does for himself leads us to believe there’s much more on the horizon when he and Totti get more familiar with each other as on-the-pitch colleagues as opposed to Jesus and backup striker waiting for Jesus to go down. That left wing is his, and we hope for many, many years.

As far as the negotiations with Lecce go, he will be in Rome next season and that is that. As high as his price may have soared, they can’t afford not to buy him; after all the work they’ve put in developing him to sync with the system and the subsequent time they’d need to spend on a lesser replacement to fill his massive, yellow shoes it’d be simply foolish. This is as good as gold for the summer, because he’s not a new buy who will need an assimilation period. Mirko is a break-the-glass, ready-to-use world class player for a unique system. Those are absolutely priceless and extraordinarily rare. The hierarchy will pay whatever, though I doubt it’ll be a ton. More likely we’ll see some fringe Giallorossi heading south for either a new Serie A struggle or a renewed promotion campaign down in B. One of the benefits of a world class youth system. Sometimes it isn’t all about the money.

But regardless of what happens this summer, Grazie Mirko. There are only a handful of people on the planet who could make a sans-Totti Roma squad continue along the road of calcio so smoothly. Daniele De Rossi was easily the most important part of the equation this season, but Vucigol wasn’t far behind. And can we all agree? He’s got It. Whatever the hell It is, he’s got it. You don’t show up in that many important games with that much quality without it.

Now if he’d kindly bag a triple in the Coppa final I’ll name my first born Francesco De Aquivucigol.

* – My thoughts are, joining Mexes and Taddei, he’ll become the next non-Italian Romanista. Like Philou, the man was born for this shirt.

On Zlatan: I can separate my in-season self with my out-of-season self quite well, which will allow me to appreciate Ibra for the month of June during the Euros. Whether or not the game was reffed unfairly yesterday was only irrelevant in the sense that he walked onto the pitch after a lengthy layoff and pushed that team over the hump when they were heading towards second place. And we all know how absurd he was during the first half of the year when Inter was so dominant. Starting in 03-04, when with Ajax, through this year he has ended the season with a title. The guy is a walking, talking championship. Pray he gets sold to Real or Chelsea this summer. Whatever credit Inter deserves goes to him.

On Totti: Soon enough, Francesco. Soon enough that trophy will be yours.

On Luciano: I’ve had more doubts than I’ll ever let on. Tactically never a question, but the way this team operates sometime really brings to question his ability to extract the right mentality from this team, the first and foremost quality for any great coach, teacher, leader, etc. in any aspect of life. His football mind is top of the mountain, maybe a bit higher, but otherwise, I can’t honestly say I’m sure he’s a coach that can lead a team to greatness. That overwhelming sense to will themselves to a win. To defeat regardless of tactics, blow up the gameplan and just win.

What I am confident of is that Spalletti as a coach, much like the team, is still absorbing, growing and progressing. This is also a learning process for him, and sometimes I, perhaps others, forget that. He is by no means a finished product, and is in some ways representative of the team. Heralded for his workings in Udine, but not yet considered world class. Experienced, but not experienced enough on the largest stage. His rise has coincided with the rise of Roma. After all, he’s just 49, still but a pup in the world of big game coaching.

My feeling is next year is it in terms of assessing Spalletti’s impact on this team. If they can grow mentally, I will fully believe and plan four plus children just so that I can spell out The Grand Imperial Poobah on Christmas cards. (I’ll feel might bad for “The”, but he/she will have to deal with it.) I do think they will grow mentally, and that’s not more hope than belief. I do believe that. Spalletti and the core has more experience now, more failures and successes to guide them in the right direction. This will be invaluable, and in the end I believe Spalletti will be invaluable. The journey continues.

On Serie A 2007-08: I can’t really do a proper assessment on the whole season until next week, and I do want to break down the season a lot more in-depth, but I figure there are a few things to be said.

It was a very good, borderline great season. 82 points in a difficult competition – Parma was in the UEFA Cup last year, Empoli this year….and they both got relegated, that says something – is nothing, absolutely nothing, for the boys to hang their heads about. Internazionale FC +1 has what was once called by then Chelsea-gaffer The Not So Special One “the biggest squad in the world”. From top to bottom they are a payroll. Period. End of. And when the coach of @#$%in’ Chelsea says that, it shows the the true depth of that team up north.

Roma is not that team. On paper, they have absolutely no business competing with a half-billion dollar team. And they did, right down to the final weekend, in a campaign marred by injury after injury after injury. When Inter lost Cordoba, Samuel and Materazzi, they simply plugged in Rivas and Chivu, two big money signings. When Roma needed an extra defender, they were forced to plug in two 30+ right backs. Roma has nowhere near the roster Inter does. On paper, the scudetto should have been handed out in August.

But what they did do was play better, and anyone not in bed with the Nerazzurri will agree. Inter was extraordinarily fortunate, if that’s what you want to call it, to get the results that they did. Roma was rarely, if ever, so fortunate. Nor were any other teams. Read into that how you will.

I’m not sure people understand how many injuries this team endured with a squad which is still fairly thin in certain spots. Juan, Taddei, Perrotta, Aquilani and Jesus, all key members of the first team, went down on more than one occasion and missed significant time. Matteo Ferrari, Juan and the Pizaman all had a late start to the season which didn’t help matters – especially not the first two, who couldn’t get healthy the entire year. Marco Cassetti, arguably the best RB in the peninsula during the first half of the year (yes, I said that, and it’s hard to argue with it – he was fricken’ fantastic and oh so underappreciated), went down more than once in the second half and lost his stride. Marco Andreolli never saw a minute in the shirt, forcing a 35 year old full back to play in central defense much of the year. This was far from a full team at any point in the season.

What I don’t buy is that Roma botched it will the small teams. When competing seriously on three fronts, you’re bound to drop some games you should win. Every team does it. Every champion does it. Real Madrid lost to Espanyol, Almeria, Real Betis and Getafe, while they drew with Murcia, Valladolid and Zaragoza. That sounds about the same as draws with Livorno (twice – they’re the bogey team), Empoli, Torino, Catania and Cagliari while losing to Siena. Actually, sounds awfully similar.

The difference is I don’t think Roma has the versatility in tactics or squad to break down lower-end table teams who park themselves in the back with a goalkeeper having a good day. When a team like Real can throw different looks at you, Roma is stuck in the 4-2-3-1. That, for me, was the most frustrating aspect going into the season, and is the most frustrating aspect going out. System is great, fabulous, wonderful, but it needs to be rotated every now and again.

That old boxing adage can still apply to so many sports: “Styles make fights”. Sometimes it’s just not about talent. Sometimes the counter methods just work. This is what needs to be changed; more than the level of talent, more than the salary cap, more than the ownership. Versatility within the system is nice, as evidenced by Giuly v Taddei or Cicinho v Panucci, but at the end of the day you need to be able to counter your downfalls. Roma could not do that. My greatest hope for this summer, even more so than any transfer target, is that Spal adopts a tactical alternative which can operate and change gears fluidly. I honestly believe that is a major key to a scudetto.

Two games kill me to this day from that list, however. One is Empoli. Roma beat them up and down the pitch like it was public slaughtering for most of the game, before Vannucchi got too much space and struck a wondergoal, and before Giovinco scored the luckiest goal of his career – now and through the end of his days it will stay the luckiest goal of his career. Roma had so many chances to close that game out, yet they were brutally inefficient in front of the net. Still can’t believe that was the same Mirko Vucinic who now could have a golden statue erected at Trigoria. The guy scores bullshit goals regularly these days, and back then he was missing bunnies against Empoli.

They had that game won; it was an easy 3 points in the bag. How Empoli managed a draw I’ll never understand. Never.

The second is the home game against Livorno. Mostly because of Doni’s absolutely criminal positioning on that free kick, giving one of the premier free kick takers these days in calcio the side of a barn to aim at. It’s the number one reasoning I can’t feel comfortable with Alex in net. For all his obvious feline talents, it’s the basic mental aspects of the game which fail him when needed most.

Worst of all, that game needed to be about Totti. When Francesco fell down taking that shot and Brozzi walked over to him on the ground, looking down before motioning immediately for a sub my stomach turned. Can’t say it was an obvious 6 month injury, but when a player goes down in that manner and is carted off the field immediately, you didn’t need to be a doctor to know the outlook was grim. That game should’ve held more, for Francesco and the news that was about to follow.

All in all it was a very good year. Milan. Madrid. Madrid. Udinese. Four games which I could watch over and over and over. Four glorious occasions. But what’s more is that all of this is something to really build on; and make no mistake about it, this is a building process which will continue to grow and progress. Spal:

“I must compliment my team on the way they worked this season. We have grown a great deal, have a project to continue and everyone did their duty.”

I don’t doubt for a second Spal has had one eye towards this year and another towards next at times during this campaign. This was certainly a project, more in the urban, undesired housing sense, when he rode in on his horse, saving the day a few years back, but now it is a great project and so much more. There will be better results to come and a brighter future for the Giallorossi. I’m prepared to say I hold absolutely no doubt in my mind or heart in saying that in the next two years, Roma will lift the scudetto deservedly. This club has always held something special off the pitch and in the stands; well now it’s on the pitch and giving notice to the world. As a team, as a system, they are still young. Their day will come.

For now, they have every right to be proud. If all was fair in love and calcio, we’d be still drenched in tears of joy, singing Grazie Roma to the hilltops and peppering the globe with an unforeseen slew of newborns named “Daniele, Francesco, Philippe, Alberto, Vucigol and The Grand Imperial Poobah”. Alas, not all is fair. Yet we can still sing Grazie Roma, because they deserve every bit of it, but perhaps saving our loudest voices for Mai Sola Mai.

I can honestly say no season in recent time has made me prouder to be a Roma fan. I can also say the same for next season, and the season after that, and the season after that.

As Roma goes, so do we. With an undying passion, bleeding yellow along with red, and the knowledge that we love the greatest club in the world. So Grazie Roma, for the good times we were lucky enough to experience and for the giallorosso dawn on the horizon. But also for the bad times, allowing us to realize that great sorrow comes only from great love. Grazie a thousand times over, for a club that is so much more. The whole is more than the sum of its trophies.

But for now…

…there’s still a game left to win. Time to show everyone who the best team in Italia really is.

FORZA ROMA

This game was about two reactions. The reaction going into the game with only one piece of major silverware left to fight for and the reaction after Antonio Di Natale’s goal early on in the second half. On Sunday, more than any other day this year, they reacted like champions. I can honestly say today was the first day this season I’ve thought they had It.

The opening session was Roma’s, with a few interspersed Udinese counterattacks thrown in; surely a disappointment to go into the half without having scored. Whether they were buoyed by the presence of Totti or kicking the scudetto push up a notch – probably both – they were undoubtedly in Udine for three points and no less. Arriving in Udine knowing they were a class above, and it showed.

For me, the epiphany appeared to come immediately after the Udinese goal, when Roma – despite the Panucci/Doni shenanigans – promptly marched down the field and put in a real retaliatory effort, as if to say “game on”. From that point forward, it appeared they kicked into a higher gear, raising their game one more notch to simply get it done. And that’s it. They just got it done. Sure, it was pretty at times, but they stayed composed, stayed confident, stayed focused and imposed themselves on Udinese until they broke. And it didn’t even take Mirko’s smooth finish for Udinese to break. It was quite clear the question was not if Roma would score, but rather when and, more to the point, how many. A single goal was almost a certainty; multiple a real possibility.

Mirko’s goal opened the coffin and threw the striped body in, and Rodrigo’s goal, putting Roma just one ahead, felt as if the coffin had been slammed, nailed and nestled firmly under six feet of earth. I think this game is what we’ve been hoping for, and we finally got our “reaction of champions”. Time will only tell whether or not they’ll be bestowed with the actual title.

Unfortunately, Fiorentina didn’t match Roma’s exploits, and aside from a short stint in the Nerazzuri half, they spent much of the time getting trampled, forcing Sebastian Frey to put on a clinic. Roma remains four points back, with just five games left to make up ground. But at least Roma has Il Capitano back, waving his wand; a very good start, because La Magica is still incomplete without Francesco.

Il Tabellino

UDINESE (3-4-3): Handanovic; Zapotocny, Coda, Lukovic; Ferronetti (79′ Zapata), D’Agostino (83′ Pinzi), Inler, Dossena (77′ Floro Flores); Pepe, Quagliarella, Di Natale. A disp.: Saulo, Isla, Eremenko, Colombo. All. Marino

ROMA (4-2-3-1): Doni; Cicinho, Panucci, Mexes, Tonetto; De Rossi, Pizarro; Taddei, Perrotta (62′ Giuly), Vucinic (91′ Antunes); Totti (76′ Brighi). A disp.: Curci, Juan, Esposito, Mancini. All. Spalletti

ARBITRO: Rizzoli di Bologna (Griselli-Calcagno; 4° Celi)

MARCATORI: 52′ Di Natale, 64′ Vucinic, 70′ Taddei, 90′ Giuly

NOTE: Ammoniti Dossena, Pepe, Totti, Taddei. Recupero pt 2′, st 4′.

Highlights

Player Ratings

Doni: Who woulda thunk Doni would end up the game as the brighter of the two keepers? If you raised your hand you’re lying through that big gap in your teeth, Pinocchio. Handanovic was the Down Syndrome baboon on the day, and made Doni look fantastic simply by default, though I’m not sure he needed it. Alex stopped at least two 1 v 1’s and kept Roma in the running for the full three points. 7

Cicinho: Just a very solid game. Constantly involved, walked through the Udinese midfield often and was good on the defensive end. 7

Mexes: I’ve often thought half his brain power is in the hair, Sunday was confirmation. Chopped half the locks off, going for the 7 year old girl look, and appeared to have lost his mind on that header back to Doni with Toto flying in. Really made up for it with some vicious tackles and smart defensive work, especially in the second half. 7.5

Juan: R.I.P. Chivu must’ve touched him on his way out of town, because the dude is quite clearly cursed. Or maybe there’s just an injury running through the CB department, afflicting everyone not named Philippe. Think about it: Andreolli passed on long ago, I’m not even sure he managed a Spalletti ass slap before moving on to Vicenza; Matteo Ferrari has battled injury much of the year after missing the first month, now down with surgery when his agent’s wallet needs him most; and Juan, who misses three games for every one he plays. Ridiculous stuff. And you know who’s the only person to benefit from this? Christian Panucci. Given he’s thrown down with half the squad plus Luciano this year, I don’t doubt for a second he’s involved somehow.

Grumpy Old Man: (OMR now = GOM.) Just want to get this out of the way before we discuss what crawled up his ass: He saved the day real early, notably when Pizaman was faking himself out with Cruijff turns inside the Roma box. After that….meh.

Now, it actually looked like Doni was the more heated of the two and the one pressing the issue, but given than GOM has taken to having Mancini-esque mood swings with a slice of violent tendencies on the side, the blame’s going to go almost entirely to him (hard to tell what started the argument, did almost look like GOM yapping at Doni, despite Doni looking apologetic). Strangest of all this is that GOM has the most accomplished resume (thus far) of anyone on the roster aside from that Totti guy. Of course, maybe that’s precisely the problem. Maybe his current status doesn’t equate to his own perceived status, or his prior status.

I love the presence he’s provided, and I love the versatility he now provides, but three separate incidents now – grizzled veteran or not – and you really have to wonder what that does to team chemistry. Spal has swept it under the rug, and I’m sure he and Doni will do the same tomorrow, but three in one year is a bit much. Especially when one of those is the coach.

Will wait til tomorrow to see what’s said regarding the argument, but my early inclination is he needs a talking to – at the least. 6.5

Tonetto: It’s come to the point where he has some good games and he has some bad games. This was the latter, getting caught up high too many times and that abysmal header to kick off the second half, resulting in Toto 1 v 1 with Doni. Over the last month I’ve gone from thinking Roma needs a vice-Tonetto to Roma needs a Tonetto. Today didn’t do anything to dispel that thought. 6.5

DDR: Caught a bit of KA-itis going to the trigger early and often without a whole bunch of success. Udinese had next to nothing going in the midfield, guess who was a big reason why. 7

Pizaman: You know what’s funny? When he fell down participating in his own little skills competition in the box, I didn’t even flinch. Didn’t yell, didn’t move. Did nothing, because it’s the type of thing we’ve come to expect from him once or twice a game. Had that resulted in a goal, I might have flown to Rome, kidnapped and hid him in a dungeon for the next decade so that he was never able to don Giallorosso again. Luckily for him, GOM (still OMR at that point) saved the day.

Besides that, he was fantastic, and upgraded to superb on that ball to Vucinic for the first goal. Has zero pace whatsoever, but runs touchline to touchline when necessary. Easily made up for his earlier gaffe, thankfully. 7.5

Taddei: Putting aside the goal for a second, let’s look back to that play when Totti fired over the bar because Udinese’s fourth centerback the ref stuck a boot in. Simone was pulling out wide because there was no room to move in and he dumped off to Taddei, who one-timed a perfect no-look pass through the defense into a waiting Francesco on the spot. Rodrigo obviously hasn’t been on a scintillating run of form as of late, and it’s plays like this which can forecast a 180 degree turn in the wings.

Then, of course, there’s the goal, which was a smooth switch of the foot and perfect placement. Quite possibly could’ve had a second also. Considering the obvious defensive responsibilities he had to fill as well on that dangerous Udinese left hand side, he was my MOTM. I think he turned the corner today, and that could be a big difference maker down the stretch. 7.5

Perrotta: Probably had a brace, maybe a triple, if some of the service wasn’t so strong. A solid performance from Simone. 7

Vucigol: He might be as good on his feet as he is when going to ground. That goal was by no means a gimme, and he actually almost had to wrap his leg around Pepe for a chance to finish. Infinitely dangerous, and unlike Amantino this year aside from that 6 week stretch of fury, he often capitalizes. It may be a bit early to say, but he has probably earned the starting left wing spot for now and perhaps even going into the summer – which means you know what. Whodathunkit? 7

Totti: Looked like a man who’d spent the last couple weeks on the shelf, but a man who has a bag of tricks like no other. Even a fairly immobile Totti is a game changing force, spraying balls onto the runs off of him. His touch will get better as he gets back into form – he took a beating during the Empoli game as well, kicking off this lengthy run – and he’ll get back to Jesus form as the race gets down to the wire. 7

Ludovicious: Whenever he comes off the bench I have this feeling they’ll get a goal. I just didn’t think they’d get three today. Splendid finish, and exactly what we were hoping for last summer. And did you see him wave off Pizarro after he was flying over to celebrate with him? Wonder if David took the last booster seat at dinner last night. 7

Brighi: Looked like a coked up Simone bombing back and forth for a quarter hour today. Missed a chance to make it 3-1 after that absurd tackle he had no business making, but fed Ludovicious anyway for the final nail in the coffin. Really don’t know how much more, aside from a brace with one on an Aurelio after doing a cartwheel, Spal could’ve asked from him in 15 minutes. 7.5

iTunes: Hey, he played. N/A

Key Matchups

Roma’s Identity Crisis v Udinese’s Counter: The centerbacks actually were mostly able to stay back well enough through the game, but there were occasions when Simone Pepe could’ve translated War & Peace into Italian and fathered a bastardized child before Max Tonetto could get within whiffing distance of his Old Spice. And I’m not even sure Max noticed. On two occasions Doni saved the day, so it wasn’t to difficult to see why Udinese’s counters are so dangerous, but Roma kept a very dangerous attacking side in check with a back line reminding no one of a brick wall. Winner: Roma

Simone’s Stamina v Inler & D’Agostino: Inler and D’Agostino were alright, Gaetano better than Goky, but nearly the entire Udinese offense came on the wings (let’s see: DDR + Mexes v Max + Cicinyo….hmmmm). GDA threatened a couple times, but neither were really enough to break out the adult diapers at any point (although assuredly many were already sporting the Depends in anticipation of the Antonio Di Quagliarella supersized Napoletano combo meal – totally understandable). Winner: Simone

Handcuffs v Fabio Quagliarella: There were some loose, “I just found these in my dresser drawer”, occasions, but he’s had better. A LOT better. Winner: Toy handcuffs.

Francesco v Health: A solid 75 minutes, three points and no news of tear-jerking “knocks”? I’ll take it and run. Winner: Francesco

MOTM: Rodrigo, for the splendid finish on the deciding goal and a solid all-around performance – plus extra credit for hopefully getting back on track.

Remaining Sched

4.16: Catania (Coppa)
4.19: Livorno (20th)
4.27: Torino (14th)
5.4: @ Sampdoria (6th)
5.7: @ Catania (Coppa)
5.11: Atalanta (11th)
5.18: @ Catania (15th)

Seven games, perhaps eight, remaining, and three will be against Catania. Nice. The danger for Roma, as always, is with the lesser teams, but I can guarantee everyone here to a man (and woman) would take this over a tour of next year’s Champions League participants and hopefuls.

I wonder how much Matteo Ferrari and his agent think he’s worth now. Perhaps a half a euro and a bag of manure? Because that’s what his performance was worth, minus the half euro. What I’d really like to know, however, is what the was he planning to do with the ball on that own goal besides try to beat Doni. Or did the ball landing at his foot surprise the hell out of him as he was actually about to enter into a little jig? Just horrible stuff. Where’s Samuel Kuffour when you need him?

Scratch that. I’m watching Ajax – Heerenveen right now and Ajax conceded within 2 mins of Sammy K coming on. Whaddya know.

Of course Roma played Cagliari off the pitch for much of the game, and they have nothing to look back on but their own inability to finish (cue image of Bruno Conti checking the bank books and getting immediately on the horn to Amsterdam and Stuttgart). Totti’s header was stopped superbly, which was probably the clearest chance on goal they had the entire game. Mexes botched about seven balls in the box which coulda shoulda woulda been game winners. Alberto muffed his back heel. Mancini flew a rocket to the moon, despite it being a difficult shot. Giuly may have had two or three on another day. No finishing. None. In a game which should have been 9-1. The magic forcefield around the goal has returned at precisely the wrong time.

One other factor, which may have not actually been a factor, is the fact that Luciano Spalletti strategerized with one eye looking towards Manchester United on Tuesday. Never ever ever do that. Whether or not Alberto Aquilani would have made The Difference is surely debatable, though he did have two clear scoring chances in his time on the pitch, but karma can come back to bite you in the ass mighty hard when you underestimate the minnows. (The inclusion of Cassetti for Tonetto was another move which surely kept a lazy eye on Tuesday.)

Seriously, that’s the first thing you learn in Coaching 101 – don’t underestimate anybody. Especially not one which had won 5 of their last 6 at home.

Highlights

Il Tabellino

CAGLIARI (4-3-2-1): Storari, Pisano, Lopez, Canini, Agostini; Fini, Cossu (80′ Del Grosso), Parola; Foggia (74′ Biondini), Jeda; Acquafresca (82′ Matri). A disp.: Capecchi, Ferri, Magliocchetti, Larrivey. All. Ballardini

ROMA (4-2-3-1): Doni; Cicinho, Mexes, Ferrari, Tonetto (55′ Cassetti); Pizarro, Brighi (72′ Aquilani); Taddei (80′ Esposito), Giuly, Mancini; Totti. A disp: Curci, Panucci, Antunes, Pit. All. Spalletti
ARBITRO: Saccani di Mantova (Lion-Biasutto)

MARCATORI: 2′ Ferrari (aut), 45′ Totti

NOTE: Allontanato Ballardini, tecnico del Cagliari, per proteste. Ammoniti Tonetto, Pizarro, Cicinho, Cassetti. Recupero 1′ pt, 3′ st

Player Ratings

Doni: He might as well have brought a chaise lounge and Anna Karenina, he had all day to do as he pleased. Not even worth a vote, really.

Cicinho: Is it me or does he fall in love with sending the ball into the box high, failing to realize there are maybe two people on Roma capable of a proper header? He was good. It was Cagliari, the minimum you’d expect. Made a couple nice – and rather unexpected – defensive stops as well. 7

Mexes: If he was a striker he’d get a -12. But he’s not, and he was getting into positions CB have no business getting into. Defensively he stuffed nearly everything which came his way, and had to make up for the complete suckitude Ferrari displayed. 7.5

Ferrari: You, sir, can take your boots and walk the fuck outta town. I wouldn’t hand you a Primavera contract right about now. (No, I’m not bitter.) -4.5

* – Also, could that be the worst performance from a guy fighting for a big time contract ever? And who wants to speculate he signs with Inter in the summer……

Tonetto: Nice professional foul on Foggia in the first 20. His job was essentially to limit Fogia’s impact on the game and work off of Mancini on the left. Did both well, and there were a couple splendid overlaps thrown in. 7

Pizarro: Very good game, unfortunate he didn’t score that bullet in the first ten or so. 7.5

Brighi: All I could think while he was out there was “Premiership, Premiership, Premiership”. Immense motor, can defend well, but lacked everything else – namely the stuff the Giallorossi are known for. Improved in the second half, but his passing range is about 3 feet and he really didn’t fit into the scheme today. 6.5

Mancini: Had an absolute field day with Pisano on the left, and I think he only got taken off the ball once or twice. Hard to blame him on the volley close up simply because the ball had bounced so high that he got under it a bit and skied it into the Mediterranean. Immensely dangerous, even though he was double teamed every time he got the ball; I thought he had a great game and actually gave a shit. 7.5

Giuly:Seemingly everywhere in the first half, then fell off the face of the earth in the second. Tale of two halves, really. Botched an easy chance on goal when he slipped on the ground following Francesco’s sublime through ball. 7

Taddei: He was good, not great, but good. 7

Totti: Free kick was perfect placement, and he spent nearly the entire game grabbing his hamstring, which is quite worrisome with Tuesday looming. I think Cagliari had no less than three men on him for much of the game, yet he was still able to feed his teammates. 7.5

Aquilani: Surely made a difference when he came on. The big hullabaloo is his attempted back-heel on that pass, but he was already flying towards Cagliari’s goal with Storari closing down and momentum going the wrong (or right) way. The back of the net was wide open while area in front of him was going to be blocked immediately. Never know. 7

Cassetti: More of the same, but he was ridiculously close to being sent off, which you just can’t have in a game like that – especially when Christian Panucci isn’t on the field to save the day. 6.5

Esposito: Did a whole lot of nothin’ after he came on – though he surely deserved a foul late on there. 6.5

See all those? Good scores. Very good scores. Because Roma played a very good game. But they just couldn’t finish, and they had an own goal ruin everything. None of the matchups mattered. Nothing, aside from their inability to finish (and Marco Storari*).

* – Also, Michele Canini, that guy Roma has first option on, looked mighty good as well. Roma will have to act quick, however, as Cellino is leaving June 30th.

Time to start thinking about some reinforcements. Like now.

You know how there’s a glitch in video games – whether they be football, basketball, or whatever the hell else type of video games they make – and a guy just cannot miss from a certain spot, becomes invisible or whatever? That’s Christian Panucci on free kicks two yards from the box and two yards from the end line. Therefore, I hereby name that spot in all Italian stadiums and those in Glasgow Panucci’s Place from now until eternity. Who says 34 year old white men can’t jump?

Now let’s get down to brass tax for a moment here: Francesco Totti.

What a wizard. Jealousy must’ve been enough to break Merlin’s ankles in his coffin by the time the whistle hit. Gravitated towards the ball and once he had possession proceeded to take the team to an entirely different level. And how he managed to do so after taking such a beating from Empoli’s defenders (bringing back horrid memories) is a question beyond answering. No doubt, had Simone Perrotta been given the standard yellow, Francesco would’ve been subbed off. Assuredly mighty sore on Sunday morning, but well worth it for the three points. Still the best player in calcio.

The game got quite difficult with the moderately-to-severely absurd straight red Perrotta was shown for a “tactical” foul, as The Poobah mentioned pre-game. The exact same foul Max Tonetto was guilty of in the Super Coppa and was simply shown an expected yellow; also the very game which saw Simone red carded for saying not nice things to the referee’s assistant on the sidelines. I think it’s fair to say if Pierluigi Collina gets a bullet or a horse’s head in the mail this weekend, Simone’s going to be suspect number one.

Now here’s the best part: Juventus won also, thanks to a little bit of karma for the Nerazzurri, and the lead is now down to four little points, as opposed to 11 about a month ago. With Roma’s world tour of the relegation zone and bottom half of the table now in full swing, the sun is at least peaking through the clouds for the time being. The following table, stolen graciously from Gabriella, shows just how the final weeks of the season will pan out for both sides (I deleted Juventus because they don’t have a prayer, simple as that):

Week 31 – 29-30/3/08
Cagliari – Roma
Lazio – Inter

CL – 1/4/08
Roma – ManU

Week 32 – 5-6/4/08
Atalanta – Inter
Roma – Genoa

CL – 9/4/08
ManU – Roma

Week 33 – 12-13/4/08
Inter – Fiorentina
Udinese – Roma

Coppa – 16/4/08
Roma – Catania
Inter – Lazio

Week 34 – 19-20/4/08
Roma – Livorno
Torino – Inter

Week 35 – 26-27/4/08
Inter – Cagliari
Roma – Torino

Week 36 – 3-4/5/08
Milan – Inter
Sampdoria – Roma

Coppa – 7/5/08
Catania – Roma
Lazio – Inter

Week 37 – 10-11/5/08
Inter – Siena
Roma – Atalanta

Week 38 – 18/5/08
Catania – Roma
Parma – Inter*

* – This is setting up to be one of the biggest karma games of all time.

Could be much worse. Actually, I’m not sure it could get much better. (This week at some point a full break down on the run of calcio hell.)

The other huge news from the game was the yellow card accumulations of Mirko Vucinic and Daniele De Rossi, along with Simone’s rosso. This means they miss the Cagliari encounter and make that a fun starting XI to think about for the rest of the week. And Cagliari may have the look of a “trap” game (they’ve been playing quite well as of late), but it’s safe to say if I could pick one game for them to miss for the rest of the year, this would be it – and I doubt I’m the only one who would do the same. Plus I’m sure Bruno will have a little talking to with Daniele just before the game. You know, let ‘em know how it’s going to be.

Standings

1. Inter 68 (35)
2. Roma 64 (26)

Four points is a mighty small sum.

Highlights

Tabellino

ROMA (4-2-3-1): Doni; Cassetti, Panucci, Ferrari, Tonetto; De Rossi, Pizarro (77′ Brighi); Giuly (54′ Vucinic), Perrotta, Mancini (65′ Taddei); Totti. A disp.: Curci, Cicinho, Antunes, Esposito. All.Spalletti

EMPOLI (4-4-1-1): Bassi; Raggi (72′ Volpato), Piccolo, Marzoratti, Antonini; Buscè, Abate, Marchisio (51′ Moro), Budel (81′ Giacomazzi); Vannucchi; Giovinco. A disp.: Balli, Tosto, Marianini, Vanigli. All. Malesani

ARBITRO: Gava di Conegliano (Stefani-Faverani; 4° Scoditti)

MARCATORI: 35′ Tonetto, 50′ Giovinco, 63′ Panucci

NOTE: Espulso Perrotta al 57′ per gioco violento. Ammoniti Raggi, Piccolo, De Rossi, Panucci, Abate, Vucinic, Buscè. Recupero 1′ pt, 5′ st.

Ratings

Doni: I’m pretty sure had Giovinco’s knuckleball not hit the post I would’ve given him a -27 just for having his feet set in stone on that shot. However, he did damn well in saving that close range bullet and was not at fault for the goal whatsoever. 7

Cassetti: Next time Roma plays a team including Giovinco (guessing it’s not going to be Empoli, likely Juve), he needs to read The Art of the Trailing Foot beforehand. Or just call up Momo Sissoko for tips on how to tackle like you’re having a seizure mid-lunge. 6.5

Panucci: The only possible way he could top that clutch performance is if he walks up to King Alberto on Monday morning and says, “Hey, I’m going to get a tattoo of you getting a yellow in the derby, then having to watch me score another game winner from the stands.” I think TGIP has found his targetman 3rd striker. 8

Ferrari: I know Roma, even if they didn’t spend his equal in value, could probably do better, but it’s days like yesterday I kind of hope that “after this year I’m gone” declaration was a negotiating tactic/bluff. Especially when he laid full out for that tackle late in the game when Empoli surely would’ve taken a point and jubilation would’ve turned to pissedoffness. Still a nice 3rd/4th option to have around – at least for the rest of the season. 7

Tonetto: Max will have to send Totti a huge fruitbasket for the service on that goal, but it wasn’t a gimme by any stretch. Had Doni not saved that close range shot from SG, he would’ve looked quite sheepish for what looked to be skipping over the ball as Giovinco made his way into the box. Luckily, Alex saved the day and Max has his day. 7.5

Pizarro: Speaking of fruitbaskets, I really hope David has already sent his to Old Man River for pulling his arse out of the ditch with that header. Nice service, but one of these days he’s got to learn counters going in the opposite direction are equally important as setting up your teammates. 6.5

DDR: Spent a ton of time on the ball behind The Roman Clusterfuck, which was out in full force. Wonder if The Don watched. Other than that, more of the same, though not “I’m going to need to change my pants” good at any point that I recall. Just a regular monster. (I’m just probably not remembering it correctly.) 7

Mancini & Ludovicious: For some odd reason, both of their performances are escaping me at the moment, so I’m just going to wish them a Happy Easter and be on with it.

Simone: He gets an eight just as consolation for his second unjustified red card of the season. Maybe it’ll help soothe his wounds. 8

Totti: Jesus rose from the dead a day early this year. 8

Brighi: Filled Simone’s maniacal, Energizer boots well, but this game could’ve easily been 4-1 and a no-contest with 10 men had he pulled his skirt up and sent in some balls with mustard. Or maybe it was because the pitch was one big Slip n’ Slide by the end of the game. Probably more the latter. Word is he got in trouble with The Mister afterwards. Uh oh. (Still, he gave ‘em what they needed to help obtain three points after Simone was sent off.) 6.5

Vucinic: C’mon. Did you think he was going to bust out the heroics for Empoli? He’s waiting for Chanmester. Until then, everyone else can fill in against the relegation fodder for the three points. 7

Taddei: Absolutely anything not reminiscent of his Wednesday suckitude was welcomed. That and more with the game on the line. 7

Key Matchups

Roma v Set Pieces: There weren’t many of these because Giovinco was busy creating miles of space between himself and the defenders and uncorking shots before any Giallorossi could get a whiff of his Old Spice. So Roma wins by default.

Cicinho v Runways: I’m just going to give you a little look back to the preview.

Given that Marco was out injured and then seemed to get real banged up at the end of the derby, also throwing in the fact that he’s probably the third CB (what’s Rodrigo Defendi doing these days? he available?) and ONLY reliable back up defender on the roster for the game (minus any DDR experimentation), logic says it’s going to be Cicinho.

* – Also, you know how it works, feel free on betting the deed to your house that Cassetti starts.

Always listen to me, then do the exact opposite.

Doni v Doni: I’m pretty sure he soiled himself when Giovinco’s knuckler came in, so that would explain the statuesque pose. Some of you may have as well (not looking for a show of hands here). Saved the three. Forza Alex.

Empoli v DDR: Benjamin Franklin once said the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. Well I’m now adding a third:

Daniele De Rossi owning the midfield.

Roma v Mentality: A ten man win and essentially playing everyone but Giovinco off the pitch in terrible conditions pretty much summed it up for me. Given how good Roma looked with ten, this really isn’t a concern right now. Their minds are in the correct places.

Four points.

Putting the summer of ‘06 aside, that was the best game I have seen in many years. I laughed, I cried, I smiled, I cowered, I bit my fingers off, I yelled too loudly in enclosed spaces, I rocked back and forth like Leo Mazzone for 90+ minutes, and I blacked out before Pirlo’s free kick in the 94th minute and totally missed the end. (Actually, I was covering my eyes, I thought it was going in – it was Pirlo, after all.)

What can you say, really? It was nearly everything one could hope from the Giallorossi. The first half was football on a cloud, precision movement, passes, running….everything but the finishing. It was largely a back and forth affair, but that first 45 was simply sublime. David Pizarro and Max Tonetto must have run about three marathons combined in the first 45 alone – with David’s stellar intro being greatly welcomed and Max continuing to look like a stud on a weekly basis (give an old man a week in between games – it’ll do wonders).

After the half there was a big letdown, and Milan really took the play to Doni. Clarence Seedorf was everything he should’ve been in the Champions League, and we have Cicinho to thank for taking three points instead of one for that goal line clearance (and who daresay Cici can’t defend, eh?). Kaka’s run was a whole bunch of disorganization (and credit to Milan for causing that disorganization) and whole lot of freakin’ luck for Oddo to actually put a serviceable ball into the middle of the box.

Then the Rossoneri were all over Roma like flies on shit Emerson, and I know what each and every person was thinking after that goal went in, too: “This game’s over, they’re going to collapse. This is what Roma does. Play the best football on earth, and then collapse.”

Not this year. Not this team.

Enter Luciano “Sex On A Chalkboard” Spalletti, who has earned every ounce of praise he’s ever received in the last three weeks alone, with two crucial, crucial substitutions.

Ludovic Giuly. As large as Oompa Loompas get, mon ami. Fantastic technique on the goal – probably learned it, oh I dunno, watching highlights or something. And the goal? The very definition of a Roman Clusterfuck.

Mirko Vucinic. What to say about Mirko Vucinic? How about this: If he needed a kidney, I’d gladly give him one of mine and then the other to put on ice – you know, just in case. After so many failed chances on sitters early in the season, he’s come through when it counts. Come through immeasurably when it counts, actually. Eight goals this year, here are the opponents:

Milan (2).
Dinamo Kiev; Champions League (2).
Real Madrid; Champions League.
Sporting Lisbon; Champions League.
Lazio; The Derby.
Parma (fluke).

Last year? Manchester United, Champions League.

And for four of those he was a sub. (ManYoo as well.)

That’s no coincidence. His performances otherwise have been fantastic, especially his late game appearance against Inter two weeks ago, another massive game. The very definition of a difference maker, and just simply a big game player. It may only be one season, but those goals and performances alone have earned him the tag “Legend in the Making”. Actually, you know what?

Legend in the Making.

If you can pull off those goals in those games, you’ve earned it, my friend. Here’s to many, many more years of the legendary Balkan Maradona.

(And I sincerely appear for ever doubting the comparisons between you and Zlatan.)

Flying beneath the radar is the all over the field performance from Il Capitano, who was not directly involved, but made so much happen over both halves. It’s hard to imagine what this game would have been like without him. A loss, surely.

And before we head onto the overly exuberant player ratings, watch Mirko’s goal one more time……

…..and then tell me Daniele De Rossi is not the best player in the world right now.

The highlights are here, and that insane corner kick situation is here.

Particulars

ROMA (4-2-3-1): Doni; Cicinho, Panucci, Juan, Tonetto; De Rossi, Pizarro (17′ st Giuly); Taddei (27′ st Aquilani), Perrotta, Mancini (11′ st Vucinic); Totti.
A disp.: Curci, Brighi, Ferrari e Antunes.

MILAN (4-3-2-1): Kalac; Oddo, Maldini, Kaladze, Favalli; Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini (40′ st Gilardino); Kakà (42′ st Paloschi), Seedorf (27′ st Emerson); Pato.
A disp.: Fiori, Simic, Bonera e Brocchi.

Arbitro: Rizzoli di Bologna

Marcatori: 11′ st Kakà, 33′ st Giuly, 36′ st Vucinic

Note: Ammoniti: Gattuso, Pato, Favalli. Recupero 3′ pt e 5′ st. Spettatori 48.000, per un incasso di 812.147,00 euro circa. Calci d’angolo: 5-4 per la Roma. Tiri in porta 6-4 per il Milan. Possesso palla: Roma 49.6%-50.4% Milan.

Player Ratings

Doni: All I want to know is if he was drinking liquid Valium in that little brown bottle in the first half, because the man was the very definition of “nonchalant” for the rest of the game. Aliens could’ve anally probed him mid-game and I’m not sure he would’ve done anything but sat there and thought, “ooh, that tickles”. As long as they win, whatever gets it done. 10

Cicinho: Had an immensely tough task with The Quacker, who looked every bit of being 18 years old mentally, Seedorf and, on occasion, Kaka. They scored one goal straight down the middle. That’s enough for me. (Oh, and he saved the game.) 10

Old Man River: I swear, he and Maldini must have gotten a twofer at the fountain of youth pregame, because he looked like anything but an elderly right back playing in the middle. Floating all over the place, taking the ball up the field….he must’ve thought he was playing on the other side for the day. 10

Juan: This guy….again, confusing himself with a striker. I love it. 10

Tonetto: Max is going to need a third lung. The guy covered more ground than UPS on Saturday. Getting up, getting back, getting up, getting back…it eventually hurt him, but not enough. Ole Max has been huge part of this resurgence over the last month, let’s hope he’s got a couple more years of this left in those twigs. 10

Daniele De Rossi: Immense. Simply immense. Gattuso dressed in Armani laced out with diamonds and jewels. A 24 year old legend of indescribable qualities; and when he is done, without a doubt in my mind, the best Italian of his generation. I think they should hand out diapers when he plays – he’s just that good. No number can quantify Daniele De Rossi right now.

David Pizarro: I give David Pizarro a lot of schtick, so here goes…

That was awesome, fucking awesome. The first half he was everywhere, fighting for balls in Roma’s box, in Milan’s box, in the press box, in Rosella’s suite. Laying the ball on a string, directing a little bit of traffic. And yeah, he faded in the second half; but one, Milan really picked up, and two, all that running in the first half made his little legs tired. Those 45 minutes made this his best game of the season. 10, @#$%ing 10.

Taddei: I didn’t notice him until the 25th minute, really, and after that he was everywhere until he came off. Everywhere. 10

Perrotta: What a pass from Simone to Ludovicious. And it was nice to see him dropping back there when it was clear Roma was going to need to put something into the back of the net and get the lineup a bit more attack-oriented. Finishing or not, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man…Simone! 10

Mancini: Simply got beat to nearly every ball by Space Balls – not that he had a poor game. Had he scored that scissor we would’ve been talking about it for the rest of our lives. Off after 55, which means he’ll be fresh for the derby. Oh boy…..Amantino! Amantino! Amantino! 10

Il Capitano: The best we’ll ever know. 10

Mirko, Ludovic & Alberto: 3 subs and the goals start coming, all three playing at least some part in the goals. What a difference a bench makes. 10

The Grand Imperial Poobah: The best coach in the business. 10

Key Matchups

Cicinho v Favalli: I may be mistaken here but I’m pretty sure Favalli didn’t make it anywhere near the final third but a couple times, especially in the first half (probably because he’s still showin’ off his ass to his highway reststop buddies hanging in the nord). In fact, I’m not sure Favalli did anything, which makes Cicinho winner by default. Winner: Cicinho

Carletto v Carletto: Carlo seems to be taking a lot of crap in the Milan circles for taking off Clarence – easily Milan’s best player – and bringing on The Pussy Cat (that last part can be omitted). But Clarence was hurt recently and he may be hurt again. And his hand was really forced with the double Gila/12 year old substitution due to Kaka’s back injury. But still…Emerson? Come on – Carlo should’ve laced them up himself. Winner: Everyone but Milan.

Ricky Kaka v DDR: The Rickster did have a goal, but DDR kept him in check, and that foot race where DDR ran step for step with Kaka then took the ball off of him was everything that is right about the game. Kaka disappeared way too much, as he tends to do, so….get those t-shirts ready. Winner: DDR

The Frontline v That Backline: Paolo looked like he was pushing 20, not 40, but Kaladze was utter shite and that’s all that really matters. Roma probably should’ve had at least 1-2 in the first half alone, and Milan couldn’t hold them when it really mattered – including that Under 6 like scrum around the ball for Ludovic’s goal. Winner: Frontline

MOTM: The team picture. I lupi…all of them

And one last thing:

Before the Napoli game Aquilani, De Rossi, Mexes, Pizarro, and Mirko were all one yellow away from suspension. In the last two games, not one Giallorossi has been handed a card. It may just be coincidence, or poor refereeing, but I like to think this team has hit a much higher level of focus and determination, and that being “on form” is only the half of it. This is a different Roma.

Now bring on the burini………

I didn’t get to see it. Chances are you didn’t get to see it. And if you did, it was probably as easy to decipher the happenings as it would be to take a Rorschach test while some guy rubs Vaseline in your eye. Three cheers for Napoli and their television rights – see if Roma ever gives you a 4-4 draw again.

Therefore, since the only thing we have to go on is the wonderful highlights which the Calcio Stork may drop into our open arms and written reports, here’s a little breakdown of what we know and what we’d like to know.:


Particulars

NAPOLI: Gianello; Santacroce (36′ s.t. Garics), Cannavaro, Contini , Mannini (18′ s.t. Calaiò), Blasi, Gargano, Hamsik (33′ s.t. Bogliacino), Domizzi, Lavezzi, Zalayeta.
A disp: Navarro, Grava, Montervino, Sosa.
All.: Reja

ROMA: Doni; Panucci, Mexes (45′ s.t. Antunes), Juan, Cicinho; De Rossi, Aquilani (27′ s.t. Pizarro); Taddei, Perrotta, Vucinic; Totti (42 s.t. Brighi).
A disp.: Curci, Mancini, Esposito.
All.: Spalletti

Marcatori: 2′ p.t. Perrotta, 4′ s.t. Totti (rig.)

Ammoniti: Mannini, Domizzi e Blasi.

Arbitro: Saccani di Mantova
Assitenti: Lion-Biasutto. IV uomo: Damato.

Note: Angoli: 7-6 per la Roma; Possesso palla: 53% a favore della Roma; spettatori: 60.000 circa.

What We Know

Francesco Totti has spent 500 games proving he’s better than everyone else.

It was Francesco’s 500th game in Giallorosso, which was capped off nicely with a peno and, supposedly, a virtuoso performance from the man they call Il Jesus. (“They” being “me”, but you knew that already.)

I think the most important things are best when simply stated (I can hear the guy in the back row going, “is that why you write so much?”), so here goes:

Grazie, and here’s to 500 more.

It’s all about the beard.

You know when Simone Perrotta is actually hitting the back of the net something special is going on. The cement shoes were gone, and only Matteo Gianello could keep things relatively kosher for Napoli. What’s different since his last goal against Lazio (yes, Lazio – in October)? The beard. It’s gotta be the beard.

And therefore I’m contemplating going with the beard, both in Simone’s honor and because it might actually help out with those things I’ve been having difficulty accomplishing lately: like wearing pants; not confusing men’s deodorant for the women’s variety and walking down the city streets smelling like a freshly rained on meadow; not forgetting what socks I’m wearing and putting on high end Italian dress shoes over white, cotton Nike quarter socks and sitting down for the world to see; not having acute bouts of dyslexia when ordering a coffee (“milk coffee iced skim medium splenda turbo” – and you think I’m joking); not cycling through email on my phone and getting stuck with another person in a revolving doorway; and finally, not posting random embarrassing shit which has happened to me over the past week on the internet (minus the pants thing). I think a beard would help. Forza Simone!

Oh yeah, Roma…

Everbody’s safe.

Not a single yellow card for Roma, and everybody’s safe for the Milan game. You know what this says about Roma? They can impose their will upon a game and come out on top on all facets. This is a total team capable of complete football in more sense than just “attacking” or “defending”. I mean, guess how many yellow cards they had against Napoli the first time around……….pausing for dramatic effect………..

Two.

So maybe I’m wrong and this is a friendly derby. Butterflies and cupcakes all around. Group hug.

• - Since the platform we use has been crapping out and I’ve had to resort to Word to write these posts, I’ve realized two things from all the red & green underlines they’re throwing at me right now:
1. I have terrible sentence structure.
2. If you’re grammar is bad enough, Microsoft Word looks like you’re having a seizure at a traffic light.

Mirko has great taste.

And by great taste, we mean “he knows how to copy Philou”. I love those boots. I’m not sure they make a difference other than some kind of pseudo-psychiatric-wannabe-Pato-effect, but I like ‘em. (Boots + beard = total world dominance? Perhaps, perhaps…)

Roma can play some D.

So guess who’s tied for league lead in clean sheets with Inter this year? Yup. Not bad for a team which lost one of its starting CBs over the summer, eh?

Six points…..

It’s doable. It’s more than doable.

Questions I Would Like Answered About Napoli, Dammit

How good was Daniele De Rossi?

Was he just “he looks like Paolo Maldini and Conan The Barbarian had an offensively-gifted lovechild” good or was like “I think I need to change my pants” good. Usually it’s the latter, but I just need confirmation.

Was Cicinho leaving airplane hangar-sized spaces between himself and attackers or is his defending on the upward curve?

Seems like a logical question, given that it appears his playing time may be increasing steadily.

If Ludovic Giuly stood on top of David Pizarro, could they give Doni a high-five? And if so, would he care?

This has nothing to do with Napoli, it’s just a general question I’ve wanted to ask for awhile.

How many WMDs did Alberto release?

I get that he has a phenomenal outside shot, but I also gather that some of that possession could be more efficiently used. Maybe TGIP told him to ease his finger off the trigger a little bit this time around to see how things went otherwise. Seems a fair request.

OMR….the new YMR?

The guy is just firing crosses into the box from damn near his own half over the past week and the ball eventually, somehow winds up in goal. Is Roma utilizing some futuristic magnetic technology or has OMR found some sort of magical potion?

(Who cares, actually.)

Did Alberto make fun of Marek Hamsik’s tattoos?

You know, because it seems like it would be his thing.

Maurizio Domizzi: The lovechild of Steve-O and an Orangutan?

(All apologies to the orangutan.)

• - Also, a big ole vaffanculo to whoever decided on the pronunciation of “orangutan”.

That is all.

This is what happens when Cicinho starts !

Roma managed to fend off Prandelli’s purple posse to gain some ground in the (re?)Opened Scudetto race. Oprah promised us a Soaring and Joyful event and she delivered. She’ll now be promoting the upcoming book so Stay tuned for book signings in your area!

On with the game :

Roma controlled most of the possession in the 1st half. Like usual, the finishing was lacking. But they must have held at least 75% in the 1st half. Fiorentina were great at defending spaces and were well compacted in defense. Tried to restrain the Roman Clusterfuck as best as they could. They resisted well the whole 1st half. Even Mutu and Vieri were helping out by coming back to help out the D.

Like Greece, circa June 2004, Fiorentina looked dangerous every time they attacked.Even without much possession they managed to pull many occasions of out their Asses. Thank God Doni was on great form, he even managed to indirectly cause Mutu to leave the match. Cicinho got his first Serie A goal on beautiful team effort. This was an excellent game; the 1-0 scoreline doesn’t do justice to the beauty of this Serie A outing. Fiorentina and Roma gave us a beautiful display of what I like to call Serie A at it’s best.

IL TABELLINO

ROMA–FIORENTINA 1-0

ESPULSI: Cicinho (R)

Highlights:

Dr. Phil’s Categorical Matchups. (Tomorrow : Twins on Heroin !!! )

Tired Legs vs Contused Legs:

Dr Phil fucked up on this one! This game was excellently exciting. Not Rollercoaster-ish a la Parma- Torino but That was Some Sexy Serie A Action!

Adrian Mutu vs the Giallorossi Defense:

Doni took him out early on so he didn’t get to do must damage. This pisses me off a little because I’m sure that once Pradè saw the knee injury, he got on the phone with Pantaloon Corvino right away.

Luciano Spalletti vs Cesare Prandelli :

Spalletti read the game well this time with some smart defensive substitutions. I love the fact that he know you can’t have more than 2 players under 4 feet on the pitch at the same time!
Like the Italians like to say: Ha ben gestito il risultato. He managed the result well. ! Spalletti gets all 3 point but Prandelli wins this matchup, purely based on non -calcio factors!

Cesare Prandelli: This guy takes La Viola seriously! His outfit is the coolest I have seen on a Serie A bench. Silvio Baldini rocks a mean Jeans and ugly shirt but I mean the Shiny Purple almost vinyl/Leather coat with the pimped out purple turtleneck! It doesn’t get any better than that! The only reason he (almost?) pulls it off is because he looks like a Movie star from the 50’s. If Prandelli starts smoking cigars a la Lippi on the sidelines with a nice purple hat like this one (preferably ornamented by a feather); he’ll be officially legendary!

David Pizarro vs Chris:

Playing higher up DP has the chance to do less damage. 1 decent outside footed cross in the closing minutes other than that? Aquilani didn’t get himself into life threatening situations and Pizarro didn’t score in a derby yet…

What a beautiful thing is it to see DDR and Aquilani together!

Stars of the Match

His DDRness:

I will, as of now, begin taking Daniele De Rossi’s amazing displays for granted. DDR is; indispensable. What I’m about to say might offend and repulse some of you, and you might not see me in the same way after. In my defense I’d like to say 2 things 1st.

1. I’m more of a fan of the dirty unrecognised defensive work. As much as I like Totti-esque attacking displays; The various Gattusos, Cannavaros, Zambrottas and DDR’s of this world obtain and deserve all of my respect. I think spectacular defensive displays deserve the same media Hype attackers get.

2. Totti is the Nicola Tesla of Calcio, a Roman Gladiator, blessed by the God of Mars and now is a legendary Roman god himself. His feet look like they’re possessed by Stephen Hawking’s brain.

I will still go on and say this; as of 2008, Danielino has surpassed Francesco Totti in my giallorossi heart. Those Spaniards said it best: DDR is Gattuso dressed in Armani.

Cicinho:

even tough he took a stupid 2nd yellow at the end so he won’t be facing Inter. Cicinho is a star. He was at the same spot as Totti and Giuly on the goal. The guy is crazy fast, running back or running up the pitch. I think that Spalletti doesn’t want to see Giuly, Pizarro and Cicinho on the pitch at the same time. So more Aquilani for Pizarro means more Cicinho. I irrationally admire the mini Brazilian WingBack (he’s not exactly what I call a Defensive RB). His supposed defensive shortcomings are overcompensated
with what he brings to the offence.

Minchia ! Cicinho was all the way on the left side of the 5-yard box and beat Totti and Giuly to the ball to score. Grande Cicero!

Amazing shots from la distanza like in the 37th minute! Of all the times he could have scored today it had to be the ugly one. Starting with Doni ; 8 untouched passes by the Viola before CiCi’s goal. Stupid sending off that’ll see him miss the Inter clash, but he would have probably been benched anyhow. His celebration alone; (Conti and all)- plus the fact that he desperately needed and rightfully deserved this goal earns him my Man of the Match not called DDR.

il Capitano a.k.a. The Golden Boy a.k.a. The guy who gets to sleep with Ilary Blasi :

How much knocking and bruising does Totti take week in and week out? I mean it’s crazy, there’s always a minimum of 2 guys on him at all times and one of them is always trying to twist his nipples.

Fortunately, Il Re Totti is looking better and better. He looks officially fully recuperated from his recent injury woes and The Fiorentina game helped him gain the right timing back. Bring on The Black and Blue. Hoping he pulls another Pallonetto out of his golden ass. Message to Totti : Grow your hair back you non-Hippie!

Disorganised thoughts:

-Taddei and Cicinho looked like they were joined at the hip for the whole time they were on the pitch together. Both getting up on offense and on defense. Playing those 2 together looks like you have 2 RW when we hold possession and 2 RB when Fiorentina was countering.

-Vucinic not only needs to learn how to finish but he needs to get a cross in the box without seeing it blocked! I know it’s not his natural position and you can’t expect Vuci to play like Mancini. He needs to be centered more. He can hold the ball up better than Giuly ( La fourmis atomique was on the end of every long ball!). Frey gets a lot of credit once again, However, Vucigol needs to work on his freaking positioning, watch it with the Offsides!

-Ferrari can’t defend C. Vieri to save his life. Technically, Matteo is the one who cost us 2 points last time we played Prandelli’s purple people.

He was trying to do too much in the 1st half controlling the ball and all but Ferrari pisses me off. He has talent, he has the Size and Skill but he’s not at that level, he’s not elite. He needs to be at this point in his career, for himself se no; he needs to kiss his Azzurri hopes good bye

-The young Kukuzzamanovic looked good. La viola know how to recruit the youngen.

- I’m pretty sure Ted knows who we are now !

-Saying Papa Waigo rapidly is very pleasant! Plus if you say it 3 times I front of the mirror, he appears with Candy in his hands!

Grazie Ragazzi!

Thanks to Antonio ”Talentino” Cassano we’re now 9 Points back. That’s 3 losses for Inter. So let’s give them their 1st one on Wednesday. Now if only someone can remind Lulu Giuly to keep his hands and arms in the vehicle at all times…

For the first time in I don’t know how long, as the game wound down, I was thinking to myself “please please please pleeeeease blow the whistle….pleeeeeeease”. It was that type of affair. A good victory for the boys, but one which was mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting – and I’m just talking about the fans. It still leaves a lot of work to be done at the Bernabeu in a few weeks. By no means is this a “cushion”.

After Raul scored 8 minutes into the game and Ruud van NistelIfinishedsecondtoTottiagain had a goal called back for offsides, if you weren’t think about a certain CL scoreline, well, you’re lying through that massive gap in your teeth, Pinocchio. But somehow, someway, that managed to be the extent of the damage, and hearts were racing for 90 minutes for no good reason – because they were going to win all along (duh).

There was one story going in, and there’s one story going out: Daniele De Rossi. It was MJ against the Jazz in 1998 all over again, with DDR taking on and taking out any and all comers. Daniele is shortlisting himself for title as not just the best midfielder in Italy, but also Europe. That type of performance after being questionable going into the game was nothing short of legendary, and more than just a glimmer of hope for the future. It will be a sad, sad day when Francesco Totti retires, but the future of the Giallorossi will be just fine with Daniele De Rossi leading la magica.

Speaking of Totti (I feel like it’s almost sacrilegiousto say “speaking of Totti”), he turned in a much better performance, although it only came in flashes. His ball on Mancini’s goal was superb, and they had another break late in the second half where a similar ball – something you come to take for granted from the Tottster – would’ve made it three. But still, it’s uplifting to see him more involved and more creative as he works back to fitness and form. Baby steps.

As far as David Pizarro goes…..god bless the little man. If it weren’t for his deflections in the Champions League, who the hell knows where they’d be? (Also, that’s 3 goals, 4 deflections, this year – that’s gotta be a skill, right?)

Box Score

ROMA (4-2-3-1): Doni; Panucci (67′ Tonetto), Juan (76′ Ferrari), Mexes, Cassetti; De Rossi, Pizarro (61′ Aquilani); Giuly, Perrotta, Mancini; Totti. A disp.: Julio Sergio, Cicinho, Vucinic, Ferrari. All. Spalletti

REAL MADRID (4-1-3-2): Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Heinze, Miguel Torres; Diarra (80′ Drenthe); Guti, Gago, Robben (80′ J.Baptista); Raul, Van Nistelrooy. A disp.: Dudek, Salgado, Soldado, Higuain, Balboa. All. Schuster

ARBITRO: Fandel (Ger)

MARCATORI: 7′ Raul, 24′ Pizarro, 58′ Mancini

NOTE: Ammoniti Diarra, De Rossi, Miguel Torres, Perrotta, Sergio Ramos, Cassetti. Recupero 0′pt, 3’st

* – Hot As Balls is out for the return leg. Amen.

Player Ratings

* – Liveblogging requires a lot of head jerking from one comp to the other, which isn’t all that wonderful for full-on analysis. Also, I may be kind with some of these.

Doni: Made one mistake which could’ve proven irrevocably fatal, when he dropped the ball, literally, on a cross from Raul (or was it RvN?) and left it hanging in the box before Juan came in to clean up for him. Don’t throw away that nitroglycerin just yet. 7

Panucci: He got absolutely owned by Arjen Robben during the battle of Guy Who Is Actually Old But Has Hair Like A 12 Year Old v Guy Who Is Way Too Young To Have A Hairline Receding Downwards Towards His Ass Crack. Second half was improved, but my word a second goal looked inevitable throughout that first half. OMR is gonna need that Vespa in Madrid. 6.5

Philouppe Mexes: I think it’s the yellow boots. But Philou was all class as well, and didn’t seem to have any lapses that I noticed. His consistency has really improved lately, it seems, and that’s all kinds of wonderful. Quite frankly, no one can replace his defending and no one can replace his hair. Priceless all around. 7.5

Juan: Helluva performance for a guy returning from a moderately severe injury. I’m not sure we could have asked for more. Now we’ll have to wait and see how serious that little knock he picked up at the end is……pray for Chuck. 7.5

Cassetti: Every game there’s one guy I go blank on. Consistently present, still going blank. I suspect this means I’m an idiot. 7.something

Daniele De Rossi: Legend. 10.5

Pizarro: Alright, goal was a deflection. Other than that he was all kinds of terrible, and gave nightmarish flashbacks to Saturday’s game where he lost possession deep into Roma territory and forced DDR to make a rash tackle and pickup a yellow, setting up a free kick in just the same place. Too dangerous for this team against elite opposition. But shit, he scored a goal against Real. 8 (See that right there? I don’t hate him.)

* – David also gets the award for Most Frightening Facial Expression After Scoring A Goal. Aside from that he also looks like a 10 year old boy carrying his books and apple to school, and I imagine he’d wear lederhosen or something.

Amantino: Splendid move and finishing on the goal. The Champions League Mancini we look forward to now. A dangerous threat, and had little trouble dealing with any of Real’s defenders. 7.5

Simone Perrotta: I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice him much (this happens when liveblogging), and just assume he did what he does and ran around like a madman and do all the little things which go unappreciated. Noticed a few choice disruptions, and even though he wasn’t hugely present in front of the goal, and some nice linkage. 7

Ludovicious: Clearly exhausted at the end, and perhaps the biggest impacted by Juan’s little injury. I thought we’d see Cicinho on for him to tighten things up defensively with 10 left or so. And I’m not a big fan of LG starting out on the wing. He’s not overly consistent out there and rarely has a great impact unless he’s cutting in – not to mention providing little to no defensive help. I like him in the middle and I like him as an injection of pace out wide when defensive legs are tired. Other than that, can’t recall any time lately when he’s been really effective. Except for allowing me to perform endless trial and error processes for my nicknaming skills. 6.5

Totti: On the way back, and that’s all they need at the moment. May have a rest over the weekend with Inter looking and Roma at home, which will probably help things as he works towards vintage for the return leg in Spain. 7

Aquilani: The team, though clearly tired, seemed to perform better on the back end when he was on the pitch. His ability to track back and make tackles Pizaman couldn’t even dream of making really makes a world of difference for this team. 7

Tonetto: Did very well getting forward as soon as he got on, and linked up well with Amantino, creating some good situations. Maybe some prolonged rest would do his gray-haired self some wonders. Not much time, though. 7

Ferrari: Not enough time on the pitch to make an impact, though managed to hold steay under Real’s increasing pressure in the final minutes.

MOTM: Many are picking Mancini, which is a good call, he got the winning goal and was an ever-present threat. But Daniele De Rossi was The Difference Maker. the game totally changes without him on the pitch. (And how about that feckin ball to Francesco to start up Mancini’s goal? Superb.)

Highlights

* – And I’m fairly sure you guys shattered the offside’s record number for comments. Well done. Well done indeed.

What a crappy day in football. Breakfast in front of an Inter win (to the hands of Livorno, di piu !) Followed by an afternoon with DP and ADP. Awful, just plain woeful!I’d especially like to thank Pavel Nedved for living up to his ex Lazio player reputation.

I’m sorry, but this review won’t be rational because I’m doing it at light speed and am completely pissed at the moment. There are so many things i’d like to say to Spalletti right about now. So i decided to write him a nice little letter…

If you want a ”real” review, head on here!

An open letter to Spalletti ;

Luciano ! You botched the starting formation and subsequent subs. This loss is your fault. To take a goal like we did, is understandable, Del Piero just stroke the ball extremely well. Doni got to it, but couldn’t steer it clear of goal. Not to mention, the dubiousness of the foul that gave way to the free kick in the 1st place. I don’t want to blame the referee for anything in this game, I think the calls were fair on each side today. But I do want to blame you! I’m not calling for your head, I’m a big fan of your work but you read the game with the same talent David Pizarro does! (contrary to what you think, it’s not a compliment) I understand you had no strikers on the bench but still, what the hell?

Here are a couple of things you need to work on;

The starting line- up should have looked like this

Doni,
Cicinho/OMR, Ferrari, Mexes, Tonetto
De Rossi, Aquilani
Cassetti, Giuly, Mancini
Totti

You can even try out Aquilani as a trequartista if you can’t imagine Pocket Pizarro out of the line up. Aquilani needs to be there from the start or at least right after half time.

If Roma’s playing like shit; SCREAM, You bald bastard! Please learn how to fire up your squad. We’ve spoke about this before; get ejected, do something crazy!

When Perrotta’s playing like that, PUT IN GIULY! It’s simple, just call to the shortest Frenchman on the bench, crouch down, ass slap him and then send him in.

When you saw Taddei play like crap why didn’t you do anything!? Here’s a solution
Push up Cassetti and bring in Cicinho. I know Cicinho can be a defensive liability but he’s also an offensive weapon. When we need a goal, we need Cicinho, remember the AC Milan game? When Dani Alves says you’re a better player than he is, it means you’re good fuckin’ awesome! You don’t leave 10M$ on the pine!

You need to work on an alternate formation for when shit hits the fan. 4-4-2, 3-5-2, hell a 5-5-0 if it helps, but spice things up !

Don’t get me wrong, no one is calling for your head but you screwed up big time Spal. We here, at the Roma offside, have decided to officially strip you of the TGIP title; you have now been demoted to Imperial poobah ‘til further notice! And that further notice better come on Tuesday!

Sincerely,

A pissed off Romanista !

=======================================================================

Key Matchups

Philippe Mexes v Pavel Nedved:

All I have to say is ; Fuck Pavel Nedved. He represents everything I hate about soccer, haircut, dives and all. What would you expect from a Laziale at heart.

Pre-Winter Break Totti v Post-Winter Break Totti:

Francesco needs to get his shit together before the Real game. The Golden boy pulled a Houdini today.

JUVENTUS – ROMA 1-0

AMMONITI: Mexes, Chiellini, Mancini, Nocerino

Not the whole highlights, but pretty much sums up the game :

Forza Ragazzi, C’è solo la Roma, Prepariamoci alla grande per il Real Madrid, Forza Lupi !

Roma shrug off the 1st away defeat of the season by beating basement boys Reggina.
Finally, 3 points against a relegation battler! It wasn’t a convincing one, but 3 points is 3 points

Roma started off the game with a 3 Right Back 4 man defence. Panucci* was partnering Mexes in the middle, Cicinho and Cassetti (Cicinho from the get go !? ) as defensive backs. Aquilani and De Rossi in front of the D and the Mancini-Giuly-Taddei trio supporting the lone striking Golden boy. Roma had some decent chances in the 1st half but needed to wait 20 minutes before seeing someone capitalise on them, that guy was OMR! You can always count on Old Man River! Panucci managed to redirect Totti’s powerful cross into the net. Thing is he was almost out of bounds when he scored. Vintage Scottish Panucci !

* Ferrari ; How the fuck can you demand for the same paycheck as Juan and Mexes after the performance you pulled in Siena last week ? Who cares if you were part of the Euro 2004 squad. OMR has demonstrated that you look a little like excess baggage right now. Roma are offering a fair deal, I suggest you take it !

I wouldn’t go all the way and say that this was a convincing win by Roma, it wasn’t.
Reggina didn’t look bad at all during the game. They had some decent chances, especially in the 2nd half. Once, Makinwa and Amoruso got on the field, I almost had that ‘’ their going to Empoli our asses before the end of this game ‘’ feeling. They were looking dangerous. Panucci and Mexes looked vulnerable to Makinwa’s blazing speed.
Thank god, Ceravolo started out the game. The Nigerian, who just came back from the CAN, changed the whole allure of Reggina right from the moment he came on. Makinwa had some decent chances, he even hit a post! Luckily, Ludovic Giuly pulled off some little (pun intended) magic to create Mancini’s goal 2-0! Then Vucinic subs for Totti, and he starts shooting at the net every time he gets the ball until the final 3 whistles

At times, this partita looked a little like an exhibition game. Totti, Aquilani and Taddei weren’t on their best form. You know that Totti isn’t 100% fit when you see him not running and flicking back heels everywhere. He did almost manage to score a sweet half bicycle goal. Fortunately, this game was a perfect opportunity to work off the rust before the gauntlet of Calcio hell. Let’s hope the boys are ready to take on Juve, Inter, Real Madrid and Milan in the upcoming weeks

Highlights (as soon as they’re up, ok maybe tomorrow) :

…………

Roma-Reggina 2-0

Marcatori: Panucci al 21′; Mancini al 76′

Roma: Doni 6,5, Panucci 6,5, Mexes 6, Giuly 6 (dal 83′ Perrotta s.v.), Cicinho 6, De Rossi 6, Aquilani 6, Taddei 5,5 (dal 65′ Tonetto 6), Cassetti 5,5, Mancini 6, Totti 5,5 ( dal 75′ Vucinic 6). All.Spalletti

Reggina: Campagnolo , Lanzaro , Valdez , Aronica , Modesto Missiroli Tognozzi ( dal 77′ Cozza ), Barreto , Vigiani (dal 52′ Amoruso 6), Brienza Ceravolo (dal 46′ Makinwa ).

All. Ulivieri

Arbitro: Banti di Livorno,

Ammoniti: Aquilani al 26′: Cicinho al 62′; Valdez al 75′

Recuperi:1′ pt; 3’st

Key matchups

Roma vs the Net :
2 of them scored, none conceded. A clean sheet is always welcome. Not that much more to say except that De Rossi should have scored on his best chance.

Campagnolo vs Roma:
He managed a couple of decent saves but dealt badly with at least 2 clearances. Wasn’t his best game, but there was nothing he could do against this determined Roma. Maybe not Giallorossi # 2 keeper material.

Luciano Spalletti vs his Brain:

Way to go Lucio ! Smart substitutions, you played Aqui and Cici from the get go and you left Ferrari on the bench. Not to mention,Your 3 subs were used wisely That’s the Spal we all love.
This is what I said in the preview: Ps : PLAY CICINHO FROM THE START GOD DAMN IT!
Thank you Spal. It wasn’t the mini brazillian’s best performance, but at least he gets the chance to adapt to Serie A quicker. He looked good on Defence, but Cicinho still seems timid about letting shots fly and running hard at the opposition. I can’t wait for him to find his groove and look like the Cicinho who played against AC Milan.

Molson 3 Stars of the Game;

Giuly : He was nowhere to be found during the game. Then he weaved through 3 reggina defenders to smack a ball on goal, Manicini scores off the rebound. Those 7 seconds of sheer brilliance was enough to earn him the 3rd star.

Mancini : I don’t know if it’s because the Serie A training regimens gets players at their peak potential during the final stretch of the season, but Amantino is light years away from the sad, unproductive player he was at the start of the season. I’m ecstatic at the fact that Mancini is constantly putting his head down and running at defences. He didn’t’ manage to be as efficient as usual this time. However, He still managed some decent crosses and shots and was dangerous enough to score off Giuly’s insane individual action.

De Rossi : My MOTM. This guy does all the dirty work; this guy’s a total monster!
He was everywhere on the field today, EVERYWHERE it’s impossible that he’s not even 25 yet! DDR is a part of every counter attack, either initiating ours after winning the ball or shutting down the opposition’s. This kid is the future of Roma and the Azzurri. Daje Daniele !

As of now, only 5 points separate us from Inter so Forza Catania !