Mancinigate turned into “Hey, that wasn’t so bad”. Apparently Inter have saved all of their drama for the Lampard pursuit.

The final details aren’t known because the deal won’t become official until Mancini returns from vaca early next week, but it appears right now the fee is somewhere between 13m-15m and Mancini will sign damn near the same contract with Inter as he could have with Roma. Says something, doesn’t it? And now Inter gets a pouty, lazy, depressed and wildly inconsistent Brazilian backup for a sum Roma will turn into their final piece of the puzzle. Suckers.

Absolutely no animosity whatsoever with this move, and am glad for all of his services these years – whenever he felt like it. There were some good times, but the relationship had simply run its course. And I wish him to good fortune to play for Inter as he played for Roma this season and to regain his true form once he leaves Inter in a couple years.

More later. The good times after the jump.

In case you haven’t noticed – or have the intellectual capabilities of bird shit – I hate Inter. HATE Inter. I hate Moratti. I hate Mancini. I hate Zanetti. I hate Figo. I hate Stankovic. I hate Cambiasso. I hate Vieira. I hate blue. I hate black. I hate Pirelli. I hate the San Siro. I fucking hate Inter. I have since well before I became a Roma fan. I hated them well before Chivugate. I hated them well before those two asterisked trophies for Calcio Honesty. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them.

Wow, “Calcio Honesty” and “Inter” in the same paragraph. Who knew?

So what do you think this year has done for my feelings towards Inter? Butterflies and cupcakes and unicorns, right?

This game isn’t so much about the Coppa Italia as it is about Inter, because I honestly feel like they have more to lose from this than Roma. If Inter wins…great. We’ll still spend every two days in the summer hearing about the occasional crutch they were handed, along with quotes from intelligent footballing minds saying Roma was the better team. An Inter win here proves little.

But if Roma wins, it adds more ammo to the theory that Roma is the best team in calcio. Both teams have injuries which are essentially a wash (Cambiasso plus Zlatan almost equals the loss of Totti), so that’s out the window. Both teams have Brazilian goalkeepers, and neither one is Dida, which is a wash. Both teams will have a banged up back line, so that’s a wash. Basically the only thing which isn’t a wash is the brainpower patrolling the sidelines and the payrolls.

The great trump card here is obviously Spalletti. For all the trillions of lira Moratti has spent, he still has a meathead on the sidelines, whereas Roma has a top drawer mind at the chalkboard; and he’s had a week to get ready for a team which rarely throws a tactical surprise at you – at home no less. If it comes down to bringing 15m striker after 15m striker off the bench or having Spalletti? No contest. The Grand Imperial Poobah twelve days a week.

The one thing I hope Spalletti instills into the team is that this isn’t be about revenge, it should be about Roma proving itself to be the better team. Emotion in front of the crowd will be fantastic, no doubt, but if they stick to tactics and keep a collective cool, Roma will have to say no words, the play will speak for itself. (I won’t begrudge Mexes or DDR a fiery moment or two, however.) And really, that’s all that Roma needs to show. Just play as Roma can play and it will be a great day.

And win or lose, I think we all need to enjoy this one. Three months without Roma is a mighty long time.

Squads

Roma:

Antunes Gabriel
Aquilani Alberto
Bertagnoli J. Sergio
Brighi Matteo
Cassetti Marco
Cicinho
Curci Gianluca
De Rossi Daniele
Doni
Esposito Mauro
Juan
Giuly Ludovic
Mancini Alessandro
Mexes Philippe
Panucci Christian
Perrotta Simone
Pizarro David
Tonetto Max
Vucinic Mirko

Inter:

Goalkeepers: 1 Francesco Toldo, 12 Julio Cesar, 22 Paolo Orlandoni.

Defenders: 4 Javier Zanetti, 6 Maxwell, 13 Maicon, 16 Nicolas Burdisso, 26 Cristian Chivu, 40 Ivan Fatic, 47 Marco Filippini.

Midfielders: 5 Dejan Stankovic, 11 Luis Jimenez, 14 Patrick Vieira, 21 Santiago Solari, 28 Maniche, 30 Pelé, 31 Cesar.

Strikers: 18 Hernan Crespo, 29 David Suazo, 45 Mario Balotelli.

* – Much thanks to Ezio and Lorenzo for the pic. Great Romanisti think alike.

Key Injuries

Roma: Taddei, The Fiat (Ferrari) & that Totti guy.

Inter: Cruz & Macellazzi* are suspended (absolute shocker there), while Cambiasso & Zlatan are out injured.

* – Thanks to Chico for bringing that one back.

Probably XI

Doni;
Cicinho, Mexes, Juan, Tonetto;
DDR, Pizarro;
Mancini, Aquilani, Perrotta;
Vucinic.

Really doubt we see anything else aside from some rotation on the right flank.

Matchups

Roberto Mancini v A Down Syndrome Baboon: Let’s face it, the guy isn’t even close to the same league as Giancarlo Camolese, much less Luciano Spalletti. So comparing the two would be both unfair and imprudent. A down syndrome baboon at least gives Mancio a chance – albeit a very slight one.

And may I just say….Grazie Moratti. Keeping Mancio on is the best thing you could’ve done for the other 19 teams in Serie A. There’s a fetus somewhere drawing up better schemes in his mother’s womb than Minchia could diagram on his best day.

Zlatan’s Wandering Protrusion v The Ghost of Esteban Cambiasso’s Receding Hairline: Their two best players are out? Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Really, that leaves just one person to worry about without question, and that’s Julio Ceasar. (And by without question, I mean someone consistently fantastic over a lengthy stretch for all you Balotelli nuthuggers in the crowd.)

Of course, maybe Mancio will hit his head and insert Toldo into the lineup. Mmmmm, Toldo back between the sticks in Rome. Good times. Good times.

But seriously, Inter is two vastly different teams with and without Zlatan. The fact that he isn’t even on the bench is a very good thing for Roma.

Roma v Chivu: Speaking of leaky sieves, it’s a big game and Cristian Chivu will be in the house. If he plays it’s 12 v 10. And then pray the other inevitability, an injury, doesn’t happen til the 90th minute or so.

Roma v The Ref: So is Morganti on the payroll or what? Do you think bookies have closed the odds on an Inter penalty after the 70th minute? Perhaps a Mexes red has already been lined up again.

Let’s at least hope Lega Calcio ends the season with a sliver of credibility. After this season, they could use it.

Pride v Players In Their Last Game For The Shirt: With it being the very last game of the season – and thankfully with the Euros this will feel like a short summer – it’s inevitable a few players will be swapping giallorosso for the last time. The only guy I think we can absolutely agree is gone is Mauro Esposito. No tears shed there, but I think he deserves a helluva round of applause for staying exceptionally professional this season. Let’s face it, he could’ve gone to Napoli and been a hero for the hometown side, only to take a chance at Champions League footy with Roma. Spal said it a few weeks ago: day in, day out he comes and works his ass off without complaint for the betterment of the team and The Poobah can’t help but feel for him, the squad is just simply “closed”. Many guys with the potential for a national team call up would’ve been bitching and moaning to the press long ago; so really, he deserves a lot more for his contributions (or lack thereof) off the pitch than perhaps is given. Grazie Espo, and let’s hope he bounces back next year, wherever he lands. It’s never regretful to see classy, gifted guys shine.

As for the other guys, Matteo Ferrari seems likely, but he’s not playing. Ludovic Giuly is potentially gone, and it remains to be seen how much time he’ll see – more likely than not it’ll depend on the scoreline in the second half. Pizarro, Vucinic & Aquilani? You’d need to have a world class argument to convince me any of that trio will be in anything but giallorosso next year. Brighi is a possibility, but that’s also unlikely – Spal seems to really appreciate his contributions.

Then there’s Mancini. I think everyone and their mother thinks he’ll be elsewhere in the summer, but there’s really no way to tell right yet. What we need from him is anything but an egg, really. Anything more than that and I’ll be happy to give him a standing O at the end of the game. And perhaps if he plays like it’s his last game in the shirt, it may turn out not to be.

Let’s hope Mancini plays this one with his heart. We all know there are only a handful on the planet who can match him when he does and I’d love nothing more than to go into the summer knowing that he will either go out on his shield or have a little bit more to give to the cause than we thought. Forza Amantino.

The Romans

It’s in your city, in front of your team and this one is in your hands. Take this one for Totti.

Previous Games

Unless Ludovicious turns into a wide receiver going over the middle again, I think we can throw out the loss in September. Inter is just too strong a team, especially when Zlatan is in form, to go down a man against and have a true result come out. It was always downhill from there.

The SuperCoppa was so long ago it’s hard to recall what actually went down. De Rossi and Aquilani absolutely bossed the midfield and Totti was able to work his magic along with finding himself on the right end of a typical Burdisso tackle. It was still a preseason affair with many players out via injury, so a game at the end of August is not one to provide a blueprint for a game at the end of May with vastly different lineups.

As for the game at the San Siro in February, well, let’s just say if Rosetti (twas him, correct?) could discern a dive from a foul we’d be talking about a deserved three points. Pretty bullshit ending to the game, really; but that’s par for the course when going up against the Nerazzurri, so clearly Roma was at fault. They should’ve had a 3-4 goal cushion going into the late stages to rightfully squeak out with the three points. You’ve got to know these things going in.

(Sadly, only half of that is laced with sarcasm. It’s almost true.)

What does all this mean for the upcoming game? Only that an even strength Roma has proven to be a better team than Inter. (2-1 on aggregate, if you’d like to get technical.) I hope we’ll see much of the same.

Roma v Inter in Coppa

Predictions

Roma shows everyone who the best team in Italia really is.

Score: 2-0 Roma
Goals: Vucinic (12), Mancini (22)
MOTM: Mancini

When: 2030 CET, 1430 EST
Where: Stadio Olimpico
Forecast: Cloudy, 20°C.

Streaming: Here.

FORZA ROMA

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

I saw these “Pizaman to Athletico” rumors and immediately dismissed them, because the thought of Spal without David is like the thought of Linus without his blanket, Marcello Lippi without his cigar or Cristiano Ronaldo without his air of scumbaggishness (tis a word, per Webster). But some central midfielders started to pop up in transfer rumors. Then more central midfielders – defensive mids at that – continued showing up unannounced. The Matteo Brighi’s agent mentioned his client is close to an extension. The the agents of these rumors, a couple, at least, started confirming Roma’s interest. And then I went “whoa”, because I can add 1 + 1. (Math whiz and all that.)

So…would The Grand Imperial Poobah really consider selling his little buddy? Seems unfathomable, right?

But if the reports are true, that Athletico is ready to offer up an unconscionable €15m for the Mighty Morphin Turnover Machine, well, they’ve got to at least seriously consider that, right? Would you turn down a clean $20 for a $10? Because that’s what this amounts to. Even David’s staunchest nut-huggers admit his price was steep, and now they might be able to make a freakin’ profit? Give Rosella & Prade execs of the year if they can pull off that coup.

And let’s face it, David’s on borrowed time once Alberto Aquilani finds his magical stay healthy potion. He’ll only improve with time and pretty soon David’s going to be playing patty-cakes with Matteo Brighi and Gianluca Curci at the end of the bench. For all he provides and will provide in the near future, he’s not exactly a smart dollar left on the bench. If you can do it, gotta do it.

That said, can we imagine the day Spal sends Pizaman away? Never.

* – Tell me this isn’t totally Spal and David:

Amantino:

I’m wavering, but deep down inside I know the club needs a more consistent performer whose on the pitch success doesn’t rely on his success between the sheets. Actually, let’s think about this for a second. His horrid stretch came when he’d just broken up with his long time flame. Then, around the turn of the year, he got absolutely en fuego for about 2 months, and during the same time he was being linked to some fox from a TV show. The rumors – at least from what I saw – suddenly died down, and now he’s playing like a handicapped Smurf (all apologies to the handicapped Smurfs in the house). They line up, do they not?

Rumor is Liverpool wants Amantino for the price of his buyout clause (€5m). The jokester in me says it’s probably more than he’s been worth this year, but the logical me, as much as he wants to agree with the chuckler, says that they can do more and get a better price. The problem will be convincing Amantino not to use the clause. Eh.

I don’t like how this is shaping up. You know Moratti would love nothing more to use his Roman Scouting Department and offer Amantino a 4m per year deal if he uses his buyout clause.

Then again, maybe he’ll sign. Who knows. But if he doesn’t find a steady girlfriend by mid-summer I’m shipping him out personally.

Mauro Esposito aka Maurizio Domizzi’s Bargaining Chip:

This one’s been floating around awhile, along with Roma’s supposed interest in Domizzi. It makes sense from both sides. I’d be willing to bet heavily they get swapped with a bit of cheese coming from Roma. That is that.

Here, But Still Incoming

Mirko Vucigol: Everybody in the world wants him, Lecce wants €12m for his half, bringing the total to €19m. He’s worth it and Roma will have not choice but to at least get close to Lecce’s offer in order to take him back. Roma can’t afford not to buy Mirko, partly because of Francesco’s injury and partly because he’s Mirko @#$%ing Vucinic.

Incoming

Nikola Pokrivač:

I’ll be honest, no clue who this kid is. Played one year with Dinamo Zagreb before being shipped off to AS Monaco this January for €3.5m. Defensive mid, 22, never capped by the Croatian senior team but a stalwart in the younger squads.

So apparently playing roughly 4 months in France has been enough to show some people, namely the hierarchy, he’s ready for the next step. That’s mighty quick. His agent is giving out mixed vibes, which means I need to reevaluate my sources, surprisingly (Roma News has been different from nearly everything else I read lately, leading me to to believe something weird happened over there, which is a shame).

I’ve tried perusing his YouTubers but I felt like I was watching Croatian football games without a program guide. Which I was. Try for yourselves.

Florent Malouda:

Must’ve been a slow news day. You’d think with CL football to quell the need for bullshit rumors the media would stick to Drogba’s dives and Fernando Torres being the Spanish Jesus. Speaking of diving….Florent Malouda, ladies of gents.

I’ve never really been a fan. Actually, I was sort of indifferent for a long time. That all changed July 9th, 2006 when we witnessed The Dive Heard Round The World:

….which was followed by this………

…..and then all was right with the world again.

I quite simply don’t want him, and at a reported €25m, not to mention on a Chelsea contract (per annum salary no lower than a sum which could cure world hunger), you’re going to have to do a lot of convincing for me to think there’s any reason I should even be writing this, much less any more. Moving on.

Benoit Cheyrou:

Can we stop with the phucking Phrenchmen, please? Philou and Ludovicious are enough already. (Unless it’s Samir Nasri. I’d donate at least half a kidney and a full testicle for his Roman signature. Hell, I’d even throw in a signed lithograph of the other one. The kidney, that is.)

Let’s see: He’s 27. Plays in the midfield. Is the brother of Bruno, epic Liverpool screw up. But he’s got 9 dimes this season. That’s not half bad, especially when you’d think Nasri is serving up treasures on a silver platter like a royal butler. Okay…

What I always wonder when these rumors pop up is whether or not the media got the right name. Lorik Cana, the Albanian Gattuso, has been linked in the past and is linked along with Cheyrou. Have to wonder if it’s him. Actually, I’m going to say it’s him. (Doesn’t he look good next to the shield?) Just because I’d rather it was and because I can. Forza Lorik.

Watch this and imagine him patrolling the midfield with DDR. Bestill me heart:

Nikola Zigic:

Everybody remember this guy? (Yeah, it sucked, but that was a helluva goal.) While Roma is in the midst of a strange attempted takeover which may or may not be over, Valencia is going through some sort of economic crisis. What exactly? I dunno. I don’t pay too much attention to Spanish footy, as much as I’d like to. But they’re supposedly having issues. Nice. Cue firesale. The one name being linked to Roma specifically is the Serbian Josh Hartnett.

Well if you’re looking for a guy to get on the other end of a cross, he’s so fitting it’s almost overkill. He’s just freakin’ huge and has some technique to boot. What more do you want?

He cost €20m last summer and his price hasn’t exactly jumped this year, but neither has anyone’s at Valencia, really. Is this concrete? I dunno. But it makes a bit of sense, ya know?

Enjoy a YouTubers while we wait for this to fizzle off and die or to pick up steam:

Amauri:

The man’s agent just does. not. shut. up….but this is one time I’m glad he piped up.

“At the moment I am in Rome. I have spoken to Roma’s sporting director Daniele Pradè who wanted information on the situation.

“He told me that as soon as they sort out the questions regarding the club’s direction, we would speak again.

“There isn’t any definitive agreement with anyone yet. We haven’t even talked about money with Juventus.

“The summer transfer market is still some way off and we are just at the early stages.

“I can only repeat that we are weighing up various offers and I will be more precise in the future,” Grimaldi continued.

“The player just wants to play for the best clubs. He enjoyed being in Rome and has lots of friends there, but at the moment there are lots of factors to consider.”

Well well well. So Prade’s been on the horn with Amauri’s agent recently. I guess we need to wait and see what plays out with the ownership situation, but all the Amauri fans in the house can feel free to dream on a little. Good news.

So enjoy for now:

And here it is, game number eight versus a Tuscan side this season. As devastating as the trips to The Poobah’s home have been (that much ballyhooed “Curse of Tuscany” rearing its ugly head), its been equally as delightful to host that rascals.

In Tuscany:

Fior 2-2
Empoli 2-2
Livorno 1-1
Siena 0-3

Hosting Tuscany:

Siena 2-0
Fior 1-0
Empoli 2-1

Here’s to hoping the trend continues.

Aside from superstitions and black magic and tomfoolery and all that jazz, I’m not looking forward to this game one bit. It wasn’t simply the fact that Roma was in its most dreaded province the last time around or that the Armando Picchi had been declared a state of emergency with water levels higher than New Orleans during Katrina (also making it yet another occasion Totti has walked on water); it was mostly that Livorno countered Spalletti’s men well and fully deserved their point. If you recall, they eschewed the team bus in favor of hauling the team plane onto the pitch and they parked that SuperBus in front of the goal for nearly the entire game, having no less than 37 men in their own box at the same time. And now we get to see their away tactics. Nice. Have they called in the Italian navy for this one?

It’s hard to score with that much space closed down and that many angles nullified, but it’s a doubly as hard when the guy between the sticks is pretty damn good. Goal-a-game saver. I believe this is the one game where everyone was bemoaning the lack of a tall striker who can rise above the defense and get on the other end of a cross instead of watching Ludovic “I’m A Grownass Man And I Still Can’t Get On Amusement Rides” Giuly fail to outleap a cricket. Still no tall striker, still searching for someone besides Grumpy Old Man River to leap into a cross regularly (and Rodrigo Taddei’s face).

Hopefully this time Roma will have a better time stretching the defense and working up some chances, because as with every game from here on out: must win. The good news is Livorno is not in the midst of a fantastic run as they were the last time around, but actually putting for a bounty of suckitude. They’re the calcio caboose and they haven’t won eight games, and they scored their last victory in hosting Catania. You know, the drunken sorority chick. So I’m not even sure that counts. Before that? January 20th v Empoli. Yikes. Pray for Marco’s sanity.

Of course, a draw is still a loss at this point. But if the Udinese game was any indication, Roma is up for the challenge and will get done what needs to be done. Pray for the continuing demolition of all things Toscana at home.

Last Domestic Five

Roma: WDWWW

Livorno: DLDLL

Squads

Roma:

ANTUNES Gabriel
BERTAGNOLI J.Sergio
BRIGHI Matteo
CICINHO
CURCI Gianluca
DE ROSSI Daniele
DONI
ESPOSITO Mauro
GIULY Ludovic
JUAN
MANCINI Alessandro
MEXES Philippe
PANUCCI Christian
PERROTTA Simone
PIZARRO David
TADDEI Rodrigo
TONETTO Max
TOTTI Francesco
VUCINIC Mirko

Livorno:

Key Injuries

King Berto still has pain, Marco Cassetti is still nursing his pitching shoulder and Mirko Vucinic was called up, but has an ankle injury. Looks like he’ll only be called in under dire circumstances – if at all.

Probable XIs

Roma:

Doni;
Cicinho, Mexes, Juan, Tonetto;
DDR, Pizaman;
Taddei, Perrotta, Mancini;
Totti.

Convinced on everything but the back line.

Livorno:

Amelia;
Grandoni, Knezevic, Galante;
Pulzetti, Vidigal, De Vezze, Bergvold, Pasquale;
Diamanti, Tavano.

Coin-flipperage.

Key Matchups

Roma v The Homeless Man’s Antonio Cassano.: Everybody had a good look at Alessandro Diamanti this year? Livorno doesn’t have a ton going forward, but Diamintia is a talented creative forward with a lethal left foot, a left foot which he likes to use and can use from wherever.

Ludovic Giuly v Simone Perrotta: Let’s call a spade a spade, Ludovicious, for all his heart and desire, couldn’t bulldoze through a six foot tall stack of cotton candy, much less a team plane. They sure as hell could’ve used Simone against Livorno last time, they’ll be lucky to have a bit of his physical stature this time.

Game/ Everything

The mid-week Coppa class proved no different, even though Ciro Polito looked mighty decent at times: Roma’s finishing suuuuuuuuuuucks. First of all, Roma is going to get chances aplenty on Saturday, and that’s me being conservative (I personally think they’re going to walk over, around and through Livorno all day). The problem is, of course, they can’t even get their shots in places where the goalkeeper can attempt to miss them, much less actually miss them. They steamrolled Cagliari and Catania, and walked away with 2 goals in 2 games.

And guess who doesn’t play for Catania or Cagliari? Marco Amelia. Yeah, he’s pretty good. His start to the season wasn’t tremendous by any stretch, but he appears to have come on lately, and he damn sure stopped Roma the last time they went around. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this game worries me more than Milan or Inter or Udinese. Actually, maybe you can – check out these stats from the game in Tuscany:

Livorno Roma
Time of Possession 28% 72%
Shots (on Goal) 16(9) 20(6)

Exactly.

Francesco Totti was absolutely brilliant against Udinese and Catania at times, but Roma couldn’t make use of his service (I’m looking at you, Amantino). Somebody, anybody has got to take advantage this game. They can pepper Amelia all day long, but unless they get some clinical finishing, it’s going to be useless.

Add that to the fact that they have Mirko still nursing and injury and………I’ve been more confident going into a game. Despite being confident that Roma can walk through them. But just not get the job done. Does that make sense? Ah well.

Last Game

Predictions

I’ve picked a draw one other time this season, and Roma won rather convincingly. Here’s hoping.

It has worked…………

Score: 1-1
Goals: Tavano (36), Totti (58)
MOTM: Totti
Mancini Give-A-Shit Factor: 6.4

When: 1800 CET, 1200 EST
Where: Stadio Olimpico
Forecast: Sunny.

Streaming: Here.

FORZA ROMA

SportMedia, an outlet I have zero familiarity with (or I may and just not know it), seems to think Mr. Amantino has been in contact with Mr. Mancio and they’re all excited about getting the chance to work with each other next year. Oh, and Amantino might use his Webster ruling clause to buyout his contract for a measly 5m. Nice.

1. If this is true, I hope Amantino dies of distemper.

2. When the #$%& does Amantino have time to call opposing coaches? Isn’t he busy moping 24/7?

This would be near disastrous, because I’m pretty sure Bruno & Prade could rope someone into paying more than a signed lithograph of Mancini’s Glamour Shots portrait and a twice-licked charms blow pop, which is all he’s worth right now. Seriously, he had a very good 1-2 month run this year but besides that he’s been utterly useless. Stepovers are nice, but he never accomplishes anything besides firing shots into sprawling defenders. Mirko Vucinic has quite clearly become The Guy, and if they’re going to pluck someone off the bench, it should probably be someone more consistent than Amantino. Meaning instead of having one good game and one bad game over the course of a week, we’ll be getting a good performance once a month.

His agent is a notorious jackarse, so who knows how this will play out. He is the agent of a certain Emerson who used to ply his trade in Giallorosso, and I think we all know how that turned out. Therefore, I don’t have good vibes whatsoever. But honestly, I could care less if he goes to Inter. I just don’t see him as a true game changing force for them, probably just another Suazo.

Also, if Mancini goes I’ll have much less distaste for him in the aftermath than Chivu simply because he’s a complete flake and I’m not sure if he knows whether he’s signing for a different team or ordering a combo meal at the McDonald’s drive-thru. Crystal knew what he was doing, I’m pretty sure Mancini just goes into bobblehead mode every time his agent opens his mouth.

I wish I was joking.

I think I did this awhile back, but I’m really interested to see how high this number is now…..

To sell or not to sell, that is the question…..
( polls)

 The Roman Derby was Lazio’s most important game of the season. Francesco Totti even laid flowers in front of the Curva Nord, purely because he’s classy. Add to that the fact that Lazio’s European ambitions ended a long time ago and the death of Gabriele Sandri and you have all the ingredients necessary for a major upset. (Did you see Delio Rossi run after the winning goal? The emotions displayed on his face demonstrated just that)

Lazio stopped hovering above the relegation zone just recently and are now in an Intertotto-esque position in the table. This is the best they can hope for under Lotito’s management.

You can’t fight faith my friends. Roma were not outplayed, just that Lazio couldn’t afford to lose the derby this time out. Karma worked its magic and there was nothing la Magica could do to modify the script. At least we’re still fighting for European supremacy…

Chris will prolly have something on the game eventually (Once he crawls out of the foetal position we’ve all  been holding since Wednesday night)

Seeing I’m an eternal enthusiast, let’s talk about the future;

Mercato/Speculation time:

Doni seems to be on the verge of renewing his contract. Personally, it pisses me off that Roma have a Brazilian keeper. I know Doni came on the cheap but he isn’t exactly a world beater. A team like la magica has been working hard on all 3 fronts for the past 3 seasons now and we would like that to continue. A team Ambitions like Roma needs a keeper that can single-handedly win you a game once in a while. Unfortunately, Doni isn’t that keeper. That’s were Marco Amelia comes in once again. The Roman-bred keeper stated this week that: He would NEVER play for Lazio, NEVER! His blood runs giallo and rosso and has even offered Roma to pull a Damiano Tomassi style return at the end of his career! Cash in on the heart attack generator and bring in Marco now!

The Livorno Stopper has been magical all year and deserves some Champions League Football but please don’t let him got to England or Russia.

Ando Cazzo e il centravanti ?

I’ll just start taking for granted that Roma’s looking for a Centre Forward. It’ll be simpler if you do the same.

We know about the KJH and Mario Gomez links, The Amauri/Totti love fest and the Gila possibility (By his stock while it’s low!). All of Europe wants a piece of these strikers (ok, maybe not Gila) so Roma needs to prioritize its striking priorities

KJH is looking at Real Madrid, Mario Gomez is drawing interest form Milan as well, so basically the only rumour that has picked up some speed his the Gilardino one. It seems TGIP and Totti think they can convert the Gila into a bona fide born-again Calcio player.

I’m all for trying it out, if he comes cheap. But seeing Ancelotti pick Palloschi, Pato and Inzaghi before the Biellese bomber has surely caused Gila’s price to drop. Hell even Sampdoria are inquiring.

The new name that needs to be added to the Centavanti list is: Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano
The Brazilian Bomber’s claim to fame was the penultimate Copa America. Before moving to La Liga in 2005, Fabiano was drawing interest from Roma and Palermo, he finally chose Sevilla.

Luis Fabiano has scored 48 goals in 102 games in Spain and has 8 goals from 14 games when he’s wearing the VerdeOro. Fabiano’s fairly young, cheap and has only one year left on his contract, which makes him a realistic target. Not to mention that no one can throw a better looking bitch slap!

Centre Forward, Brazilian and affordable; what more can Roma ask for !

Marc Borriello a.k.a. the STD farm

Some echos of Marco Borriello are reverberating around Rome. I will reiterate what I have already said on the Italy page; Marco Borriello is the Fabio Quagliarella of the 2007/2008 season. Milan still owns half of the STD farm and his cartellino will probably make its way to le buste. Roma will be keeping a close eye on the situation as it unfolds.

The Young studs

Roma are seemingly keeping an eye on Tijani Belaid a 20 year old Tunisian part of Inter’s Vivaio. The kid is on loan at Slavia Prague and managed to score on his Champions League debut. I don’t know much about him, but let’s keep an eye out.

Speaking of players I know nothing about, Roma are testing out the ‘’new Kaka.’’ Fabrizio Messias (1990) has been training in Trigoria for the past week. He looks like Ronaldinho but he plays like Kaka(the player, not like shit), or so his agent says.

A decision should be made in about a week or so.

Outgoing:

TGIP, Aquilani and De Rossi are drawing interest all over Europe ! Thank You Captain Obvious!

How is this news? Who wouldn’t want them in their team? NEXT

Barcelona has singled out Amantino Mancini for next season. The Catalan club thinks Amantino would be a perfect addition to their Fantastic Four.

Amantino hasn’t signed yet; Sara Varone ! You need to work your Magic because this is starting to smell like Chivugate all over again…

Forza Ragazzi! Andiamo a prendere l’Europa intera !

Inter – Roma

La Liga’s big clashes manage to catch my eye but I can’t seem to get excited about the Ping Pong-ish style of The Premiership. (And don’t get me started on the damn USL league!) I, for one, love Calcio unconditionally. Unfortunately, Serie A’s reputation has been taking a bruising in recent years. Even the amazing WC 2006 win seems to have been overshadowed by different controversies;

Marco Materazzi’s headbutt reception means the French Fans will never admit to losing cleanly.

Then Calciopoli happened; Means pretty much everybody thinks Serie A is the only corrupt league in the world and that it’s not worth watching ”mafia” fixed games. Serie A witnessed a massive exodus of its stars and it’s membership in the Euro Big 3 club was being reconsidered by almost everybody outside the boot.

Why can’t Calcio/Italian Football get the love it deserves?

Not only that, Inter has been ”monopolizing” Serie A standings for the last 2 years. Causing Calcio to look like if there was only 1 horse in the Scudetto race. Thus, making Serie A a dull league.

I want to see this change. Serie A doesn’t deserve all of the dirty looks it has been getting by its European colleagues over the last few years. If being World Champs isn’t enough, Calcio needs something good…amazing.

How do we fix this? How can Serie A be able to bask in all of its glory once again? And Above all, WTF does this have to do with Roma you say?

With a crazy foto finish Scudetto race; and this exactly where Roma comes in. Serie A needs a battle to the end, a neck-and-neck,close contest type of thing. It could happen. And if Serie A’s fixed WWE style like some people might want to think, then this would be a perfect season ending Script/Scenario. Inter being the heel of course (I’m am so sorry for the wrestling metaphor).

Worst case scenario : Inter wins the Scudetto and no one lives happily ever after

Best case scenario : Inter loses to Roma making it a 6 point gap. Then Inter lose to Milan and/or Juve. They lose to Palermo and/or Fiorentina and draw Parma on the last matchday. Thus, seeing Roma win a well-deserved Scudetto

Inter need to win best supporting actor in Serie A this year. And all this will start with a Roma win on Wednesday.It’s time for Inter to stop hogging the top spot and step aside and let Roma shine in the Serie A Spotlight before winning the Champions League next year as well. Thus, consecrating itself as a legendary European club, as it should be

Match :

To say ; The outcome of this game will affect the Scudetto race is an understatement. This is the Big one;

TGIP’s saying this is the Match of truth ; ” The match against Inter can be described as the `match of truth,’ because if we beat them we confirm we are the team that has caused them most hassle in the last two years, and we reduce the gap at the top of the championship,”

Spalletti then added: “Inter have more of a physical presence, and can change the course of a match with one single action. We on the other hand play more as a team, and we will be looking to use our speed to our advantage.”

As for Inter, Roberto Mancini’s saying that a draw would suit his team just fine: No shit Sherlock! We know that this won’t be a cakewalk but Inter can’t think they’ll be facing a demoralized 10 man Roma team this time out as long as LP remembers Aqui is better than DP. Yippie!

Squads :

Inter

1 Abbondanzieri, Roberto Carlos
23 Ustari, Oscar

2 Ayala, Roberto
21 Burdisso, Nicolás
7 Samuel, Walter
17 Cufré, Leandro
6 Heinze, Gabriel
15 Milito, Gabriel

16 Aimar, Pablo César
5 Cambiasso, Esteban
22 González, Luis
8 Mascherano, Javier
19 Messi, Lionel
10 Riquelme, Juan Román
13 Scaloni, Lionel
3 Sorín, Juan Pablo

9 Crespo, Hernán
20 Cruz, Julio Ricardo
14 Palacio, Rodrigo
18 Rodriguez, Maxi
7 Saviola, Javier Pedro
11 Tévez, Carlos Alberto

Form (D W W W D)

Swedish striking sensation Zlatan Ibrahimovic will again miss out with a knee problem. Mario Balotelli is called up has been called up because Julio Cruz is out as well. South American allstars Cordoba and Samuel join Dacourt and Cesar on the list of long lasting, tough acting injuries, proudly presented to you by Tinactin. That means we’ll probably get to see Mean Marco Materazzi, Tyson Rivas and Crystal Chivu. For their part, Luis Jimenez and Dejan Stankovic are returning to the squad.

If you want to hear more stuff about Inter, you’re on the wrong page!

Inter (4-3-1-2)

Julio Cesar;
Maicon, Burdisso, Materazzi, Chivu;
Zanetti,Vieira, Cambiasso, Stankovic;
Suazo, Crespo

This is what happened last time :

Roma

Form (W L W L W)

Let’s not make this more sequential that it already is…

4 JUAN SILVEIRA DOS SANTOS
5 PHILIPPE MEXES
7 DAVID MARCELO CORTES PIZARRO
8 ALBERTO AQUILANI
9 MIRKO VUCINIC
10 FRANCESCO TOTTI
11 RODRIGO FERRANTE TADDEI
14 LUDOVIC GIULY
15 VITORINO GABRIEL PACHECO ANTUNES
16 DANIELE DE ROSSI
18 MAURO ESPOSITO
20 SIMONE PERROTTA
21 MATTEO FERRARI
22 MAX TONETTO
25 CARLO ZOTTI
26 ADRIAN FLORIN PIT
27 JULIO SERGIO BERTAGNOLI
30 MANCINI ALESSANDRO FAIOLHE AMANTINO
32 DONIEBER ALEXANDER MARANGON (DONI)
33 MATTEO BRIGHI
77 MARCO CASSETTI

Juan is out while Cicinho’s suspended. The only question Mark is Amantino’s fitness. Miss. Varone, can you please layoff Mancini until Thursday? That would be much appreciated

Roma (4-2-3-1):
Doni;
Panucci, Ferrari, Mexes, Cassetti;
Aquilani, His DDRness
Taddei; Perrotta, Vucinic
Totti

Who ?: Inter Milan (1st place, 60 points) v Roma (2nd place, 51 points)
When ?: Wednesday, 27th February 2008, kick-off 20:30
Where ?: San Siro, Milan
Why ? To end Inter’s supposed Serie A Supremacy.
Streaming : Here or Here
PEOPLE AT WORK : Fuckin’ Corporate FireWalls! You might want to try this. It usually shows the Big Games…

Categorical Matchups :

Inter vs Roma ; It doesn’t get any more categorical than this.

Final Analysis:

Don’t ask me to analyze this game. I can’t. I’m too freakin’ stoked about this encounter. I’m trying to put some thoughts together but Carlo Zampa’s voice is stuck in my head and won’t stop screaming Forza Ragazzi! FORZAAA!

It doesn’t matter who’s on the pitch, Roma will want to show Europe from what Pasta they’re made from. Inter has crazy money…I mean talent. All of their players are international stars, Chivu being the exception that confirms the rule of course. DDR and Totti can stand up to anybody on that field tomorrow. Roma has a united squad that can stand up to the un-homogenous, individually talented being that is Arg-Inter ! Not only does Roma need to win to keep the title hopes alive. They need to win in honour Calcio’s beauty.

Prediction :

3-1 Roma

Er Pupone hasn’t scored since Week 18 against Atalanta. Don’t foget the Golden Boy loves to score at the San Siro whatever colours the stripes he’s striking against are. Mr. Totti deserves a brace. It’s pallonetto time bitches! Who cares if Jimenez gets the only Inter goal ? DDR will get the other with one of his patented bombs

Forza Ragazzi ! Andiamo a prenderla! ‘sta partita determinanta è nostra ! Forza Roma !!!!!!!