Roma v Lazio

Or is it? Do the teams on the stadium scoreboard supersede the atmosphere? Or is the raucous, fiery battle of the fandoms that which comes to define a true derby? I suppose it depends, but this feels anything like a proper derby.

If we thought the derby della pace following Gabriele Sandri’s death was a tepid affair, today’s edition just might fail to register on the decibel meter. A somber mood envelopes the players, the fans, the stadium and the whole of Italy after Monday’s natural disaster, and this game has become simply that: a game.

And so just a game it is.

Going into ‘just a game’, what do they take? They take Francesco Totti, which is more the other side can say for their entire history – so that’s something. They take a roster without Primavera padding – the youngsters back amongst their peers where they belong. They take a starting eleven which looks like an honest to god Serie A side – unlike a certain team. They take a bench that doesn’t look stripped from a local schoolgirls’ team – which is the most the other side can say for its entire history…again.

So they take a superior history with the backing of nearly an entire city, making this game feel almost like a derby. Almost.

Squad

2 CHRISTIAN PANUCCI
5 PHILIPPE MEXES
7 DAVID MARCELO CORTES PIZARRO
10 FRANCESCO TOTTI
11 RODRIGO TADDEI
13 MARCO MOTTA
14 FILIPE
15 SIMONE LORIA
16 DANIELE DE ROSSI
17 JOHN ARNE RIISE
19 JULIO CESAR BAPTISTA
21 SOUYMANE DIAMOUTENE
20 SIMONE PERROTTA
22 MAX TONETTO
24 JEREMY MENEZ
25 GUILHERME DE MORAIS GUSMAO ARTUR
27 JULIO SERGIO BERTAGNOLI
32 DONIEBER ALEXANDER MARANGON (DONI)
33 MATTEO BRIGHI
77 MARCO CASSETTI

Indisponibili: Pipolo, Aquilani, Juan, Cicinho, Montella, Vucinic.

Outside of Cicinho, all should be back within a week or two. Not ideal considering the fixture at hand, but it certainly could be and has been worse.

Projected XI

Doni
Motta, Panucci, Mexes, Riise
DDR, Pizarro
Taddei, Baptista, Perrotta
Totti

Brighi on the bench? RomaNews says it’s so with Taddei returning and Julio primed for 89:59 of infuriating ineptitude and :01 of derby heroics.

More tomorrow.

Last Game

Predictions

The bodies return for Roma and Lazio are…well…Lazio.

Game: 3-0 Roma
Goals: Totti (14), Totti (37), Totti (71)
MOTM: Francesco

When: 1500 CET, 0900 EST.
Where: Olimpico, Rome.
Forecast: 22°C, sunny.

Streaming: MyP2P.
Liveblog: At the ungodly hour where I am currently? But of course.

FORZA ROMA

(Someone dropped this in the comments awhile back. Come claim your prize.)

Roma 1 – Lazi-00000000000000000000000000

That was wonderful.

And I don’t quite know what else to say. When saying going in that “form, tactics, standings and fitness” don’t count, it means assessing the fixture for true tactics and future expectations going out is rather pointless. There’s always something a bit more, a bit different, that makes derbies the overwhelmingly special displays that they are. Sure, the 4-3-1-2 worked because of the three-engined midfield, and the three headed monster that is Ba-To-Vu will do some things in the future, but you can be assured that this was a one-off, as is always the case. Too much passion, too many nerves, too far beyond the X’s and O’s.

All of which is good, because that was some fugly ass football, to put it bluntly. But it doesn’t matter, as the ugliest of wins over Lazio are still infinitely sweeter than the most aesthetic of wins over anyone else.

Notes:

• Matteo Brighi: You, sir, are a star.

More than his on the pitch performances, however, I think Brighi deserves commendation for something beyond our vision:

“The club also gave its support and the difference on the field will always be team spirit. People like De Rossi, Totti and Brighi did the groundwork in the locker room so we could achieve this result.” – Nov. 4 after Chelsea win.

From a garbage time role player to an inspirational leader, on and off the field, and perhaps the team’s best performer throughout the season. It took a while, but he’s arrived – and just in time.

Now if only he could’ve booted that bad boy in from the Roman half…

• Jeremy probably shoulda woulda coulda buried that ball, but the defender was steaming in from his right to cut down the angle, Carrizo took the low angle away well and he just doesn’t have the confidence to chip it in a game of that magnitude. I think that ill-advised shot that sliced right was his attempt to make up for his earlier miss as well. Kid’s got major, major skills, and he’s going to be incredibly special, but he was playing in France three months ago and it was never going to happen over night. So here’s to a cucchiaio in the fall derby next year.

• Loved the Julio gol, but I loved seeing a senior citizen bolting to the far corner waiting to pick up the scraps even more. A mere yard from an alarming number of Roman babies being named “Christian” nine months from now.

• Also love how everyone left Baptista to celebrate with Francesco as though he’d scored. Everything he touches in a derby is gold plated gold, is it not?

• But now to Julio…he is going to score a lot of goals in the Roman shirt. A lot. Especially if he continues to play treq, the position which saw him score 50 in two years at Sevilla. We have to remember that this is the first real stretch where he’s been healthy this year – not even for Bordeaux – so with game time affording him form and fitness, he’s going to only get better. The more I see of him the more I’m convinced he’s going to be a special, bringing a good bit of that physicality and finishing in the final third this team has lacked so desperately. Like one Giuly standing on top of another then falling asleep in the tanning bed.

Looking forward to the day he earns Baptigol.

And we should’ve seen this coming. Two games against Lazyo now, two goals. Maybe Roma has bought themselves a Lazie killer. Glory be, glory be.

• Zarate’s going to be a pretty decent player, so it’s a good thing Lazyo won’t be able to keep him around more than a couple years. Presumably he’ll go to Inter, as Moratti has already removed his pants and is eying up his Argie passport like it’s a Playboy (Playgirl?).

• Radu’s the huge Roma fan, correct? Like used to show up at Dinamo Bucharest training wearing the hallowed yellow & red?

Soak that it in, buddy.

• With De Silvestri on the pine – no clue why, I avoid Lazio news like the plague – Lazio had 0 Romans on the pitch. Zeeero.

Why? Because any decent Roman with half of a half of a brain chooses Roma over Lazio, of course.

Photos

The rest are at the RO flickr site, but these are the favorites – along with the top photo of Zarate bemoaning his lost chances.

Rome reigns once again.

FORZA ROMA

Julio gol Zampafied (along with Guido De Angelis)

Lineups

Oh, right. Not Cisco Roma.

Roma v La Merda

“We knew that in Rome most of the people support the yellow-reds; but we believed also the light-blue had a lot of sympathy. We have to admit we were wrong: nine of ten of the immense audience that was in the Rondinella Stadium (the SS Lazio stadium) waved yellow-red flags, supporting their idols! We can rightly say that Lazio played… an away game.”

Il Littoriale report from December 9th, 1929, the day after the very first Rome derby. A report which begs the question: Why does Roma continue to humor these fuckers and allow them to believe they’re an actual part of the footballing landscape in Rome?

One city, one team.

But I suppose we must show a modicum of hospitality for the unfortunate. It is, after all, being billed as a “peaceful derby”. So why don’t we make these Laziali feel right at home:

Welcome aboard, lads.

Seeing as how a goat chained to a tractor has surely sent all the Burini in the room to an ice cold shower – or the barn – shall we get onto the important matters – Roma? Think we shall.

How we we anticipate Roma going into this one? Not well, considering how the season has turned up thus far. The last two games – Cicinho’s ode to Riise aside – have gone rather well, but there’s no telling how those two dropped points affected the mentality coming out. And of course, does this even matter? It’s a derby. Nothing matters. Form, table position, fitness – none of it. Everything is thrown completely out the window, everything starts off at square one.

Is that the best thing we could hope for? Probably. To new beginnings…

Squads

Roma:

ARTUR
BAPTISTA
BERTAGNOLI
BRIGHI
CASSETTI
CICINHO
DE ROSSI
JUAN
LORIA
MARANGON
MENEZ
MEXES
MONTELLA
OKAKA
PANUCCI
PERROTTA
RIISE
TADDEI
TONETTO
TOTTI
VUCINIC

Indisponibili: Aquilani, Pizarro, Filipe, Virga, Greco, Pipolo.

Lazyo:

Probable XI

Doni
Cicinho, Juan, Mexes, Panucci
Brighi, DDR, Perrotta
Baptista
Totti, Vucinic

Given the fact that Rodrigo’s poor form would probably preclude his involvement even if 100% healthy, his chances of starting here are somewhere around Alberto’s. Is Cassetti ready? Is Spalletti really willing to unleash yet another new formation? Will we see a more conservative look in the 4-4-2 with Max again? Is Menez ready for big game action? Only two potential starters “out”, but so many walking wounded it’s hard to tell who’s truly ready for significant action. Not much to do but speculate til the lineups are announced.

Key Players

Let’s compare and contrast, shall we?

Francesco Totti: Roman-born son; fiercely loyal icon of the club and football in the city; the best Italian attacker of his generation.

Mauro Zarate: Argentinian; loanee who will jump ship the first time a big club/pay packet comes calling; the best attacker to come out of Al-Sadd since….wait, what the fuck is Al-Sadd?

Sums it up pretty adequately.

Speaking of Lazio key players, one of my favorite derby moments – certainly the best television moment – came from a former Lazie captain.

Good times.

Key Matchups

Mirko v The Big Game: Bologna’s are forgivable because of all the Chelsea’s. This is as big as they get, this is his playground.

Roma v The First Goal: Within themselves, mentality is Roma’s greatest adversary. If it’s a 0-0 draw, fine. But if this game’s going to feature some goals, their chances of taking a result increase immensely if they put one past whatever the fuck his name is in goal first.

The Defense v The Lapse: Lazio have inexplicably managed to score a couple goals this year – pee tests forthcoming – so keep it tight, keep it smart, and take a fuckin’ chill pill, Philou. (Much love.)

Spalletti

“It is the confirmation of the work done by the club, team and Coach Delio Rossi. We have a superior potential, though, and know what we must do.

“We are aware that, like the match with Chelsea, the psychological factor is the one that makes the difference.”

In the end it’s Roma v Roma. That’s all. That’s all it ever is. Provided they don’t beat themselves – undoubtedly they’ll be more amped for this derby than most in recent memory – this is their win. Can they make it through themselves unscathed? One time, for Franco.

Last “Home” Derby

Simone actually hit a fucking sitter. Eat it.

Predictions

Game: 11-0 Roma
Goals: Panucci (1), Mirko (7), Baptista (11), Brighi (13), Juan (20), DDR (28), Perrotta (46), Totti (49), Mexes (68), Cicinho (75), Doni (89).
MOTM: Simone

When: 2030 CET, 1430 EST.
Where: Stadio Olimpico, Roma (Roma is the “home” team.)
Forecast: 13°C with a 20% chance of rain.

Streaming: Here.

FORZA ROMA

Did everyone enjoy their minor cardiac arrest this morning? I know I did. There’s nothing like stumbling in at 2pm and kicking off the rest of your day with shouts of a broken arm for the only Holy Roman who has sniffed full fitness since 2007. Good stuff.

Of course, he’s “okay”, but “okay” for Romans these days means “it doesn’t need to be amputated”. It’s going to be sore and were this his ankle, not wrist, a hobbled Francesco would be the only Roman rep this weekend. Actually, let’s look at the status of the Holy Romans right now:

Totti: I’m not sure he’s going to be 100% til the break. And I don’t mean the little mini-friendly break next week. I mean Christmas break. Like 2009.
Alberto: Currently getting worked over by some masseuse named Iaquinta in Baja – and it ain’t Vincenzo.
DDR: Acute Carpal Tunnel. That’s not even a real thing (I think), but it works and we’re sticking with it. (Bad sprain, actually. Still like mine.)

Here’s my expert assessment on this situation: wtf?

Of course, an adopted Roman, Philouppe Mexes, and his ‘hardened muscle’ (stop snickering – although a muscle which wouldn’t ‘unharden’ is the best reason for a sub I’ve ever heard…the subsequent ‘medical tests’ could just be a coverup to save face) will be in the lineup, after seemingly playing nice with others all week.

But another adopted Roman, Taddei (he may not be as outwardly passionate and vociferous as Philou, but he bleeds for this team), has picked up a knock and is now questionable as well. Not that his loss in and of itself is a big deal, considering his current lack of form, but add it to Pizaman’s suspension and DDR’s clipped wing and this midfield is looking suspect.

Plus there’s the fact that Cicinho and Baptista have picked up “knocks”, or whatever. Again: wtf?

So right now, these rumors of a 4-3-1-2 of some sort do look possible, if highly improbable. A 4-3-1-2 which would look something like this…

Doni
Panucci, Mexes, Juan, Tonetto
Brighi, DDR, Perrotta
Baptista
Vucinic, Totti

But more likely is a lineup involving a fullback a winger, a la…

Doni
Cicinho/Cassetti/Anyone match fit/Prade, Mexes, Juan, Panucci
Brighi, DDR, Perrotta, Tonetto
Vucinic, Totti

Or the ultra-conservative approach will be tossed in favor of something looking for more going forward, and the new #24 will get his chance to replicate the feats of the old #24. It’ll also be interesting to see what happens with Cassetti and whether or not he’s attained useful match fitness. If so, things get all the more confusing.

In short, wait til roughly, oh, the players come out of the tunnel on Sunday.

Pablo Osvaldo

I’ll keep this short and to the point: The lad can do some things besides being faux Batistuta, and it appears he’ll become a very fine player. However, he clearly needs playing time and, assuming the gods are good and kind and decide to pay attention to the law of averages, he won’t get that in Rome when bodies start coming back from the dead on a permanent basis. Spalletti is a fantastic coach in many respects, but integrating and developing youngsters isn’t exactly his forte. Could even call him the anti-pedophile, if you will. Which I suppose would make him Ralph Fiennes.

Anywho, if it’s going to be a youngster, it’s more likely to be an established youngster whose development is in the later stages (purely as an example: Huntelaar).

Posting this video solely to show Daniele Dessena’s ball in the Toulon Tournament final (0:32). Just epic.

News & Notes

I) I’m ignoring the quarterly Gazzetta shit-stirring regarding any potential sale of the team. That’s all.

II) Rumors of sending Cicinho back to Brazil and bringing Behrami back to Rome from his London sabbatical, this time on the good side of town. I’m convinced Cicinho’s days are numbered regardless – when Cassetti comes back his PT will plummet and he seems far from overjoyed as it stands – but I just can’t see the Sensi fam bringing in an ex-Lazie as a replacement. Although having watched this summer unfold they could certainly take that PR hit and keep on chuggin’.

Cicinho? We shall see. January could be the end, especially if he continues to overexpose his defensive flank.

III) After writing that little bit above I decided to comb the YouTubes in search of some positive PR for the homeless man’s Cafu and the following was the first video that popped up:

And all I could think was…when was the last time he didn’t sky a shot thirty yards over the bar? The clips in this video?

Oh yeah. Bologna.

(Not bitter. Swear.)

IV) Stefano Guberti’s agent is becoming That Drunk Girl in the bar who just won’t leave you alone.

“Stefano’s contract expires in June 2009 and several Serie A clubs are interested in his services. But Roma are his first choice and joining the Giallorossi would be a dream come true for him.”

Does this mean he’ll be reciting weekly love poems in the press til next summer? I hope they buy him January 1 to get this over with. Persistent bastard.

V) Spalletti til the end of next year!!! Unless he’s not.

Actually, is that like a one and a half year “vote of confidence” from ownership? Judging how most ownership “votes of confidence” go, how the hell did he make it to the end of the day still employed?

VI) Roma merch can be pretty few and far between, so here we go: Roma Shirts. Upstart t-shirt company providing Roman classics. I’m personally going with the Totti hoodie. Because it looks like he’s pointing at me. Yeah, that’s what he’s doing.