32 and counting.

I’ve got two in town for birthdays this weekend as well (no, not Francesco and Ilary), so things have been and will be light. Apologies.

24 hours til Totti.

The Important Stuff

No, not La Bestia or Rosella’s newest diamond encrusted home tanning booth bought with Mancini money. Something which actually, truly matters: Totti. He’s back.

Today he’s expected to take the pitch against Frosinone for the first time since that nightmarish day against Livorno. Minutes? Insignificant. Impact? Nonfactor. Gameplay? Please. Everybody else? They’ll have their days. This one’s all about Totti.

Chances are this will be fairly brief. Certainly not 90 minutes, even though it’ll amount to an exhibition of a scrimmage, if there is such a thing. But all that matters is that #10 is wearing the armband and touching the ball on the field of play. The greatness will fall back into place in due time. Now? We enjoy it.

Game’s at 2030 CET, 2:30 EST. No sign of streams yet but rest assured thousands of Roma fans will be scouring the net beforehand. Check back early and often.

Beastiful

The Convoy has dispatched to Madrid and is now a dinner Madrid meeting (or maybe they went elsewhere for a nightcap) with Sir Baptista’ reps in an attempt to come to personal terms with the manbeast last nice. That’s nice. But what’s great is that it’s not just Daniele Prade and Bruno Conti – they’ve brought The Closer. Oh yes, Cristina Mazzoleni is in tow. and as everyone who knows anything knows, she only goes if a deal is going to be made. She handles the actual transaction of monies and all that junk when deals are definitely going to be made. Last year during the Chivu debacle Roma News – Rome’s finest crew of stalkerazzi – had a man on her at all times, and finally broke the news when she was whisked quietly away from the offices in a dark car to make the trip to Milan, indicating a deal had been made. So if she’s there…

Attempting to Pillage Valencia. Again.

An “unnamed Italian club” has made reportedly made a 15m bid for Joaquin of Valencia. So who needs a winger? Roma. Who’s got 15m ready to be spent? Roma. Who was linked to Joaquin before the Mutu lovefest began? Roma.

Where there’s smoke? Maybe. Inter’s always lurking for wingers that don’t speak Italian too. If it is Roma, this has nothing to do with Baptista and more to do with the two lateral wing spots. The two are wildly different and play different positions, not to even begin assessing their skill sets and areas of comfort.

And without going into too much detail because he’s been linked before: yeah sure. Uber talented. Overly uber, if there is such a thing.

Because of the game tomorrow, with the presence of You Know Who, and the suits in Madrid taking care of this Brazilian thing, it’s more likely nothing more that isn’t conjecture will be heard until Friday at the earliest. However, if you happen by the Madrid airport within the next couple days, and see The Convoy eschew the Alitalia terminal for an Iberia flight headed to Valencia…….

God he’s got skills.

News Bits

I) Mauro Esposito has been declared a surplus of shittiness and is now being pawned off to future relegation contenders. New name: Chievo (and they aren’t denying). I like Mauro and all, but it’s becoming quite clear why he could barely even get a whiff of Coppa action last year. He’s like a homeless man’s Francesco Tavano. Good Christ.

II) Threw a mini party here today fresh with games – pin the tail on the pinata and whack the donkey – and heavy drugs when Yossi Benayoun rushed onto the pitch to suck ass against a Belgian team, much like the entire Liverpool squadron. So that means he’s cup tied and you can cross him off the list. Woo!

III) The two ex-Romanisti I hate the most are now in Oil Land whoring themselves out for a paycheck they can’t get anywhere else because they suck too much. Mido’s now somewhere over there being whiny and belligerent and not worth the hassle. Suckers.

Next up: Sammy K.

IV) I love Lippi:

“This year is Roma’s year. I would put them on a par with Inter….I don’t know if they will win something important but they can achieve one of the two main objectives and they still have time to reinforce the squad.”

Think he’s onto something here.

I also loved this little piece:

“I have already spoken to Claudio Ranieri, Cesare Prandelli, Jose Mourinho and Luciano Spalletti and all the Coaches who are involved. They know that everyone has to be available.”

What the fuck did he call Mourinho for? Just to chat?

V) Terrible news for the Pisnoli and De Rossi fans as Tamara’s, Daniele’s wife, father was found dead from gunshot wounds south of Rome after what looked to be a week of deterioration. Massimilianoli Pisnoli had been involved in shady dealings, but it’s nonetheless very tragic and all thoughts and prayers to then.

It is a safe bet to say that no Italian player has caused as much controversy and dissent in the last thirty years, at least within the confines of Italy, as Francesco Totti. There have been players accused of playing dirty, others of being overrated; but the kind of polarity that Totti has inspired, with a part of the Italian public labeling him as a peerless champion and another part as a hyped-up provincial player, is nonpareil in the peninsula.

On account of the potency of this controversy, then, a clear and elaborate defence of Totti was very much called for. I make no mystery of my Romanista faith (though I do wish to underline that this is subordinated to my devotion towards the Azzurri); if that is enough for you to dismiss my arguments apriori, then stop reading now. Otherwise, this article wishes to clear some of the confusion on why he is considered, by myself as well as others, to be nothing less than the single best Italian player of the last thirty years alongside Baggio, and one of Europe’s (if not the world’s) best ten over the same time-span. (I confess to being unfamiliar with football prior to the 1980s, so I shall leave the comparisons with Rivera, Riva, Facchetti, and other great players before that date to someone who was born before I was).

To understand why he is rated so high, though, it is important to understand the differences between European (and especially Mediterranean) and South-American styles of football first. Allow me to begin from this question.

Generally speaking, we have been educated to recognise the Brazilian game as the highest expression of the sport. It is a style of football based on flair, rhythm and swing; a real Brazilian does not control the ball as much as dance with it. Seeing someone like Ronaldinho at his best means witnessing something more than just ‘dribbling.’ For his are not feet, but butterflies, which flicker around the ball and occasionally settle on it with the grace of something weighing under the gram. It is an hypnotic, galvanising, delicious style to witness; it is the scrawled signature on Picasso’s booklet when you translate it onto the greens of a stadium. This is the style of football which has become synonymous with quality all over the world. (Argentinean style of play is an important variant in the South American style, but we do not have the space to go into that as well).

Mediterranean style of play, and especially Italian ‘fantasia,’ is something different. It is not based on infusing the ball with speed, nor even on making it dance. It’s about making it disappear. In Brazil, a defence will be outplayed; in England, it will be outrun; in Italy, it will be outwitted. Where the register of Brazilian play is spatial (what you can do with and within the given square of territory that the defence concedes), that of fantasia is entirely temporal: it’s about exploiting an instant, the nook between the play which has been begun and its most logical continuation, to suddenly revert the cards on the table, crack all offensive and defensive schemas, and abruptly change the situation from its current scenario into something completely different.

To give a concrete example, here is a fantastic goal of the Brazilian style, by Ronaldinho:

Spectacular technique, wonderful choreography – a pirouette which almost belongs to a capoeira dance. Now here’s an analogous goal of the Mediterranean style, by Roberto Baggio:

Markedly less glamorous, of course. But the difference between these goals is exemplary. Baggio’s piece of technique is not based on speed or athleticism, but on the sudden twist of scenario, produced in the space of a thunder-flash: it looked like he was going to shoot or stop, and all of a sudden he’s running down a left diagonal as if he had received a direct pass which never left the ground. Complete reversal, and before either goalie or defenders even realise the situation has changed, he’s clear for the goal.

Now let’s get to Totti.

I’ve seen a wealth of Youtube clips on the guy, and I don’t think many of them express what is really best in him. Part of the problem is that fantasia is very difficult to capture, precisely because it only comes in flashes rather than in sustained spectacle. Another problem is that these clips often focus on the goals, which are only a part of Totti’s repertoire, and not nearly the full story. The man is born as a ‘trequartista,’ a free-roaming player acting as a bridge between midfield and offence (though he has proved capable of playing successfully in virtually all offensive positions). As such, his best asset is his vision and passing. Totti is capable of creating chances from anywhere, with anyone. Balls which appear completely static and inoffensive suddenly disappear from their square of play (typical fantasia) and find themselves millimetrically placed at the feet of a striker no-one even knew was there. Furthermore, this is all done first-touch, disallowing even for the breathing time which playmakers usually exploit to find a team-mate and read the situation. The result of mixing such an accuracy with the instance of fantasia is a game which plays like this:

This kind of play doesn’t make Totti dangerous in and of himself as much as it upgrades the entire team to a smoother, far more ductile style of play. Let me adduce an example from his performance in the final of the Euro 2000 (which earned him the award for Man of the Match, over people like Zidane and an explosive Henry). No need to watch the whole video, just the first goal, first fifty seconds. It was not scored by Totti, but it did start from an unpredictable back-heel pass of his which completely split open the French defence, opening the way for the cross which led to the goal.

This is exactly what fantasia is about. And it is notable that Totti can make such passes not only from any position of the pitch, but also with any part of his body that he pleases: header, back-heel, chest, or aerial:

As for Totti’s goals, there is some disagreement around them too. When discussing his best goal, most people would settle for something ‘conventional’ like this:

It’s not the only goal he scored starting from midfield, but the only truly notable thing in it, for me, is its conclusion: the ‘cucchiaio’ (spoon) or chipped ball is, along with the back-heel, Totti’s specialty. And aptly so: it is an elegant, highly witty kind of shot, a classic expression of fantasia when done correctly. However, if I were to call Totti’s best goal, I think I’d settle for this one:

Like Baggio’s, this goal is not immediately spectacular, at least not in the Brazilian sense of the word. But the coefficient of difficulty is 10/10. Left-footed first-touch air volley from an impossible position; note in the replay the spin that the ball takes, curving around and behind the goalkeeper, who was otherwise covering the whole net. This shot has everything: power, accuracy, class, confidence, wit. And it’s pure fantasia, because who in the world would expect a player in that position to go for the goal, much less to score? In a lock-down scenario, where all offensive movements were breaking against the wall of a closed Sampdoria defence, a random cross with resignation written all over it is suddenly turned into a goal. Dazzling, if you ask me.

And emblematic. In this goal we find a summary of what exactly makes Totti so unique: he is the highest expression of a style of play which can be considered the European response to the Brazilian Jogo. He is not just another Romario or another Ronaldo. He is in his own league; a player of extraordinary purity. He is Europe lifting its head and telling South America, we can play football as well as you do, with no need to imitate you; we have our own style, and it’s second to none. A style which has become so trademark in Italian football that it’s actually starting to influence Brazilian players as well: Kaka is so fabulous precisely because he can bring together elements of Italian fantasia and Brazilian Jogo. A style which has evolved in the battlegrounds of the most powerful defensive school in the world, where even the Jogo finds its wings broken before it can fly. (This is due to the second important element of Italian football along with fantasia: ‘furbizia,’ or astuteness, an attribute as sophisticated and significant as fantasia and which is normally reduced to ‘cheating’ by foreigners who do not understand it. There is much to be said on the subject, but this is not the subject of our article).

Finally, it’s at least worth mentioning Totti’s personal history as a man who never abandoned his club, despite offers from much richer venues and occasional awful seasons which saw Roma on the brink of relegation. With a part of the Italian public, he holds the status of undoubted legend. Abroad he is less renown, mainly due to his lack of international exposure: Roma has been out of the Champions League for many years, and of the four international tournaments he took part in, two world cups he reached after major injuries (winning one nonetheless), in one Euro he was only allowed to play one game due to his spitting incident, and the only one he could play fully and in full health (Euro 2000) he led his team to the final and would have won that too if Alessandro Del Piero hadn’t wasted all of his fantastic assists in front of Barthez.

Those who watch Totti playing today should overlook his lack of speed and reluctance to dribble (these skills have subsided with age, alas). What’s worth looking for, instead, is the instant – the quick lightning – the sudden pass, and the direction the ball takes. Not the protracted parable of the game-construction, but the tremor before flight. If he’s in form, more often than not these will surprise.

Let me leave you with two conclusive videos. The first just wishes to give an example of Totti’s free-kick taking, which I haven’t mentioned anywhere else, and which would be a shame to forget for a player who, in terms of versatility and completeness, is second only to Zidane.

The second is the only extensive video on Youtube which, I think, does justice to Totti’s vision: a collection of his assists and passing skills. Many of them are taken with his back to the receiver, from half the pitch away, without even looking. The pass at 1:04 is, I think, the most insane assist I’ve ever seen in football. Backwards first-touch back-heel pass on an air ball running at God knows what speed without turning his head, and it lands square on Cassano’s chest (who goes on to score that – a magnificent goal). 1:04 to 1:19. Insane. In addition, the collection of his assists also includes the fabulous ones from the final of Euro 2000. Go from 3:44 to 4:23 to see why he was nominated man of the match (and why Alessandro Del Piero doesn’t have a very special place in my heart, to put it euphemistically).

No better conclusion to this article can be found than this video. Let the images speak a thousand words, then:

Finally, someone who Prade might actually *hear* has spoken, and the good news is that he agrees with us:

“If we want to compete with Inter, Milan and Juventus, we need at least two more important players. At the moment, we are the fourth strongest in Serie A.”

“I like Baptista and hope he does come to Roma, but we need another reinforcement after that.”

So says Il Capitano. But is Prade listening? Who knows? What we do know is that Prade is in Madrid, presumably to negotiate Baptista’s move (and maybe that of Reyes as well), but if you listen Prade, he’ll tell you that he’s in no rush.

For that, I can think of only one response: No rush Prade? Perhaps you should look at the calendar and see what the other squads have done to date.

Well, at least he’s in Madrid. That’s a step, right? As far as what he’s doing there, I have mixed feelings; on one hand, the terms of the Baptista signing sound fairly reasonable, although I’d definitely prefer the loan option over the outright purchase. The Reyes deal, however, has me a bit nervous. I mean… 8 million euros? (La Gazzetta or Corriere dello Sport – I forget which – also mention that figure.) Here’s my stance on that: If Atletico Madrid spent a truckload of cash to pay for a guy who didn’t produce a goal in 26 matches, it was their mistake, so they should have to pay for it – NOT ROMA. I say either Reyes comes at a bargain (i.e. under 4.5 million euros), or he doesn’t come at all. Of course… my name isn’t Daniele Prade, and nor is it Rosella Sensi.

So, with the rumored Reyes move potentially being a rip-off (yeah, I just said that), are there any alternatives? Well, Channel 4 has linked our beloved Giallorossi with one Mario Alberto Santana, whom I would jump for (over Reyes) in half of a heartbeat. On top of being far from hanging up his boots at 26 years of age, Santana has steadily improved throughout his career, and would hopefully come cheaper than Reyes. Most importantly, word has it he would find it “difficult to turn down Roma.” Does anybody want to pitch in with me to cover Prade’s ticket from Madrid to Firenze?

Totti in Blue (I’m serious this time.)

Moving past the calciomercato stuff for a moment, did anyone see the rest of Totti’s comments? It appears as though Il Capitano may be willing to bend on one past decision (Azzurri), but not another (Poulsen).

Regarding the former, here’s what was said:

“With Lippi I have a great relationship. I hear from him often. I also complimented him when he returned as I was happy for him. We have talked about the future and Lippi asked me how my rehabilitation is going.”

“If I’m well and I don’t have problems, it will be possible to address this issue in six months or a year.”

Alright. Now, I know that ever since Lippi’s return, the press has been all over Totti regarding the Nazionale, and until now, I thought that the “anything can happen” statements were basically just ways to say “never say never,” which makes sense to me. However, the “address this issue in six months to a year” stuff is totally different, I think. Specifically, the mention of a time frame indicates that Totti has actually put some thought into a return. Add to that the fact that he’s apparently in regular contact with Lippi, and maybe we WILL see Il Capitano in blue again.

Hmmm… A 33 year-old on a World Cup squad? It wouldn’t be the first time…

Apparently, when asked about the transfer market, he brought up the need for a striker, and in the next breath he extolled the virtues of none other than The Controversial Romanian (TCR) himself, Mr. Mutu. Don’t worry about it too much though; Il Capitano doesn’t even have TCR’s phone number. And besides, back in Firenze, the Viola’s Chairman Della Valle is saying that Mutu’s going to be locked down in just days, while GilaMonster Purple GilaMonster is talking like he and TCR are going to combine up front to form some kind of super-mega-attack-to-end-all-attacks. And you know something? I believe he might be right… but this is the Roma blog, and I digress.

There’s been a bit of doubt cast upon another transfer rumor, only this one may actually disappoint (some) people: Borriello’s agent says that his last contact with the Giallorossi dates back a year. Not exactly promising. That said (as Chris alluded to in his previous post) with Milan (seemingly) looking to buy up strikers on every front, who knows? Still though, the fact that the last contact was a year ago has me thinking that there’s been no “Listen Marco, if they bring in 3 guys to play ahead of you, here’s what the Giallorossi had in mind” conversation. There’s that, PLUS the fact that when the Corriere brought the issue up with Roma’s “managers,” there was apparently something like laughter followed by a stern denial.

Alright, so Mutu and Borriello aren’t completely out of the running, but it sounds like neither rumor is really gaining speed either… but meanwhile, we’re still hearing Baptista – Pavlyucenko – Baptista – Pavlyucenko – Baptista – Pavlyucenko over and over again. Corriere dello Sport in particular makes it sound like one… or maybe even both (with the Brazilian purchased with ManciniBucks, and the Russian on loan) are in the bag, but we know better than that, right?

And it’s a damn good thing that we tifosi DO know better than to trust mercato rumors. Otherwise, we’d take stuff like this and get our hopes up. (Out of respect for Chris’ views, I’m not going to mention the two Italian names mentioned in that Goal.com “article,” but my fellow Roma blog followers probably knew that I’d go there at some point. I’ll leave it at that, and keep on silently hoping.) For now, I’ll shelve the striker talk until we have some concrete news, like TCR signing a new contract with Fiorentina, which I’d expect early in the week – maybe even Monday.

Alright. Before I go, let’s take a *gasp* pause from calciomercato, and get back to Il Capitano for just a second. I’m sure most of the regulars will have seen this by the time I post this up, but like clockwork, the media asked him (again) whether or not an Azzurri return is in the cards, and his response confirmed what we already knew… well… depending on which translation you read. According to some, he said “If something were to happen…” while others translated it as “Anything can happen…” I think the former is the more literal of the two, so that’s what I’m going with, but if anyone’s interested in judging for themselves, the Italian quote is in the first Corriere article linked above.

(By the way, in case anyone’s wondering who I am and what I did to Chris, don’t worry; I’m just covering for him this week.  Hey – It could be worse: we could get news that the Giallorossi have third kits that make them look like bees. )

Will he? Say it’s so.

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 is the part where each of you start lead piping defenders of mid-to-lower table clubs, making sure they stay the @#$% away fron Francesco’s lower half.

(Great vid, as usual, from ermes79. Just one question: When did Coldplay become the official band of Roma? Does it have something to do with the goal celebrations?)