I think Lyon were considering an offer for Mancini and offering a player + money in exchange (I think it was Clerc, who Spalletti was interested in) a month or so back (I guess Lyon being humiliated by Mancini’s cute little stepovers caught Aulas’s attention), but nothing came of it.

I didn’t mention it, but Roma does play a 3-2-3-2 on special occasions. Chivu can sometimes sit in front of the back line and push one of the “holding” midfielders up. I have been hoping they switch to this if they land a Suazo/Iaquinta but it looks like my dreams are dashed. The main point is though, great teams are able to adapt. I hope Roma doesn’t become a one trick pony because teams can set their lineups to counter accordingly. The other strange thing is Okaka Chuka, who is a pure no. 9 and a phenom extraordinaire. I don’t know what they are going to do with him.

Btw, can we have Tiago?

And a comment on Spalletti’s tactics – I know what you mean about not deviating from a favored formation(Lyon is the same way – their 4-3-3 was built specifically for Juninho). But it’s important to be able to play successfully in other formations, because if Totti has an injury or ends up leaving for some bizarre reason (can’t see it happening but who knows), the 4-2-3-1 may become hinder more than anything else as the system revolves around Francesco.

Sidenote: you know what Lyon player would fit Spalletti’s system? Hatem Ben Arfa, who’s best position is right behind a striker, as a sort of a deep lying second striker/attacking midfielder. It’s a shame that Lyon will never adopt a formation that will expose Ben Arfa’s best talents.