The Supernova

By: chris | September 26th, 2010

SOCCER-ITALY/

Roma 1 – Inter 0

At some point in the year two thousand and nine, roughly near the time of November, Mirko Vucinic flipped a switch. It may well have been his switch, a fussy on/off – no dimmer – which occasionally shorts but just as often surges through the light, sending glass crackling to the floor below in brilliant supernova. His switch turned out to be Roma’s switch.

Last year Mirko quietly, so quietly we hardly heard a peep, carried this team through a lengthy win streak and scudetto run. I am the last person on earth to heap the credit onto the goalscorers who nail one in five and reap the adoration when a defensive partnership hitting one in five is soon known as relegation; football builds from the back and credit should do likewise. Last year was, to a degree, the exception: Mirko gets a significant portion of that credit.

The annual crisis hit rock bottom – it hit the Earth’s mantle to be more precise – ’round about the time they were donating a 1-0 piece of charity to Livorno at home. It was arguably the worst lost since The Day That Never Happened In Manchester – some might say it was worse when comparing opposition. And then Mirko Vucinic scored a goal. Entirely mundane save for the fact that it was his very first of the season. And then he scored another the next week, against Inter, out of relatively nowhere. And then he just kept scoring goals. And quietly, as Francesco aged, Jeremy attempted to do the very same, Mirko took over. Not just the goal scoring duties, but the team. Both scoring and creating once Luca Toni came to town and he was able to play his more organic, very quietly he put AS Roma on his back. Julio Sergio managed his fair share of the load as well, and David, Juan and Nicolas deserve many, many cookies, but he was the tipping point. From constant frustration and a second lost season to the most improbable run at a scudetto we’ll see for years, beginning the day Mirko scored his first goal.

I don’t need to sit here and point out the parallels, even those beyond Mirko; all I’d really like is to look back on both in a few months time: Mirko, with Inter somewhere in the vicinity.

It’s something that can’t really be explained, largely because he himself is beyond explanation. How can one man go from so rubbish to so astonishing the next? How does one have such a knack for that certain je ne sais quoi the sports world bills as ‘clutch’? And what sane person pantses himself in order to celebrate a goal?

There is an indefinable quality within Mirko that we’ll never find on video game ratings or a scouting report, the only hints of which would be a frustrated search for description and the splinters from a broken pencil. There is nothing to pinpoint because it is neither tangible nor intangible; it just is, existing somewhere in the gray space in between.

He wasn’t Man of the Match – to call Juan flawless would be a grave injustice, as though he merely performed his job exquisitely; no, he performed that of several men exquisitely – nor was he probably near the top five. But that doesn’t matter, because Mirko Vucinic doesn’t do the leg work. He’s the man who casually shows for the journey’s final turn, when legs are weak and spirits weary, to put the team on his back and shoulder the weight of AS Roma across the finishing line in one singularly brilliant burst. Something like a supernova.

Etc.

Juan was close to Canna in ‘06 good and if anyone else had scored that goal, he’d be getting the glowing tribute. One of the “little things” conspiring to torpedo Roma this past month has been Juan at less than his typically perfect self.

He’s a rather astonishing defensive artisan.
And while Juan was Man of the Match, we got to watch the man he replaced, who was run out of town at his expense, get turned into a Romanian pretzel all day by Menez, still lacking the motor skills to buckle his fucking helmet.
Some things never change.
Actually, the whole back line deserves a lengthy standing O. Cassetti has been quietly excellent, largely while playing out of position, for a few games; Nicolas Burdisso reminded us of the Nicolas Burdisso who made us forget Nicolas Burdisso last year; and John Arne Riise wears short sleeves put on a 90 minute documentary as to why he’s so important to this team – not to mention he too showed up Chivu by giving a clinic in buckling one’s fucking helmet.

Defense, man – it doesn’t lose shit.

(Mirko Vucinic wins it.)
During the buildup to the goal, I saw Mirko Vucinic make that run and immediately said the world’s quickest prayer that Daniele would see the same as I. As the ball was in the air, Genoa blurted into my head, and shortly after the goal, the diving header against Real Madrid and then the Milan winner from two years back. Once done screaming like a little girl and heart rate back to less than fatal levels, I realized Mirko’s latest was the lovechild of three of the greatest goals (his greatest as well) during his time with Roma.
Maybe it’s about time Daniele a) plays right wing, or b) passes to no one but Mirko.
The media blowing anything and everything Francesco Totti does out of proportion is getting a bit tired. Anyone who’s watched him for more than a few weeks would know that he doesn’t react well when he fails to meet his lofty on-pitch standards and that he gets very frustrated with himself. In fact we’ve seen it a lot over the years, particularly in derbies and games of similar importance. And he didn’t play particularly well. And he didn’t react well. Arithmetic.
I really am mystified by all of this.
Ranieri’s subs: oftentimes he’s just as mystifying as those who apparently haven’t watched Roma, well, ever. However, anyone who saw Brescia would know that Mirko looked to have 5 minutes in his legs on Wednesday – he was just a tank with little ability to move past levels of Adriano – so 15 minutes was even a surprise and Adriano was, well, he even made an injured Mirko seem sprightly. Yeah, he reportedly hadn’t warmed up sufficiently – which rockets him up the ol’ shit list once again – but Baptista is, at the very least, fit. And he can move. That’s always a far more positive sub than a few minutes of Adriano occasionally jogging four feet to the left.
The rest of it…all excellent.
Hard to criticize the first win after such a start, eh?

There is, however, one problem with this win: in order to understand its true value, we have to wait. Perhaps until Cluj, Perhaps until Napoli, perhaps until Christmas – we just can’t know.

Fortunately there is one thing for which we no longer have to wait:

Some Related Roma Posts:

Category: Team News

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Jacob

Vuci-DDR combo is the bomb. The reason why it works is because Vuci is prob the only player fast enough to meet DDR's long balls.
nino

no wonder daniele de rossi has been playing shit lately, it is not his poor form ...the real answer is no vucinic. No vucinic, who else can DDR pass to?
I fuckin' admire De Rossi-Vucinics' strong friendship and partnership.
Dhaw

I fucking love this video. It's at the end of the game. Beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8CtRDgK4b0

The vid also shows Riise staying out till the end and walking towards the Curva and appreciating the support and the crowd appreciating that. Riiise Riiise Ole Ole Ole Riiise Riiise !!!!
kurdt

Totti is awesome.
chico

Only ignorant and mediocre people worship a human being unconditionally, especially if he's not exactly a good example. Unfortunately most of the ultras are in that category of people and they can continue to do so (you may decide to join them). I am still a true AS Roma supporter from birth and I feel free to criticize the AS Roma captain whenever he doesn't behave like a captain, regardless of whether his name is Totti, De Rossi, Panucci, Aldair, Giannini, Conti, Di Bartlomei.
michele(AS-ROMA)

ok, i was at the stadium against inter. sitting maybe 15\20 meters from the goal. and in all honestly, it was better than sex lmao. the feeling was undescribable, the whole stadium just erupted, it was incredible.women children, old people just screaming at the the top of their lungs, absolute hysteria. at the very death vuciclutch does what he does best. i will never forget it for the rest of my life. we were singing 'interista pezzo di merda' on the tram and subway all the way to termini haha
but anyways, what i truly mean to comment on is, HAVE SOME OF YOU NOT LEARNED? FRANCESCO MOTHER FUCKING TOTTI can do whatever he likes. you people must understand this. if he doesn't want to sit on the bench, then he doesn't have to sit on the fucking bench. if he wants to change a subtisitution, he'll mawfucking change it. this is AS ROMA. Francesco Totti is the undisputed king of AS ROMA. he is meant to be worshiped, praised and adored every footstep he takes. nothing more nothing less. and for those of you who don't understand that, you need to cheer a different team. he is a GOD to the tifosi, and if you don't see him as one, i'm sorry but you are not a true supporter. he is a living legend. so please, stop asking more of him, stop having an opinion of his actions, and start soley worshipping him, and remember that there isn't much time left for Francesco. any season could be his last. and once this legend of Roma is gone, there is no telling how sad the city and it's tifosi will be.
Anna S

really? what section were you in? cuz i was right behind the goal too..
michele(AS-ROMA)

actually!? i was sitting right in the front row, well the last custer of seats infront of the field, at about the 18 yard box(i moved from monte mario at the half, stewards couldn't care less). so if you remember a man of about 20 extremely good looking haha, wearing a white as roma shirt with a scarf, jumping off the seats and yelling like a lunatic after the goal...that was me.
Anna S

ohh i don't think we were in the same section then. i was right behind the goal in the curva, section 21b. do you remember seeing the red smoke at the beginning of the 1st half? i was like right there.
michele(AS-ROMA)

oh shit you were in the curva? meaning you have a tessera, and you live in Roma i'm assuming haha and i remember seeing that red smoke! lol that's sick! must be nice being part of the best curva\terrace in europe huh? ed a proposito, sei romana? parla bene l'inglese...
Anna S

you don't need a tessera to buy tickets for the curva.. you just need to be quick ;)
i live in castelli romani. e non sono romana.. magariii haha. sono nata in polonia ma sono cresciuta in america, perciò parlo bene l'inglese ;) e tu? di dove sei?
michele(AS-ROMA)

i thought no tessera no curva, but you must've been pretty sly none the less haha io sono canadese, pero miei genitori sono trevisan ed abruzzesi cosi sono un caso raro, mezz' nord e sud haha ma complimenti scrivi l'italiano, e lo parli sono sicuro perfettamente. e la prossima volta sono a Roma, devi portarmi all' curva senza tessera! haha
Anna S

invece no, non parlo l'italiano perfettamente. sto qui solo da 5 mesi, però sto imparando piano piano. e dai, famme sapè quando stai qui cosi te porto in curva sud :) ma fammi capire una cosa.. tu sei venuto qui da canada solo per vedere la partita??
michele(AS-ROMA)

davvero!? penso che accetti io la tua offerta haha e lo impari solo da cinque mesi? non c'e male, ho cominciato un' anno fa e tu parli meglio di me!
eeee sono venuto in italia solo per la partita? hehe nooo, anche per trovare la famiglia, pero pensavo dell' viaggio con la partita in testa!
qando sono stato vicino a bassano del grappa, ho letto dello sciopero, quindi sono andato a Roma alcuni giorni in anticipo a vedere la partita contro il bologna in caso! ma grazie a dio lo sciopero non c'era...se hai facebook aggiungimi, michele della croce, ci sara una foto di Totti haha
agiamba

34, a bit pudgy, slow and injury prone.

Totti is a great player, but if Roma cave to his every whim, they're in trouble. Ranieri and De Rossi are just as Romano, but they too need to match it with results.
Niccolò Adami

such satisfaction being Roma that day, I stopped speaking english the entire day. I couldn't have been more proud to be from Rome. I know that there are great pains in this team, I've stated before that it's hard to stay with Roma if you aren't tied to them by birth. this game made it easy
Dhaw

Daniele fucking De Rossi !!!
sjRoman

Exactly! Vero! Grazie Totti. I am honored to see him play every time.
Giallorossi93

New Ermes video up, and once again they have done an fantastic job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Kilo15

LOL Cassetti getting rocked in the face LOL!!
David H

And there I was for 90' thinking "I'll take a 0-0 w/ Inter."

Media talks about how brave Claudio was to take off Totti, as if he'd never done it before in a big game. Yeah, only 6 months ago, when he took off Totti & DeRossi.

Let's not write Totti off, or make him a sub, just yet. If he goes 6 weeks w/o showing his legs can still get him around, then fine. But some of the best playmakers don't move very much. Juan Roman Riquelme comes to mind. Serie A isn't exactly a "run like a headless chicken" league (I'm looking at you, England.)

I do wish he'd left that indirect free kick to Riise last night, though. That kind of play demands a pile-driver. You can't get a ball up & down in 12 yards, even if you are a Roman god. And to see the wall collapse in fear for their manhood, or their pretty faces, would've been priceless.

My front three is Vučinić, Totti, Boriello, with Menez given a free role behind Totti, though whether we want 2 attackers who probably won't track back is a question.

I hope no one's underestimating the hard work Boriello put in last night. Having a big man fight like that can take a lot of pressure (not to mention the physical beating) off the other attackers. I love the guy & hope he's on the field every game. He can be what a younger Toni was. All he really needs is a coach who believes in him. Some players need a pat on the back. Claudio can provide that.

A few votes in the comments here for Okaka. I know he's young, and maybe it's the lack of consistent playing time, but he hasn't exactly been a goal machine. Baptista is a good sub, & can play further back if necessary. They should cut Adriano loose already. Boriello is a gift no one expected, and you know what you'll get with him. Let's be grateful for that, because the old Adriano ain't coming back.

Regardless, I'm gonna enjoy Saturday night. At least until the next match. This has got to be the start of our season, not a blip.
Giallorosseattle

I loved watching him stomp the signs. He was fucking pissed, he'd had enough. Me too.
DeGuilio

speaking of Totti, Buon Compleanno il Capitano.
Dhaw

You know it's wonderful to know that Vucinic is only 26.
mac

Yeah it is amazing. He turns 27 this week. Our team has a lot of B Days in August Sept and Oct. Perotta and I share the same birthday!
Dee30dh

I hadn't realized this. Very good to know.
Gio

when are we going to break out the black kits?

players like Mirko make Roma what it is. it's that sparkle of ability. the talent to create out of nothing something utterly amazing.

we are not Cagliari, with Aquafresca and Matri running their asses off and huffing and puffing to create 100 chances out of which one may be successful. we are built out of individual moments of brilliance that only players like Totti, DeRossi and Vucinic can come up with.

with teams like Cagliari and Bayern, you can see their goals coming from a mile away - this long build-up of play, working the ball, all the effort. and then there is Roma who just come along and do something incredible, amazing, that you never expected.

this is what make Roma Roma. how any other fan love their team as much?
Giallorossi93

Yes I'm looking quite forward to seeing them. Playing beautiful beautiful football in ugly ugly kits.
Hondo

This guy is hilarious.. He did it again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

I admire his reaction, thought.. And his teammates hasn't abandoned him. Great Video!
Gio

i love how Blatter evoked the "no shirts off rule" ostensibly because Arab women viewers could be offended by seeing a player without enough of their body covered.

apparently, it does not seem to be a problem in Arabic countries themselves.
Spencera1986

Laying his body on the line http://www.daylife.com/photo/0...
jed

little side note: vuci's girlfriend or whatever is still pregnant and he is still dedicating his goals to her and the baby...

Thats probably his real spark, last season and hopefully part of this season.
agiamba

Vucinic is a great player and he's certainly a big-game player against Inter/Milan, but he's never really shown up against Juve. Maybe because he doesn't consider us a big team anymore, or whatever.

But keep it that way, I like it.
Dick Precious

This may well be blasphemous, but at the moment i think our best tridente doesn't include Totti.

Menez Borriello Vucinic
Lucian

I am simply grateful the we have options upfront. Totti, Borriello, Vucinic, Menez, Okaka, Baptista offer creativity, versatility fire power and the odd moment of genius. . Adriano is the great unknown, but I hope he's going to be good enough to make Ranieri's task of selecting players even harder.
David[ASR]

Hate to say but I agree. He is at his best when he is holding the ball up, waiting for others around him to make the run so he can slot a pass in. I think Ranieri needs to find a way to integrate him into the line up better so he is of more use to the squad.
Anthony

I think the issue is Totti wants to play the tre but he doesn't have the legs to do it on both sides, and Ranieri wants that.. I think it works with Taddei and perrotta in because they will do all the running for totti .. where Vucinic , boriello , menez won't
Julian

I agree as well. I just think that Totti- Borriello are too static to be good partners. Menez playing tucked in behind Vuci-Borriello could work out really well.
Bashar_ASR

While writing this post, I began to understand why Borriello being rested for the Cluj game. I guess with the attacking options we have we can afford to not line up our best performing players. I would go with Vucinic, Menez and Totti to give them some sort of match fitness and maybe confidence. Adriano can come off the bench in the second half for an extended run out.

Borriello can come in for Napoli (away) which is going to be a very tough game along with Vucinic and Totti perhaps. Whoever performs well.

We have too many forwards. I haven't even touched Baptista or Okaka.
Gio

don't touch them, Bashar
Dhaw

How has Borriello done against Napoli in his career ?

If i am not mistaken borriello is from naples and I am just curious to know if he has down anything against his hometown club.
ROMA

Forget Adriano, Yesterday he showed how little he cares about the team. That warm up was Bullshit. He didn't even want to go on. Lazy and FAT! I was excited when they got him hoping he would resemble a shadow of the striker he was at inter but he has yet to show anything other then the fact that he is out of shape and refuses to show any love for the Roma jersey. Let's start to use a Totti-Mirko-Borellio with Menez and Okaka comming off the bench. We need to start using Okaka again or he will leave like Giovinico.
amir NY

I really hope Mirko turned the switch once again as Chris mentioned. I want 3 points against Cluj and i want the old Roma back!
I have always said after Totti Mirko is becoming our most important player. He can create problems by himself and he shows that in Romas big games! Now he has to do the small games too.
No surprise Montenegro with Mirko is neck to neck with England after 2 games of Euro qualifier. 6points out of 6.
Sause

not to mention he too showed up Chivu by giving a clinic one buclking one’s fucking helmet.

I knew this was coming. It honestly did not feel the same. can we PLEASE dye that think ginger so I can identify Rise in the next game?
hanif

The write up was great, as usual from Chris. The passing was like from De Rossi two years ago, when the whole Italy still praised him for possessing laser-guided passing abilities. The finishing was marvellous, as from any typical on form Mirko. However, what was best was Mirko's celebration, kicking & stomping on ad boards! He must've had quite a lot of Tyler Durden and his anti-commercial thoughts.
ForzaRoma

any ideas where the hell is Rodrigo Taddei? it seemed he had a minor injury and was expected to miss a game or two,but I cant remember when was his last appearance,supercoppa? lol
in any case we completely forgot about him and his longer injury
Hondo

He isn't especially hard to forget because he brings almost nothing to the table..
David[ASR]

I'm surprised you haven't got Vucinic's solo effort against Chelsea in that list Chris
kistajk

Word of the month: Quiet.
(5 appearances in this post alone)
Fital69

Forza Super Mirko
Sterling

I think the last derby will go down as my favorite Mirko moment besides this past Inter match. That was some spine-chilling stuff.

Also, per the mention in the post above, FIFA 11 doesn't do Mirko justice (Fatty is overrated instead). You will be thrilled with Juan's uncanny ability to dismantle any attempted run at JSB, though.
David[ASR]

Have you seen Pes 2011? Vucinic has gone down from a 79 to a 77 after last season? cannot be explained. Totti sitting at 90, Pizarro and De Rossi at 87, Riise an 84, Juan and Mexes 86's. Atleast these are the original ratings they had, hopefully will have changed.

Ibrahimovich is sitting on a 97, so clearly pes dont do rating to well.
Sterling

I'll be shifting gears to PES shortly. Have they released player ratings yet? When I played it a month ago, Roma felt good and I was giving my opponent a Vuci-colonic. The rest of those player ratings are quite high compared to FIFA. Both Totti and DDR have taken hits in FIFA this year, IIRC.

Looking forward to seeing how people react to FIFA 11.
Hondo

That's why it has the ability to change the ratings to your liking :)
Janis Becker

I really like this Mirko strike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

:)
AYR.

ah, the many hours i have wasted trying to figure out whether that took a deflection or not.
Dhaw

His goal against Inter @ San Siro last year was a treat as well. He had just missed a open goal and then had such a lazy/leapy attempt with the header to give Roma the lead.

Few years ago he scored one against Milan as well right @ San Siro with a diving header ?
ForzaRoma

He didnt miss the open goal,Lucio was coming from behind and he didnt knew that and was moving towards Cesar very slowly,so he didnt even shoot lol (Motta's cross and his header after that were awesome)
I am sure that Milan goal was 1.5 years ago,when Roma went to Milano to play AC Beckham,Pato and Vuci scored brace and played excellent
ForzaRoma

here is the Milan game I am talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Pato owned Doni and Mexes on his second goal,but Vuci's second was a magnificent diving header,Abiatti didnt even make an attempt to save that one
Dhaw

vs Milan @ San Siro : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

vs Inter @ San Siro : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Hondo

Forza Roma!