Trophy Hunting In January

Did anybody notice??? We have an ageing squad with most of the players nearing 30s. 2 years from now we could be like Milan. Hope we get some good young players in our squad.

vendetta per Sampdoria!

I don't see how so many people can have so many different views of how a player played. Is everyone watching the same game?!

Anyway, well done to Roma! It's nice to win the first game of the year and lets hope we can keep the momentum for Samp next week!

:)

As it turns out, I was actually watching the Catania vs Roma game 08.
Whoops.
I wasn't paying attention, and just assumed that dribbling guy was Menez with a tan.

With all due respect for everyone's views, but this is exactly what I said the other night: Seeing things through your Roma goggles.

"Pizarro is an amazing player...he just needs to keep on launching dose awesmome long passes"

Amazing player, really? perhaps a word such as "good" is more appropriate. Such as "he has been good, or he has been ggod." As far as those "awsome long passes" they are as common as DDR's.

"was one of the best central midfields in the world. Definitely top 3 in Serie A, if not top 1"

That is really laughable. The best in the world? Wow!

"we have no playmaker without Pizarro"

Really? So Pizarro is the only one? No wonder Roma can't score goals nowdays and can't manage to get a win.

I'm sorry but I prefer to rate players objectively and through a clear eye, rather than thinking and using superlative words to discribe players just because they wear a Roma jersey.

I never said he was THE best in the world I said one of the best, big difference. Stop twisting words.
Take a reality check. Try doing a google search for "David Pizarro under-rated" and you're bound to find a whole lot of articles agreeing with the most things we've said here. There a handfull or so articles and blog posts out there that are pretty good.

Pizarro is an amazing player, he has lead the assist charts in the last seasons and dictates the tempo of our play... the thing is he is little and easily outmuscled for the ball. It would have been best if we kept D'agostino and played him there, but what's done is done. Pizarro does not need lots of space, stamina or fitness to play his role, he just needs to keep on launching dose awesmome long passes he makes and dictating play for him to have a starting spot, no one else can do that on our team, not even Totti as he is not a regista. Menez is a good player on the ball he does not have the passing abilities Pizarro has, and not even the shooting abilities of Simplicio.

D'agostino, Cassano, Amelia, Aquilani, Curci, Petrucci, Motta, Andreolli, Daniele Conti, Galloppa...it's mind blowing how much Italian (!) talent we have lost in this last decade

Aquilani, Curci, Petrucci and Conti stung abit but we're probably better off without the rest of them. Although I would have liked to see Cassano return to the capital instead of signing a contract with Milan.
What's going on with Petrucci these days? Haven't heard a word about him since his move.

No mention of Pepe? hahahahah

Cassano said a few wise words about Pepe which I wholeheartedly endorse:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/16...

AHAHAHA Daamn that was cold! "“When I was at Roma with Pepe, he was struggling to get in the reserves. He used to shine my football boots, and I would send him down to the shop to get me snacks." AHAHAHAHAHA man oh man I really wish he would come back here

Oh...didnt see the part about the article being satire. Oh well! hahahaha

I think the thing with Pizarro is Ranieri. Ranieri's football isn't exactly sexy if you ask me, having that midfielder to pull strings. Sure, it gets the job done, but it relies heavily on Menez. Moreso this year than last, so it could be a reason why Pizarro isn't as important. I wouldn't sell him in case we get a new manager that could find a use for him. But if he is staying in Chile for another 5 days and isn't injured/hurt like he says then we should get rid of him. No need for players like that.

Brazil media screwed up trying to taint Adriano. The day he arrived back in Roma they were saying he was spending time with girls. If anyone did before, there is no reason to trust anything coming from Brazil.

As for Claudio, we've seen it time and time again. He starts the match with what he wants, probably knowing it isn't the best tactic but does it because that's what he wants. Soon at half time he realizes the tactics he wants are completely shit so he changes to something that works. I've seen this pattern over and over and over again and while it is somewhat amusing, it will cost us matches when we can't come back or break away from a draw.

in my opinion Genoa(Preziosi) has 2 special abilities
first one are the famous,superfast,out of nowhere deals
and the second is Preziosi's habit to sell and buy 10-15 players every mercato,this one looks very promising and impressive at first,many many people praise him every time,but actually,thats the reason behind Genoa's inconsistensy and poor results
so instead of keeping key player Sculli,Preziosi thinks he stayed at the Marrassi for far too long(5 years) and its time to get rid of him
Roma's interested but has no money? fine,swap him with one of Brighi,Pek or Greco then
so even though our officials denied those rumors,I fear he will still manage to make that deal happen with those abilities
Greco,with low salary, never really disappoints,is young and improves every day,Pek is in trouble,but when Ranieri loves someone(Taddei),he sticks with him till the end
but what about Brighi? looks like he is the last choice central midfielder,even though he played very good lately
so I fear we might lose him,but the likes of Doni,Cicinho and Taddei will stay

I really hope Greco and Pizarro stay!
I like Brighi but even Greco/Taddei/Perrotta is favoured by Ranieri so that makes him what,6th choice in CM? He's soon 30 so we're not really ageing the squad (that is if Greco stays,his sub yesterday was very good,surely Ranieri must have seen it too?)

haha,even Toni couldnt stay there for more than a half season
http://www.football-italia.net...

What?! Toni to Juve? Nooooooo! This cant be! Say it's a lie! Say it!!

the Totti miss at the end was painfull in my eyes (cauz I know how talented he is and he would have easily buried it 1-2 years ago)

BUT

what striked me and maybe some of you didn't notice is that Totti WAS there at the counter,twice: when he missed the shot and when he gave the assist to Vuci (who was fresh from the bench). Where were Menez, Perrotta, Greco? He ran and was even fast at doing so! Shows 2 clear things:
- He gets older but his condition now is still there,and even better as last season
- His undenying spirit and passion for Roma,he never gives up and he actually gives a fuck (which could also explain why he wanted the goal so badly but at the 2nd counter he didn't want to make the same mistake again and unsellfishly gave the ball to Vuci. Very smart thinking there

and his deflected shot went to Vuci who scored the huge 3-2...I even dare to say if Totti was subbed for Vuci instead of Taddei,the 2-2 would have stood (you never know but anyway,he was fundamental today even when he had downside periods in the game)

and ow yea,he's been our captain for over 10 years now, slight fuckin' detail

Agree with you about his conditioning, it was so good to see him genuinely sprinting with the ball at his feet on the counter for the 4th. Granted, he didn't manage to go the distance, but he had the pace to force the last man to close him down, opening it up for Vucinic.

****************JULIO*******************
Burdisso*****MEXES****JUAN******RIISE
Vucinic*********DDR**************Greco
****************MENEZ*****************
***************totti/borriello************

non buono. solo quatro italiani. dov'e Perrotta, Cassetti, o Brighi?

putting Vuci in a 3 men midfield is even dumber than Ranieri putting Taddei there...what's next, Loria as centre attacker next to Rosi?

So, you really want that kind of spirit in the forum. Dissing other fans posting their opinions, allbeit lunatic opinions, is respectless. I am a nice guy, but I just get really frustrated and angry with the lack of respect. It kind of ruins the moment, you know? I am here Looking for that "gesellschaft", that groove for calcio and Roma, its players and its fans, to take part! Then I get to read your bitchy little comments. Have you got a reason to dislike him?

i'm not disliking spencera,i'm disliking his/her formation

cmon,if you come here I expect you're a roma fan and at least know something about the squad and you know that Vuci's an attacker,no CM. And I didn't use foul language doing so,but some football knowledge is welcome here,we're already the laughing stock of the offside site if you believe certain other bloggers like MAD,agiamba...

Also; Vucinic on the right?

2 dodgy goals, but i'll take them.

Really happy to see Okaka do well straight off the bat. Hopefully he can come back stronger, and create even more headaches for Ranieri.

Honestly, how lethal do we look when we have Menez, Vucinic, Totti and Borriello on the field all at once? Destroyed Bayern and Catania in 10min. Does it make anyone else wonder how a De Rossi + Perrotta/Brighi/Simplicio two man mid would look?

It certainly looks nice but I doubt it would work for 90 minutes. Better to start with three of them and then throw on the fourth - if needed - with 20-30 minutes to go.

I was thinking the same thing. Let's do it like the Oilers of the 80s: you score five? no problem, we'll score six.

Adriano who? Okakachuckamothafucka!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Ah Bari looks like such a prison state. Ah, il sud.

Crowd at Olimpico cheered when the "GOAL!" alert showed up yesterday that Okaka scored for Bari.

Good for him, he will be immense in a few years.

yea the kid's quite special

Official: Atletico Mineiro Sign Amantino Mancini From Inter.

who cares!

A win is a win. Other than Vucinic's last goal, those have to be the ugliest looking goals compiled by two professional teams.

Off topic but some of you need to face it. Pizarro is overrated, extremely overrated, and that’s usually from you Roma fans. No one else really cares for him. Now the fuzz about him losing his place in the starting XI I truly understand, and I like it. Other than Pizarro's minimal vision in the midfield with the small 5-10 yard passes, he is nothing expectacular to talk about. Not only does Pizarro manage to stay injured for most of the time, he isn't getting any younger. So he is injury prone and looking slower and slower (age), which are big negatives. I hope the new owners and new coach find a much better replacement.

And the gold fish memory strikes. Try to remember last season, it would do you good.

With the way Danielino's play has improved in Pizarro's absence and the way other midfielders have stepped up this year, I'd say Pek's value to the team at this stage is what he can bring back in a loan/sale.

You are deceived my friend. He is one of those players you don't want to like, bc he doesn't seem to fit. He isn't flashy, or big and fast, but he has been essential to this teams success. Your only valid point is that he is aging, but I am not ready to fault him for being human.

I'll be honest I would have to mostly agree with you here.

But saying he is completely overrated is a bit much. I agree he is getting old but he does have somethign to offer. However, I would sell him if the right offer comes in because we have shown that he isn;t as significant to our team as he was last season. And without him in the midfield DDR seems to play better.

well, I said "completely overrated" with the though that I have read some people here post comments hailing Pizarro as the most important player, or the reason why Roma looks and plays so good. At least that is the impression that I have gotten from some comments.

Pizarro, an essential player? Yes, just like any other player on a team who isn't commiting errors. The fundamental piece of our offence? No. Another average player in the world stage? Absolutely.

Pizarro had a fantastic season last year and was one of the best central midfields in the world. Definitely top 3 in Serie A, if not top 1.
From what little we've seen of Peq this season he's a shadow of his former self.

Well said...

we have no playmaker without him. hence we are so awful to watch (aesthetically) without him. it's tough to watch a roma team with no creative player, maybe you don't think so but I think of flair and style when I think of Roma so I prefer to have a creative player in the mix.

Gio, read that match report by Sterling 100 times, then realize you don't support this club, then NEVER post here again.

Don't save your money for the trip. You will end up in Rome and if you say "Fuck Ranieri" your body will be found like Pasolini's.

Got it?

I don't think it's necessary to tell Gio to never post here again, nor others with whom I've silently agreed or disagreed with.

I just remember getting out of my friend's car near St. Peter's Basilica and saying, "and I bet that even after this match, there's gonna be people on the Roma Offside bitching about the result. Fuck that, we were there, they were awesome!"

That said, I hope this won't be my last opportunity to see La Roma in all of their splendor. I'm sure the atmosphere is even more powerful for opponents who aren't hovering mid-table.

And I hope that all of us, some day, are fortunate enough to have the opportunity. And when you do, please support the elderly proprietor at the recently-opened Roma Jersey Museum in an alleyway a few blocks from the Typewriter (Vicolo del Piombo, 17/B; I told him I'd recommend a visit to all the Anglophonic tifosi I know). :)

No one listens to you.

No Roma fan would ever say that about another.

You are not a Roma fan.

Grazie Roma, grazie Ranieri, grazie Totti, grazie Greco, grazie DDR! Vafanculo Romani bashers!

Normally, I would take the measured stance of trying to be calm, but I just stopped partying after being at the Olimpico today. I have 36 hours until I'm on a plane back to Cali, and I'm pretty much spent.

And I will say this after being at the stadium:

It was religious. Curva Sud went nuts. DDR got whistles for shitty passes, but the guy was playing with the flu. Some guy behind us screamed "Aho, Maxi Lopez! Vaffanculo!" Greco played with a shitload of heart and Perotta looked great. Menez got huge cheers, as did Riise.

But most importantly, Totti played his ass off today, I saw it 300 feet away from Distinti Sud. There were flashes of creativity off the ball that your Internet stream were not showing you. I have seen The Jesus in all of his glory. It was that amazing.

Most importantly, when he flubbed that sitter, you know what Curva Sud did? They didn't play Internet Tough Guy. They sang "Un capitano, c'e solo un capitano" to the tune of Guantanamera. It's one thing to criticize his bad performances. It's quite another to deny his better performances during a bad season.

So, as kindly and gently as I can say it: SHUT THE FUCK UP, THEY CAME BACK FROM A 2-1 DEFICIT TO WIN.

I will now return to my regularly scheduled calm rationality.

Don't bring the old Sterling back. =)

Good point about inadequacy of streaming. Although I admire clam rationality, your post is funny and inspirational enough for a few of us to hope you 'loose your religion' more often.

Anyways, I just got back from Rome, and it reminded me that Calm and Rational take a back seat when it comes to Women, Food, Politics and La MAggica.

i'm not kidding, this post is beautiful my friend. i wish i could've explained it like you when i got back hahaha complimenti!

YES YES YES YES greatest post of the season goes to you my friend.

for those of us that have been there, seen the faces of the REAL ultras, and the passion of every single fucking soul in that city, you can't deny that Roma is loved, and never discussed. that TOTTI IS LOVED AND NEVER DISCUSSED.

one thing to criticize or point out mistakes, or in essence to discuss lol but to blatantly attack the greatest player to ever dawn the shirt, is something a VERO TIFOSO does not do. i don't even care if France' touches the ball all game, each and every god damn time he puts on that shirt and plays for Roma, we should be happy, and smile and savour every second.

SOME PEOPLE DO NOT GET THIS. i'm glad there's people on here who do.

FRANCESCO PER SEMPRE FORZA ROMA.

I agree 1000000000000 percent FORZA LA MAGICA!!!!!!!

Half full:
If I'd been offered a +8 over inter, a -7 over Milan with Lazio and Napoli within 2 points at the 18th, I would have taken it.

Half empty:
Shame we wasted the first part of the season.

I didn't see the game but after watching the highlights I wasn't too impressed. Seemed we made many mistakes. Our opening goal was all luck and bad goaltending. Catania were unlucky not to score more. Our second should not have stood. Menez really needs to learn how to pass.

Totti actually ran with the ball lol!!!!!!

A win is a win but that was not convincing

Debbie Downer over here...

lol

I dunno I just wasn't satisfied. Sure I love to win but the team needs to get better.

I agree but we haven't won the first game after the new year in many years, so heres to looking up!!!!

Mancini went back to Atletico Mineiro and Juan Culio went to Galatasaray

So, according to my girlfriend, Ezequiel Lavezzi is "pretty hot". Oh well, at least she didn't pinpoint an Inter player (e.g Pandev, or Chivu with his stupid helmet). Besides, if she left me for a Lavezzi type of guy, I could finally pursue my new dream of marrying Leandro Greco.

You guys are so pathetic.
One minute you're all screaming for Totti's head because he missed...and then the next it's all 'Thank you Totti. Grande Capitano. Trequartista till the end' Where is all this for when Borriello misses? Or Vucinic? How come everyone picks on Totti all the damn time?

You guys have no damn respect!

Totti was very good today. But remember, if we concede it's Totti's fault. If we miss, it's Totti's fault. But if we score (and it's not Totti who scores) then it's why didn't Totti score? I have found there are certain people here (note: not Gio) who will never be satisfied with him, perhaps only if he gets a brace/hat trick every match.

With that being said I do acknowledge his form has been very poor this year. It's when people choose to blame every fault of this team on him, even manager decisions, that it bothers me. Just ignore it.

Borriello's job is to score sitters, Totti's is not. If we pointed out Borriello's mistakes as much as Totti's he would be treated even worse. I love Marco, but he has a simple job. He could have over 10 goals by now easily. Anyway, I think Vucinic is back into his groove as well (maybe) so perhaps he can start on Sunday.

Dude, outside of that assist, Totti had a horrible game. At best he deserved 5.5 performance rating. I still love him but he's been in a poor dip of form. As for Borriello and Vucinic - they still netted 2 goals each today. And outside of today's match, Vucinic is another player the tifosi feel frustrated with. Majestic in one game and horrendous in another.

Actually, he was involved in all of the goals except for the first and got to assists.

Horrible game??

He sent Riise through for Boriello's 2nd goal.
His shot was deflected for Vucinic's 1st goal.
He crossed the ball for Vucinic's 2nd goal.

In my book that makes 3 assists. And 3/4 aint bad.

be careful Carletto.

i agree with you 100%, but you say things like this and some of the new people start thinking you are a Lazio fan

I'm just a realist. If you're in poor form it should obvious, but it doesn't seem that way to most. I still love him but I'm not blind. I hope he gets back to his best because at his peak form he is the only one on our team that can win matches single-handedly. Hmmmm, that's not true - there's 2010 Mirko & JSB, but it was once true and I'd like to continue to think it is.

Nolski-I agree w/Gio and rather have those 2 goals (especially those two Super Pippo type goals, I miss Inzaghi)

To be fair, outside of the 2 goals, Borriello had a shit game too. Scoring two goals doesn't make it a good performance, just makes it adequate. Good players can do this while having a bad day, ala Rafael van der Vaart. Vucinic only played 10 minutes and he did the job he had to do, so no complaints there.

scoring 2 goals doesn't make a good performance?

i don't know where this comes from, but without those 2 goals our overall performance would have been a draw ... with Catania.

not anybody can just drop in 2 goals. and Borriello works harder than almost any other striker to get his goals in.

thank Birriello and Vucinic for this game. they got us the 3 points.

That show just how much you know about football. It is a team sport, and it is few player who can win a match by himeself. Borriello can't.

The first goal was mostly in thanks to Taddei and De Rossi and the second in thanks to Totti and Riise. What Borriello did was just tap ins and he was in the right place at the right time mostly because he is the one playing as a center forward. The last two goals was Menez-Vucinic-Totti show.

You are right about Borriellos work rate though.

Menez just needs to stay on his feet more. If he does he can recover and actually do way more damage than getting a free kick.

*****First and foremost, all I'm happy about is getting the W. I can care less how we achieve a win, but a win is a win. Secondly, I don't read all the comments from here nor do I know any of the authors but what I can tell you is that too many of you just complain about the dumbest things. Honestly, do you expect any team to win every fu*kin game? How many undefeated campaigns have you seen recently besides Arsenals in the early part of the millenium. Yes you can complain that certain players were not on form or tactical setups were incorrect - but to rant and rave like you do is a bit much. If you support Roma, support them all the way through. Regarding Totti, yes he is playing like shit and anyone who cannot see that probably came from the School of Helen Keller. I have no idea if this is a dip in form (which he has had in the past, I believe it was in 03-04 and a large section of the tifosi did turn on him at that time) or the fact that he's 34. Personally, I think he should be benched. As for Ranieri, all I'm going to say is hindsight is 20/20. Yeah crucify him for not playing so and so and when he does make the changes and we win - it had to have been because of the subs and they should've started all along. Lastly, I want you guys to go back to that 3-2 Bayern match and read all the comments from when it was 0-2 until the end of the match. Funny how opinions can be changed so quickly. SEMPRE ROMA .. DAJEEEEEEE******

Sor Carleto,

i don't understand how it is 20/20 hindsight when a bunch of us said this before the game even started?

Did you say:
- De Rossi will not be able to play after his flue
- Simplicio's good form has ended
- Greco is in top shape
- Perotta is in top shape, even considering he has just recover from an injury
- Vucinic is in top shape, even considering he has just recover from an injury
- Juan will not be able to control Maxi Lopez

I think not.

Hmmmm, well can you understand this .... I bet on Juventus and Roma to win and a Milan tie yesterday. And this too was all done before the match even started.

Also, what is that you and everyone else were saying before the game started? I'm just curious ...

Agree 100%. One of the reasons i try to stay away from the comments nowdays (the blog is still awesome). Everytime i read the comments though its pot shot after pot shot.

Totti is not who he used to be, yes we can all see this, but show some respect for the legend... calling him fucken useless and questioning his passion and commitment just shows what a kind of fan you are.

Ranieri... ok not my ideal coach... but understand he's not going to go out and attack for 90min but he employs a tactical system that gets results. Not all the time but come on we're 4th after a slow start, ahead of Juve and Inter and 2 points off second. In my opinion thats no better than we'd be with the majority of other coaches.

My two cents on Taddai is: first half poor. Second half decent when pushed into the centre of the park, his passing improved.

People need to show some support or shutup.

i read almost every comment here and i don't think anybody here has said that Totti is fucking useless.

problem is that some of the people here have the IQ of acarrot and can't read past the first sentence and they jump to the conclusion that you hate Totti and think when all anyone ever said is that he is playing poorly and should be benched.

and don't mis up Roma and Ranieri.

i always support Roma, but i am not going to support a coach who can't see the simplest of things that would make this team function properly and win many more games.

Whatever. People will always defend themselves and their opinions and rarely concede. Mixing up Ranieri and Roma? bit rich seeing as one is coaching the other. Support one and by default you are supporting the other.

Never thought I'd give them credit for anything - but that was a seriously gorgeous goal by Inter

the goals for catania. why did they score them? who messed up on defense? I only caught the second half of the game

Both goals were Juan's fault. He had a very off game.

Does anyone remember Mancini he is going back to brazil what a sad career move. Inter really fucked this guy up.

Francesco's coming back, i can feel it.

if Inter wins all the postponed matches and this one,they will have as many points as we do
if Napoli wins,they will be -3 from Milan,+4 from us
but looking at the bigger picture,Napoli are up here only because Cavani and Lavezzi are in outstanding form and Inter is down there only because they had many injuries and a coach who couldnt motivate them
also while Inter is already buying new players,Napoli has done nothing to improve the defense and still must rely on the same 11 players because the bench is of very low quality and they still have some difficult EL matches too

so its clear that the best outcome is a draw,then a Napoli win,which also means Milan cant really feel very confident with only +3 lead

one of like 5 people here who see it the way it is.

at least ForzaRoma speaks some sense, you on the other hand are a douchbag stop jerking off frozaroma..

are you even a Roma fan?

A good be shit, be good, up > down roller coaster game, how it should be.

Totti should not take free kicks, he has not hit a good one since 05.
I'm fairly sure even then he was hardly Mihajlovic.
Never liked Taddei, he could be Ronaldinho 2004 and I'd still want him out.

In Ranieri's defence to some relentless haters on here, he tried something different against a weaker team (in which he is well within his rights to do so) and it didn't work. He knew it, and he made tactical changes at halftime to account for it as well as a late substitution, all of which resulted in turning around a 1-2 halftime deficit to a 4-2 victory. Saying "well why didn't he play those subs in the first place?" is 20-20 hindsight and is an unfair judgement. There are not many managers that can turn around a dismal performance to an emphatic victory in the same game. Yes, he probably fiddled too much with the starting line up but let's face it, Ranieri owned the second half and we owe him our gratitude for the 3 points.

as if its based on the one game, he's just lucky, quality of the players show not the manager in my opinion. And tht point about comebacks is bullshit, theyre quite frequent

it is not 20-20 hindsight because we said it at the beginning of the game.

And if it paid off would you still be complaining? That's what I meant by 20-20 hindsight.

Catania have every right to be pissed after that refereeing performance but both calls were very tight. The ball looks to have crossed the line and if it hadn't, there would only be 1 mm in it. As for the offside, it's also a hair.

Vucinic right right foot was offside when Totti took the shot. The ball took a deflection by which time Vucinic was completely offside. I wouldn't have called both but they were very difficult to see from the linesman viewpoint. Should have been 2-2 but I'll take it. we can use the points and the lucky break.

i think there was a possible penalty call on that first Vuci goal though.

Also, I'm pretty sure the ball came off a Catania player, so wouldn't that put it onside?

highlights, anyone?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

just a thought on Borriello, he makes goalscoring look easy. No dribbling, no long-range shots, no fancy tricks whatsoever.
Totti still has a trick or two up his sleeve(s). Just don't count him out. Never.

However, this is quite the shocking mid-season opener, isn't it? Parma won over Juve, Palermo beating Sampdoria. Lets hope Napoli can be defeated. (Note that I did not say that "Lets hope Inter wins.")

I forgot to say happy new year to all of you romanistas. May this year be THE year for each and every one of us, for the players, and for the club.

hanif - oh-dark hundred hour.