Ranieri is known for making weird subs that sometimes work.
I liked this editorial from last season (Roma-Lazio) :
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/ed...e-totti-de-rossi-youre-subbed-was-he-lucky-or
Calcio Debate: 'Totti & De Rossi You’re Subbed’ - Was He Lucky, Or Has Roma’s Claudio Ranieri Turned Into A Substitute Genius?
A moment of inspiration from the Tinkerman won Roma the derby. Carlo Garganese hails the impact of Claudio Ranieri since he subbed Luciano Spalletti...
You are coach of Roma and your team are losing 1-0 at half time to bitter city rivals Lazio. You are playing badly in a derby that you simply must win or else risk throwing away your Scudetto chances. What do you do? Simple. You take off your legendary captain Francesco Totti, and your inspirational future captain Daniele De Rossi. Right?
Hands up who thought that Claudio Ranieri had lost the plot when he made this momentous decision at the interval yesterday evening?
The 58-year-old’s 'Tinkerman’ nickname has stuck precisely because of such moves. However, for much of his career Ranieri’s substitutions have been an unmitigated disaster.
Juventus fans still sport the scars from some of his insane blunders of last season. In the first game of the campaign, the Bianconeri were comfortably leading 1-0 at Fiorentina. With two minutes remaining, the Tinkerman took off a midfielder, Mauro Camoranesi, and changed to an attacking 4-3-3 by blooding another forward, Vincenzo Iaquinta. It resulted in Alberto Gilardino equalising and Juve dropping two points.
Having failed to learn his lesson, the next week Ranieri had another substitution-shocker. Having dominated against Udinese, he made a double attacking change on 86 minutes, introducing Alex Del Piero and David Trezeguet for Amauri and Iaquinta. Ranieri completely revolutionised one area of his team. Udinese took the initiative and missed a glorious chance to equalise at the end through Antonio Floro Flores.
Ranieri’s revolution rampage continued the following round, away at Cagliari, when he started with Momo Sissoko and Claudio Marchisio in centre midfield, and then midway through the second half purged this for a bizarre partnership of Tiago Mendes and Pavel Nedved, with Christian Molinaro and Paolo De Ceglie patrolling the left flank.
We are only at week three now. To go through a whole season, you would all have square eyes by the time you finished reading. When it comes to substitutions, Ranieri is like a lottery. Some say he just does not have the ability to read the direction of a game.
But since taking charge of Roma following Luciano Spalletti’s early season sacking, Ranieri has been a revelation in every managerial department – in particular his substitutions. Yesterday’s half time entrants Rodrigo Taddei and Jeremy Menez were decisive in turning the game in the Giallorossi’s favour. The Brazilian, who added a calmness to midfield that was missing from the over-passionate De Rossi, won the penalty from which Mirko Vucinic equalised. The Frenchman, who injected some much needed explosiveness and penetration that the fitness-shy Totti had lacked, earned the free kick in the D from which Vucinic blasted home the winner.
With just four games of the Serie A season remaining, Roma must now be considered favourites for the title. While the run-in is not completely straightforward, as fourth placed Sampdoria must visit the Olimpico next, Ranieri appears to have instilled a never-say-die attitude into his troops in which they are able to overcome every obstacle put in their way. A 24-match unbeaten run is testament to this, as is the fact that the team is no longer dependent on Totti, or even necessarily De Rossi.
The Lupi certainly rode their luck at 0-1 when another revelation Julio Sergio saved Sergio Floccari’s penalty, but all the credit for yesterday’s derby win has to go to Ranieri. If Roma do go on to win the Scudetto this season, then not even a Jose Mourinho Champions League success can stop the Tinkerman from being crowned Coach of the Season.
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