[ITA] Serie A 2007/2008 (20 Viewers)
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Are Roma Really Ready For Major Honours? After making a sensational start to the new season Roma have started to stutter in recent matches. Do Roma have a realistic chance of challenging for the Scudetto and the Champions League? Goal.com opens the subject for debate. Have they seriously improved, or are they simply trying to convince themselves and others that they have?
Are Roma Really Ready For Major Honours?
A fortnight ago, Roma opened up their Champions League campaign with a dominant 2-0 win over Dynamo Kiev at the Stadio Olimpico. The victory was the Giallorossi’s fifth consecutive win of the new season and what was even more impressive, was that this had all been achieved without even conceding a goal.
Roma were the toast of Italy and the peninsula’s press were unanimous in hailing the magnificence of Luciano Spalletti’s men. Many now began to tip Roma as Scudetto-favourites and serious Champions League contenders.
Some even went as far as to compare the squad to Nils Liedholm’s wonderful Roma side of the early 1980’s, when legends such as Falcao and Bruno Conti led the Giallorossi to the 1983 Scudetto and the final of the 1984 European Cup.
However since the victory over Kiev, Roma have gone four matches without a win, including last night’s defeat, albeit an unfortunate one, to Manchester United. What has gone wrong? Did the media over-hype Roma’s excellent start to the season?
First of all, let’s look at the teams Roma beat during those first five games. The first victims were Inter in the Italian Super Cup, a competition that is hardly taken that seriously in Italy. Then the Giallorossi defeated Palermo, Siena, Reggina and finally Dynamo Kiev. These four opponents are hardly world-beaters and maybe the press were a little too hasty to build Roma up, before they had seen them against stronger opposition.
The next three games proved this very point. Firstly Roma were held 2-2 by Juventus at home, in a game where the Giallorossi seemed to be in complete control, only to allow Vincenzo Iaquinta to peg them back at the death. Another 2-2 draw followed at Fiorentina, before a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Inter at the Stadio Olimpico last Saturday. The Italian media were now asking whether Roma could mix it with the so-called bigger teams.
Roma’s squad oozes class – I am not doubting that all. Technically, there are not many teams in Europe who can play the beautiful football that Roma do. That was evident during yesterday’s match with Man Utd, where some of the one-touch football and link-up play involving the likes of Totti, Mancini and Aquilani was a delight to watch.
However have Roma got the temperament to challenge for the top honours? When things are going well for Roma, they can sometimes be untouchable, however as soon as things get tough, they often seem to go missing.
In this way you can compare Roma to the Spanish national team. Why have Spain always so terribly under-achieved during major championships? It is certainly not because they have not had the players to win World Cups and European Championships. The reason is simple – Spain do not possess the required mental strength to win these trophies.
You can go through the history of Roma and find numerous games where they have mentally frozen. The best example is the 1984 European Cup Final. Roma were probably the best club side in Europe at the time. They had brilliant players such as the aforementioned Falcao and Bruno Conti.
They were facing Liverpool in the final and they were hot-favourites as the game was being played in their home stadium, the Stadio Olimpico. However Roma just could not handle the pressure of the big occasion, especially in front of 80,000 Romans and they lost on penalties after playing a desperately nervous game.
The most recent example where Roma psychologically collapsed was during the 7-1 thrashing to Manchester United last season. If there is one thing you can say about Roma, it is that they do not have a winning mentality.
Football is not just about winning pretty. Often you may have to grind out a result by playing ugly. Just look at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho for the perfect example. I am not sure whether Roma possess this in their armoury. I am also not convinced that Roma have a Plan B during games. By this I mean, Roma are famed for their delicious pass and move football, but can they mix it up and play a direct game now and again?
With Francesco Totti playing as the lone-striker I very much doubt it. Roma seem to lack a cutting-edge up front and never was that more evident than during yesterday’s match with Man Utd. Roma were clearly the better team and created a host of clear-cut chances but they did not have an out-and-out goalscorer to put the ball in the back of the net.
This was exactly the case during the 2-2 draw with Juventus a couple of weeks ago. Roma completely dictated the second-half of that match but they did not have a killer-striker to make all their possession count.
Paradoxically, the beauty of Roma comes from the fact they do not play with a natural centre-forward but I believe they require a striker in the mould of David Trezeguet or Luca Toni if they want to truly challenge for the Scudetto or Champions League.
It is all very well saying that Roma have been unlucky during these last four games, and in all true accounts they have. They probably deserved to beat Juventus and Fiorentina, they had a man sent off after 28 minutes against Inter while the score was 0-0, and yesterday against Man Utd they missed numerous opportunities and should have had a penalty. However this does not hide the deficiencies that they still carry around with them.
What do you think? Can Roma challenge for major honours this season? Did the press over-hype their excellent start to the season? Do they require a natural penalty-box striker? Goal.com wants to hear your views...
Carlo Garganese
Are Roma Really Ready For Major Honours?
A fortnight ago, Roma opened up their Champions League campaign with a dominant 2-0 win over Dynamo Kiev at the Stadio Olimpico. The victory was the Giallorossi’s fifth consecutive win of the new season and what was even more impressive, was that this had all been achieved without even conceding a goal.
Roma were the toast of Italy and the peninsula’s press were unanimous in hailing the magnificence of Luciano Spalletti’s men. Many now began to tip Roma as Scudetto-favourites and serious Champions League contenders.
Some even went as far as to compare the squad to Nils Liedholm’s wonderful Roma side of the early 1980’s, when legends such as Falcao and Bruno Conti led the Giallorossi to the 1983 Scudetto and the final of the 1984 European Cup.
However since the victory over Kiev, Roma have gone four matches without a win, including last night’s defeat, albeit an unfortunate one, to Manchester United. What has gone wrong? Did the media over-hype Roma’s excellent start to the season?
First of all, let’s look at the teams Roma beat during those first five games. The first victims were Inter in the Italian Super Cup, a competition that is hardly taken that seriously in Italy. Then the Giallorossi defeated Palermo, Siena, Reggina and finally Dynamo Kiev. These four opponents are hardly world-beaters and maybe the press were a little too hasty to build Roma up, before they had seen them against stronger opposition.
The next three games proved this very point. Firstly Roma were held 2-2 by Juventus at home, in a game where the Giallorossi seemed to be in complete control, only to allow Vincenzo Iaquinta to peg them back at the death. Another 2-2 draw followed at Fiorentina, before a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Inter at the Stadio Olimpico last Saturday. The Italian media were now asking whether Roma could mix it with the so-called bigger teams.
Roma’s squad oozes class – I am not doubting that all. Technically, there are not many teams in Europe who can play the beautiful football that Roma do. That was evident during yesterday’s match with Man Utd, where some of the one-touch football and link-up play involving the likes of Totti, Mancini and Aquilani was a delight to watch.
However have Roma got the temperament to challenge for the top honours? When things are going well for Roma, they can sometimes be untouchable, however as soon as things get tough, they often seem to go missing.
In this way you can compare Roma to the Spanish national team. Why have Spain always so terribly under-achieved during major championships? It is certainly not because they have not had the players to win World Cups and European Championships. The reason is simple – Spain do not possess the required mental strength to win these trophies.
You can go through the history of Roma and find numerous games where they have mentally frozen. The best example is the 1984 European Cup Final. Roma were probably the best club side in Europe at the time. They had brilliant players such as the aforementioned Falcao and Bruno Conti.
They were facing Liverpool in the final and they were hot-favourites as the game was being played in their home stadium, the Stadio Olimpico. However Roma just could not handle the pressure of the big occasion, especially in front of 80,000 Romans and they lost on penalties after playing a desperately nervous game.
The most recent example where Roma psychologically collapsed was during the 7-1 thrashing to Manchester United last season. If there is one thing you can say about Roma, it is that they do not have a winning mentality.
Football is not just about winning pretty. Often you may have to grind out a result by playing ugly. Just look at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho for the perfect example. I am not sure whether Roma possess this in their armoury. I am also not convinced that Roma have a Plan B during games. By this I mean, Roma are famed for their delicious pass and move football, but can they mix it up and play a direct game now and again?
With Francesco Totti playing as the lone-striker I very much doubt it. Roma seem to lack a cutting-edge up front and never was that more evident than during yesterday’s match with Man Utd. Roma were clearly the better team and created a host of clear-cut chances but they did not have an out-and-out goalscorer to put the ball in the back of the net.
This was exactly the case during the 2-2 draw with Juventus a couple of weeks ago. Roma completely dictated the second-half of that match but they did not have a killer-striker to make all their possession count.
Paradoxically, the beauty of Roma comes from the fact they do not play with a natural centre-forward but I believe they require a striker in the mould of David Trezeguet or Luca Toni if they want to truly challenge for the Scudetto or Champions League.
It is all very well saying that Roma have been unlucky during these last four games, and in all true accounts they have. They probably deserved to beat Juventus and Fiorentina, they had a man sent off after 28 minutes against Inter while the score was 0-0, and yesterday against Man Utd they missed numerous opportunities and should have had a penalty. However this does not hide the deficiencies that they still carry around with them.
What do you think? Can Roma challenge for major honours this season? Did the press over-hype their excellent start to the season? Do they require a natural penalty-box striker? Goal.com wants to hear your views...
Carlo Garganese
Why would you want to loath Malidni though?
Sure,i can understand Juventus fans hating other Milan players,but Malidni doesnt deserve anything but respect.Ive never come across any Milan fan who loathes Del Piero either.
Sure,i can understand Juventus fans hating other Milan players,but Malidni doesnt deserve anything but respect.Ive never come across any Milan fan who loathes Del Piero either.
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