Totti explains deadly touch
Thursday 27 March, 2008
Roma captain Francesco Totti has explained his transition from provider to predator and hit out at the selection process for the Ballon d’Or award.
Totti was Serie A’s surprise Capocannoniere last term with 26 goals and has cemented the move from attacking midfielder to striker with 13 strikes so far this time around.
“I have changed the way I play and I have found teammates who help me score,” Totti told Sky Sport Italia.
“I have played two different roles in my career – for the first 12 years I created goals for others and in the last three years players have made goals for me.
“When I was playing behind the strikers I learned how to move as an attacker as I do now.
“I see myself as an altruistic attacker who scores to help the team. I feel like a marksman when I finish chances made by my teammates, but I lack the head of a complete striker, even if I have improved over the years.”
Totti’s first goal in the Giallorossi shirt came 14 years ago against Foggia and Er Pupone remembers it fondly.
“Fortunately, my first goal was at the Stadio Olimpico,” he grinned. “It was the first day of the season on September 4, 1994.
“That was such an important goal as I had always thought about scoring there as a Roma fan.
“My best goal in the Champions League? Against Lokomotiv Moscow at the Stadio Olimpico, we were losing 1-0 and we ended up winning 2-1 with me scoring the goal on the break.
“The most important goal is another matter and it has to be the one in our 1-0 win over Real Madrid.
“I meant so much to the team and I because it had been so many years since an Italian side won at the Bernabeu.
“Real used to be the side that I follow with the most attention because I liked the way they play, their stadium and Spain. They were my second team.”
When Kaka received the Ballon d’Or award last year, Totti was one of few voices raised against the decision, as he believed Real Madrid hitman Raul should have been given the honour.
“I think it’s a scandal that such a good player who has scored everywhere and won everything has never received the Ballon d’Or,” he moaned.
“The fact that a player can score 20 or 30 goals and win the Champions League and the Scudetto but not the Ballon d’Or suggests that it’s all pre-decided.
“I think that 2000 was my best chance. It was the year after we won the Scudetto, we did well in the Champions League and could have won it, but I don’t know what I had to do to win the Ballon d’Or.”
Another player Totti rates highly is towering Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“He is a player who knows how to make the difference,” Totti asserted, “He has improved so much and is able to lift Inter. He is physically strong and technically talented and is one of the best players in the world at the moment.”
The Lupi legend concluded by responding to claims that Roma haven’t signed a striker in recent seasons because Totti doesn’t want a new recruit.
“That’s a load of rubbish,” he raged. “I want a competitive squad to win as much as possible and we need players of a certain calibre to do that.
“If Luca Toni or Ruud Van Nistelrooy arrived I would just be happy. The more the merrier.”
===
No arrogance, and reasonable opinions I completely agree with. Who the hell is this guy and where is the Totti we all dislike?
Thursday 27 March, 2008
Roma captain Francesco Totti has explained his transition from provider to predator and hit out at the selection process for the Ballon d’Or award.
Totti was Serie A’s surprise Capocannoniere last term with 26 goals and has cemented the move from attacking midfielder to striker with 13 strikes so far this time around.
“I have changed the way I play and I have found teammates who help me score,” Totti told Sky Sport Italia.
“I have played two different roles in my career – for the first 12 years I created goals for others and in the last three years players have made goals for me.
“When I was playing behind the strikers I learned how to move as an attacker as I do now.
“I see myself as an altruistic attacker who scores to help the team. I feel like a marksman when I finish chances made by my teammates, but I lack the head of a complete striker, even if I have improved over the years.”
Totti’s first goal in the Giallorossi shirt came 14 years ago against Foggia and Er Pupone remembers it fondly.
“Fortunately, my first goal was at the Stadio Olimpico,” he grinned. “It was the first day of the season on September 4, 1994.
“That was such an important goal as I had always thought about scoring there as a Roma fan.
“My best goal in the Champions League? Against Lokomotiv Moscow at the Stadio Olimpico, we were losing 1-0 and we ended up winning 2-1 with me scoring the goal on the break.
“The most important goal is another matter and it has to be the one in our 1-0 win over Real Madrid.
“I meant so much to the team and I because it had been so many years since an Italian side won at the Bernabeu.
“Real used to be the side that I follow with the most attention because I liked the way they play, their stadium and Spain. They were my second team.”
When Kaka received the Ballon d’Or award last year, Totti was one of few voices raised against the decision, as he believed Real Madrid hitman Raul should have been given the honour.
“I think it’s a scandal that such a good player who has scored everywhere and won everything has never received the Ballon d’Or,” he moaned.
“The fact that a player can score 20 or 30 goals and win the Champions League and the Scudetto but not the Ballon d’Or suggests that it’s all pre-decided.
“I think that 2000 was my best chance. It was the year after we won the Scudetto, we did well in the Champions League and could have won it, but I don’t know what I had to do to win the Ballon d’Or.”
Another player Totti rates highly is towering Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“He is a player who knows how to make the difference,” Totti asserted, “He has improved so much and is able to lift Inter. He is physically strong and technically talented and is one of the best players in the world at the moment.”
The Lupi legend concluded by responding to claims that Roma haven’t signed a striker in recent seasons because Totti doesn’t want a new recruit.
“That’s a load of rubbish,” he raged. “I want a competitive squad to win as much as possible and we need players of a certain calibre to do that.
“If Luca Toni or Ruud Van Nistelrooy arrived I would just be happy. The more the merrier.”
===
No arrogance, and reasonable opinions I completely agree with. Who the hell is this guy and where is the Totti we all dislike?
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