Il Danielino

By: Michele | December 8th, 2008

Chievo 0 Roma 1

This was never going to be a pretty game.
Chievo decided to employ a formation very similar to the one they use when on the team bus and Roma had to work hard to get a ball through.
In the end Daniele headed the ball to JéJé Méne who managed to put it behind Sorrentino (who was truly a giant between the sticks for Chievo).
He’s fast, skillful and not short of ideas when it comes to beating players.
Of course on the flip side Jeremy is a bit selfish, not very physical and has a tendency to go down easily.
The beauty to Baptista’s beast?
Still he asked for a start, got one and he delivered.

DDR Rating – 7.5
So how did Daniele do?
Along with being his usual rock solid self, DDR took advantage of the space he had in the middle, delivered a couple of stunning FK’s (which should have resulted in goals) and provided the assist for Jéjé Méné.
Great performance from De Rossi who is starting to regain some of last seasons form.
Always calm and collected in the middle, most of Roma’s attacks stemmed from him.
Very good performance from the prince of Rome.
He delivered one poor ball into the Chievo’s box and took a very hopeful shot but other then that flawless showing.
There is clearly a direct link between De Rossi and Brighi’s performances.
When Brighi doesn’t play well Daniele steps up and plays for both of them.

Less Reputable Ratings:

goal.com

De Rossi -6.5:
A relatively poor first half but came to life in the second. His header laid the ball on a plate for Menez to score. His shooting wasn’t so great though- wild and the words hit and hope come to mind.

La Gazzetta:

Unfindable.

romanews.eu
De Rossi: 7
Calamita il solito numero impressionante di palloni a centrocampo e di testa fornisce a Menez il pallone dell’1-0. Se alla Roma non è mai mancata un’anima il merito è soprattutto il suo.

Calming influence on the team, launches an impressive number of attacks with his well placed passes and provides the assist for JM. If Roma has never lacked spirit it is largely down to this man.

The Rest of the Team:
(per ~~La Gazzetta~~ me)

Doni -6
Didn’t have much to do but made one great save on Espo.

Riise -6.5
Nice, powerful FK, controlled his flank well, drilled a low shot wide of the Chievo goal and generally looked much more confident then in previous games. Even went on the attack with Cici in the last couple of minutes of the game and nearly scored.

Mexes – 6.5
Good show from every Romanista’s favorite Frenchman.
Picked up a silly yellow when he kicked a publicity board in frustration.

Juan – 6
Played well and kept Philou muzzled.

Cicinho -6
Should have passed instead of shooting at one point but other than that no major mistakes.
I was a bit worried when towards the end of the game, while winning 1-0 away, he decided he was a striker…

Menez – 7.5
So what is his nickname going to be?
Jéjé Méné? Il Sulk? Fairy feet?

DDR – Above

Brighi – 5
Terrible game from Matteo. Two bad fouls got him a deserved red. Was all over the place but in a bad way.

Baptista -5
Didn’t do much right.

Totti – 7
Great performance from the captain.
Spent most of the game getting barged and kicked and nearly gave me a heart attack when I thought he was limping but seems fine.
Towards the end he held off three players to waste valuable minutes of playing time.
Grande Capitano.

Spalletti – 6.5

Interviews:

Jéjé is happy.

Other:

Er Pupone used by Italian author to explain Aristotle’s theories; i.e. Totti is the form and substance of football.

Forza Roma

and sorry its late…