Il Danielista 15

By: Michele | March 8th, 2009

Roma 1 Udinesse 1

With Spal suspended and the team thinking about arsenal this was never going to be a pretty game.
However I was hoping that, given his suspension on Wednesday, Danielino would give his all and drag the team through this potentially difficult tie. Of course this is Roma and things are never that simple so Daniele had a fever and his rumored personal problems seem to be spilling onto the pitch.

Notes from the Game

First Half
Scrappy start to the game. My hopes for Daniele being MOTM go out the window when he misplaces a couple of passes straight to Udinesse. Motta, one of the few bright lights of the first half, is a great player in the making but he needs to hit the weights room and focus a bit more on his defensive duties. Speaking of muscle Zapata looks like he might be a nice buy for Roma. Strong, young and fast.
Fever stricken Daniele seems to be holding his own in the middle, mainly due to Brighi and Tad putting in a lot of work. Menez is sporting has possibly the worst haircut I’ve seen, he would put Okaka to shame. Not only that but if Motta needs to hit the weights, Jéjé needs a steroid course as every gust of wind seems to give him trouble. I don’t care what the lineup said; Baptista is not on the pitch.
Piza calls for a sub, fingers crossed for arsenal, he would be a huge loss. Oh yeah and Philou sticks out his hand and blocks a shot in the box, ref doesn’t see. Would have meant a goal for Udinesse and a red for Philou.
All in all a very boring first half.

Second Half
The two teams pick up exactly where they left off and the scrappy play continues.
Roma, as ever, look asleep and 34 year old Montella is doing far more running than anyone else in a Roma shirt… Udinesse score a goal: Doni needlessly punches away the ball, it falls to Toto Di Natale who whacks it at Motta (handball?), it bounces back and Toto puts it on Felipe’s, unmarked, head, who puts it in the net.
Mirko comes on for Jéjé and promptly scores a great goal. He goes down the left, cuts across the goal and whacks one in. Grande Mirko. Thank God he will be there on Wednesday.
Roma keeps trying to go forwards but Udi holds strong.
Roma looks as frustrated as Stephen Hawking at the Playboy Mansion.
Its all downhill from here.
De Rossi shouts at the referee and gets sent off.
Montella chases a ball, looses it and kicks a defender in the stomach.
Montella undoes all his good work and misses a one on one with the keeper.
Mirko learns nothing from Daniele and gets a yellow for shouting at the ref…
Final whistle.

Zapata may not be such a great buy after all as he gave away 4 FK’s in the final minutes of the game.
If there is one thing Roma does not need to reinforce is its lack of composure and faced with Mirko he was eaten alive…

On to the
Ratings:

Daniele – 6
Capitaino Futuro scrapes a pass as given the circumstances he does a good job.
The red card is unfortunate and it looks as if Daniele is picking up some of Totti’s old habits…
It’s a good thing he has a few years before taking the job full time.

Less Reputable Ratings

goal.com
De Rossi – 4.0:
Should have led by example, but failed to do so in every sense. Passing was inaccurate, and he then got himself stupidly sent off on 67 minutes for dissent. May have been feeling blue due to the flu, but that was no excuse to lose his head and see red. Off to bed!
Great rhyme and worst rating I have seen goal give Daniele.

Romanews.eu
De Rossi 6,5
Un uomo ovunque. Si posiziona davanti ai difensori. Tampona e riparte, toccando una quantità di palloni elevatissima. Quando Panucci avanza verso il centro del campo, lui va a fare il difensore centrale. Gioca con il cuore, tentando anche di servire assist ai compagni. Viene dapprima ammonito, quindi espulso per protesta. Il pubblico gli tributa una standing ovation quando esce.
Everywhere. He positions himself in front of the defense, breaks up an attack and launches a counter. When Panucci goes up he turns into a CB. Plays with his heart and tries to assist his colleagues. He is first given a yellow then sent off for protesting. The crowd gives him an ovation when he leaves the pitch.

La Gazzetta
De Rossi – 4.5
No reason to make a scene when he was booked. If Tagliavento (the ref and literally ‘cut wind’) wrote down the inslts, Daniele could be suspended for a long time.

The Rest of the Team:
(according to La Gazzetta)

MOTM
Vucinic – 6.5
Comes on and saves Roma. Nearly scores a second and remains Roma’s only fit anti-arsenal weapon.
Mirkodona was in fine form. Pray he rises to the challenge on Wednesday.

Doni – 5.5
Should not have punched the ball away on the Udinesse goal. Had little else to do for the duration of the game.
Agreed.

Motta 6.5
Not at fault for Di Natale’s assist, moves well and pushes up when given the chance.
Thank God Panucci refused the bench…

Mexes – 5.5
Should have given away a penalty and been given a red. Will be suspended for the next game for accumulation of yellows.
Not Philou’s best game. Did his night time scuffles shake him up?

Panucci – 6.5
Takes the captains arm band after Daniele although it should have fallen to Philou.
He plays a Captain’s game and leads by example.
Nice to have a humbled Panucci back in the fold. Ciao Loria.

Riise – 6
Pepe lacks spice (Pepe means pepper in Italian) and Riise holds his own. Does not venture up the pitch much.
The sort of performance he would have been lauded for before Inter.

DDR – Above.

Pizarro – 5.5
Not his best game, plays close to Daniele in the 4-2-3-1, but the injury takes its toll. Leaves the field teary eyed. Could be out for awhile.
I didn’t see the tears and I hope he’s back for Wednesday otherwise I have no idea who will line up with Brighi – maybe the boy who lives in a bubble?

Montella – 6
Misses a sitter but he sets up Mirko and unleashed an impressive shot as soon as he came on. A touch too many in the dying minutes of the game meant he was dispossessed by Pasquale.
Good game from the aeroplance who gave the team a sense of urgency. Pity about the sitter and the age…

Taddei – 6
Doesn’t do much for the first hour but makes himself useful when they are down to ten. Hands Montella a ready made goal.
Worked his socks off and was all over the pitch towards the end. Also won some important balls for Roma. Deserved a better mark.

Brighi – 6.5
Can play as a trequartista behind Bap, a deep lying play maker or a defensive mid. Would be very useful in attack on Wednesday but unfortunately this will not be possible.
My MOTM. Everywhere.

Menez – 5
An hour of smoke but no fire. Zapata played very poorly but Menez did not take advantage.

Baptista – 5
One shot on target, useless for the whole game.
’nuff said.

Cicinho – 6
Takes over from Bap when Roma goes down to 10 and completes the Taddei, Brighi midfield.
Now possibly out for 6 months…

Spal – 6
Domenichini makes all the right subs. Could have wished for a better birthday…
Spal’s motivational skills minus his tactics.
Well thats a bit mean, I’m just bitter.

Other:

Cici 6-7 months. In Motta we trust.

There may be some truth to this.

Interviews:

Riise says 2-0.
Panucci tries to make himself likable.

On the plus side Udinesse was a good warm up game before arsenal and Mirko, ever the big game player, will see us through.

FORZA ROMA