The Francesco show

So it took awhile but I’m back.
Before talking about the napoli game I would like to mention the appointment of Ranieri and the departure of Spal.
First off; grazie Luciano.
You brought beautiful football to the eternal city, nearly won us a Scudetto, revived ‘Er Pupone’ and allowed us to bask in your class. I wish you luck wherever you go, you will be missed.
Secondly, Ranieri was my first choice to replace Spal.

-He is Roman.
-He is cheap.
-He is temporary.

And he is what ASR need at this point in time; someone to get them playing simple, boring yet effective football. No more 4 – 0 to inter or 3 – 0 to Sienna, with Ranieri we will, eventually, play a solid 4-4-2 which will see less champagne than Stella but which will get the job done. Ranieri, it has already been pointed out is not a winner, but this team is not looking to win. We need someone to pull them together and lead them to 3rd/ 4th. Ranieri is that man.

The Game

1st Half
The game started brightly with both Motta and Julio getting injured just before a fairly tame lavezzi effort did a world of good for the confidence of our 3rd choice goalie. So that means two subs used up before the first half is over. Daniele was almost invisible for this half but managed one good run which won the team a corner – which was quickly taken and quickly lost by the Pizza. Daniele also played ahead of Pizza, who was playing a Pirlo-type role, which resulted in David giving Napoli a handful of chances which they made nothing of.
Totti pulled back a goal after a ball took a deflection off him.
All in all a disappointing first half from both teams – Roma looked jumbled up front and lobont needs to be given a one way ticket back home.

2nd half
Faty on for Cerci. Words which would never have been written under Spaletti.
Which meant no more subs.
Faty proves Ranieri is no fool and goes on to have a great game. Napoli can no longer break on the left and Roma begin to grow until Totti scores a beauty and La Curva wakes up. He then leaves the pitch for treatment (his knee) and there are no more subs. Francesco takes another hit for the team.
At one point Cassetti makes a saving tackle and somewhere behind the stadium a pig takes flight. The gladiator gets up and rejoins the field. It feels like Le Cid being paraded dead on his horse to motivate the troops. De Rossi seems to wake up at this point and makes some good runs and tackles. Hell Cassetti goes on to marshal the ball off hamsik. The team playing for their captain.

In the final minutes Donadoni looked like he was about to cry and was Totti taking kicks up and down the field. The game came to a close with Napoli bringing attackers on and Roma gritting their teeth.

A decent performance from DDR; almost invisible in the first half but grew steadily in the second. Hopefully he will build on this. Let’s not forget he has played game in game out for Roma so far. Also his understanding with Faty

DDR Rating – 6.5

Goal –
De Rossi – 7.5: Real heart in the middle of the park, and outclassed both Gargano and Cigarini. Would die for his hometown club.

Sounds like his second half performance.

In other news Jesus will be back in 15/20 days so time for Dani to man up again.

Congrats to Totti for reaching Batigol!

FORZA ROMA

Like Liverpool’s pursuit of De Rossi’s Roma team-mate Alberto Aquilani, the player’s future is bound up with the financial problems of the club and the long-term plans of the Sensi family who own it. De Rossi, 26, is regarded as the most important player at the club behind Francisco Totti and is valued at around £30m, which is far in excess of any transfer fee paid by Arsenal in the past.

Full article here.

Jokes guys, jokes… Stick to getting vierra back
and just in case you were wondering how credible this all is –

While De Rossi’s reputation in England is not distinguished because of some of Roma’s less than impressive Champions League performances in recent years, he is regarded in Italy as one of the country’s finest players.

‘Cuz Daniele didn’t score the goal of the game and battle against eleven men that match… and I don’t see what other game they could be refering to, the most recent being a 3 – 1 mauling of chelsea…

Wheras Daniele will not leave in a million years the same cannot be said for his Roman brother in arms…

A sacrifice we have to make if you ask me.
You will be missed Aqui but hopefully they have qualified medics over there and you can get back on your feet.

FORZA ROMA

It’s going to be a long summer for Roma fans.
No sale means no money which means we have to sell.

Daniele is apparently being chased by Chelsea and Real but with everyone at Roma saying it’s not going to happen, well, it’s just not going to happen.

I am starting to loose respect for Carlo though.
First he tries to pry Pirlo and Pato from Milan, which would effectively leave them at the mercy of Ronaldinho’s whim and then it appears he wouldn’t mind snatching Daniele from the team he claims to have a special connection with. Not sure I want him as a coach any more.

So who will be sold?

Baptista refuses to leave even though some teams are willing to pay him big money – does this mean he’s attached to the shirt or merely wants to be in South Africa? I don’t care, he easily represents the best sale; he has high wages and would probably net us 10 mil.

Vucinic is a player I never want to see leave Rome – he may be inconsistent but he’s grown on me. Mirkodonna would however net us a cool 20 mil. The problem is that would leave us with one striker (a godly one perhaps but still…) and who would we replace him with? No best we keep Mirko.

Menez is wanted in France however as one of the only explosive talents we have he should stay.
He’d probably fetch 10 mil, not much for the man Totti compared to Cassanno (in a good way).

Cassetti? Sell him, give him away, just get rid of him. With Motta and Cici fit there is no need for last season’s worst player to be on this team. Wonder what he’s worth?

Tonnetto and Perrotta are on their last legs – might get 8 million for the 2 (7 from Simone). They both gave their legs up for the cause and I’m very happy to have had them on the team but I think it’s time they called it a day.

The way things are looking right now the club might not be sold, I won’t lie I would have welcomed Vinicio Fioranelli. Sure we didn’t know much about who was backing him but at least with him there was a chance we’d have some money to spend and a competitive squad, with Rosella the future looks bleak. We will continue bleeding players until there’s no one left to bleed. From what I understand the club has yet to nominate someone who will be given the job of selling Roma. This auction type scenario does not bode well…

…however Rosella in charge means Daniele will, eventually, be sold and that is just not an option.
Bring on the change.

In related news happy b.day Aqui…

… and hahaha.

FORZA ROMA

Finally well done Paolo, a pillar in football for 25 years and, as much as this word has been thrown around these days, a classy person. Totti may not have the universal appeal of the red and black capitano (and thats entierly his fault) but I would like to make one prediction – when the day finally comes for ‘Er Pupone’ to hang up his boots and go out to stud – there will be not one anti-Totti banner in l’Olimpico (if it remains our stadium…). That day is I fear approaching soon as Totti turns 33 this September but every cloud has a silver lining, ours is

Cue giant picture of Daniele failing to load…

There is a reason that the fiercely loyal, powerful, commanding, spirited beast that is Daniele is known as Capitano Futuro and not Il Capitano. That reason is Francesco Totti.

I know this is a DDR blog but it would be very difficult for me to mention the Bologna game without commenting on the world class performance provided by the one and only Pupone di Roma.
Totti returned to the line up and 3 points came to Roma. Spalletti was not wrong to say that Roma can win without Totti and that the future of the team should not be built around a 32 year old but christ does he provide a boon for this team.

The match itself was nothing special.
Roma looked uninspired for much of the game which is odd considering the 5 point gap between them and 4th placed genoa but that’s Roma… Bologna, with all respect to the club that was once Captained by Baggio, played like a team threatened with relegation. Not to say ASR were in sole control of the game as Panucci, Doni and Pizarro all conspired to drift off a couple of times during the game gifting Bologna and Serie A’s top goal scorer Di Vaio a couple of chances.
A win is a win though and I am very happy Roma got past stumbling block no.1.
The goals were both Totti penalties. The first was nearly blocked and the second was a missile into the top of the net. So despite the criticism and the voices saying Il Capitano was over (for the 3rd time…) Totti took Roma on his back and carried them to victory. ‘Er Pupone’ even chased down a couple of balls in midfield – he’s not at his best but hopefully his goals and performance will give him confidence and speed up his recovery.

DDR – 6
Although Daniele was at his defensive best – very few of the balls Piza lost found a way through Daniele – his passes were awful. He lobbed far too many balls over the top of the Bologna defence for no one in particular. Daniele seemed to have decided to cope with Mirko’s absence by simply pretending the Montenegrin was there.

goal.com-
De Rossi- 6.5: The midfield general was always positioned perfectly and showed his range of passing ability throughout the match.

Quite possibly the worst goal comment I’ve ever seen.

romanews.eu
De Rossi: 6
Si posiziona davanti alla difesa e sbroglia un paio di situazioni pericolose. Il doppio impegno della nazionale pesa sulle sue gambe: meno lucido del solito in fase di impostazione, decisivo come sempre in quella di copertura.

Positions himself in front of the defence and pulls Roma out of a couple of dangerous situations. The two international fixtures weighed on his shoulders: not as bright as usual going forwards but decisive as always in defense.

La Gazzetta
Daniele-5
Did not look like himself. It happens.

Team Ratings –
(per La Gazzetta)

MOTM – TOTTI – 7
Calmly knocks two in from the spot and played with real vigor – he wanted to be there. Always.
What can you say about this man? He may not run like he used to but he still strikes fear into the best of them. Stepped up to the spot when called upon and did what he had to. Took the kicks and the knocks and kept getting up. The exception to ‘form is temporary and class is eternal’. Both are eternel for Er Pupone. Grande Capitano.
Daniele guarda come si fa.

Doni – 6
Saved by Tonnetto and the post. Good save against Volpi.
Looked asleep and got shouted at by Spal. Maybe the City bid is distracting him.

Tonnetto – 6.5
Wins a penalty and saves Roma from conceding.
I am not a fan but he worked hard and won the first penalty. Doesn’t have the skill to play for Roma.

Riise – 6
Comes on for Perrotta and gives Tonnetto a rest.
Came on and did what he had to.

Mexes – 6
Throws himself in front of Di Vaio’s ‘palla gol’.
Must be Serie A’s most promiscuous defender having been paired with Panucci, Juan, Loria, Diamounte and Riise… and this could well be the reason he always looks nervy. That aside he did what he had to today and provided some vital interceptions when they were needed. This being Roma they were needed in the last 10 minutes when the team’s collective coke condom burst.

Panucci – 5.5
Slow, missed a lot even a goal.
Ever reliable, at least on the pitch, did what he had to albeit slowly…

Motta – 5
Over excited. Due to international call up?
Cici must be yelling advice from the sidelines as he is great going forwards but sometimes forgets to come back. Forced to make several nasty challenges due to his positioning. Still managed to look good though.

DDR- Above.

Pizarro – 6
Not as inventive as usual but launches some good balls.
Played (and looked) like a cocky 14 year old; held on to the ball too long and just wouldn’t pass quickly enough. Just back from injury though. Won one ball back nicely, can’t think of anything else to say.

Brighi – 5.5
Wasn’t useful far wide on the right, much better in the second when he hit the post.
Ran a lot but didn’t achieve much – pulled a Perrotta.

Perrotta – 6.5
Lost Marazzina on the goal but marking him was not his job. Good return from injury, the most lively with regards to Totti.
Took it in turns with Brighi to burst forwards but was just as useless. Nearly got on the end of one ball – nearly.

Menez- 5.5
One nice slalom but not enough heart.
One nice solo which ended in a goal line clearance but not much else. Would you rather have Ben Arfa? I believe the question to be irrelevant as Roma probably can’t afford the swap.

Baptista-6.5
Wins a penalty – useful.
Came on, lost a couple of balls but added muscle to the front and won a penalty.
Status on quest to reclaim title of ‘Beast’ – Promoted from kitten to puppy.

Spalletti-
Piza needed to come off sooner.

Interviews-

Spal big ups Totti.
Totti big ups Totti…

Other news-
It’s the sheep f$@king, sister b@&ging poultry next so…

FORZA ROMA

It’s easy to think that Danielino has been at the heart of AS Roma for the past 10 years but its a little over 6 years since Capitano Futuro made his first Serie A appearance for the team against Como on the 25th of January. He was given his chance by the treacherous ‘I will never go to Juve’ cabbage man’, Capello. It didn’t take him long to break into the starting line up and on the 10th of May he got his first start and his first goal against Torino. In the 2003/ 04 season Daniele played for ASR 17 times in Serie A and thanks to sharing the pitch with experienced players such as Emerson gained much as a footballer.

Fast forward to now and Daniele is just as important, if not more, to the team than Francesco Totti.
In fact if you head down to the Olimpico on a match day (a real match day…) it is impossible not to notice that although the Totti shirts and banners outnumber those of any other player, Daniele is catching up.

A born and bred Romanista, Daniele is a gift from God to the legions of red and yellow fans.
Totti’s reign is coming to an end but the the Eternal City can rest easy knowing that Daniele is there to carry the torch as soon as Francesco steps down.

Of course it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the Prince of Rome.

The infamous Mc Bride incident is well remembered (in the only WC 2006 game Italy conceded a goal from open play).

Daniele’s recent suspension for making comments about referees, inter and everything wrong with Italian football in general…

His odd penalty miss…

What DDR did…

…what he should have done

Euros…

and…

After the man u game Daniele described the penalty miss as the worst point of his career (even though he was forgiven immediately after by the fans who sang his praises after the game).

Of course the above is nothing compared to his fair play, loyalty, skill, heart, strength, passion, dominance, character… you get the idea.

Daniele is pretty much the perfect midfielder and although he is currently playing a more defensive role and acting as a wall in front of Doni, Philou and whoever is semi fit he does have an eye for the goal.
Daniele is particularly good at unleashing canon balls such as this one against Fiorentina…

…he’s good with his head too…

…plenty more where those came from…

All in all the future looks bright for Roma with Daniele in the team.
This is the sort of player who can lift the whole team up and drag them through rough patches as he proved in the past when Roma was Totti-less.

FORZA DANIELE
TORNA PRESTO

I cannot end this post without a mention of his unfortunate link with forza nuova.
The extent of Daniele’s affiliation with this bunch of idiots is unknown (to me) but one can only hope its superficial. I had at one point considered writing a full post on his right-wing connections but I decided it was not particularly relevant to football and did not belong on this blog. I can however let you no that I found no concrete evidence linking him to the movement (which is more then I can say about his Roman brother in arms…).

“We have achieved so much and we will continue doing so. I am confident.”

FORZA ROMA
and FORZA DANIELE

FORZA ROMA

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

It had been a long time since I’d felt less confident going into a game.
It wasn’t just the arse-anal game, loosing the Scudetto here last season, Panuccino coming back into the fold after what seems like ages of not having played a competitive game, loosing 4 nil against the c”@#s last time, the lack of Totti, Cici and Juanito but also the fact that 14 is my unlucky number.
To make things worse the only stream I could find was bet 365 so I watched the first half on a screen the size of a postage stamp.

First Half
Roma played well, well enough to be leading 2 nil after 45 minutes.
The two players I most wanted to score did – Daniele and Riise (for all the criticism he’s been hit with he is a likable, hard working player and the goal should do wonders for his confidence, how long till we get another kracken?).
Daniele’s goal was a beautiful header and Riise pretty much barged his way into the goal.
Roma had a couple of chances to put the game away but Roma remains Roma…

Second Half
Tearful. From Daniele ‘giving’ inter their 200000000000th penalty to crespo scoring so near the end it was a 45 horrible minutes. The highlight was Brighi’s goal. The rest was crap.

DDR Rating – 9
Scored a goal and ran the show. Didn’t give away a penalty but even if he had it was Motta’s fault for letting Balo through.

Romanews.eu

10 a Daniele De Rossi
Altissima. Levissima. Purissima. Altro slogan non c’è per quell’arrampicata sulle impervie cime del Meazza. Il suo gol è una coppa di champagne che inebria e ubriaca, estasiando il popolo giallorosso. Miglior attore non protagonista nella sceneggiata di Balotelli, rischia una denuncia per omissione di soccorso, poiché non ha soccorso il simpatico ragazzino quando questi è svenuto in mezzo all’area.

De Rossi – 7.0
A hard working performance by the captain, who deservedly got his name on the score-sheet with a brilliant header on 23 minutes to score the opener. He gave away the penalty however, which allowed Inter to re-open the match at 3-2.

(I want to like Balotelli.
He is talented and more importantly a black Italian. A player like him might be just what Italy needs
but he is making it very difficult.
I know he has family problems, issues with inter, was insulted throughout most of his career for the color of his skin and apparently by the Roma fans in Milan but was the tongue necessary? Did he have to go down so easily in the box?
Whether he likes it or not he is one of the most known black Italians on the planet and this makes him a role model of sorts. Behaving as he did on Sunday along with the rumors of him being late for training and not pushing himself at all only fuels the ignorance of many people in Italy.)

It is a game worth forgetting. The boys did well but were robbed in the end.
I’m not going to dwell on the penalty and nor should Roma.

So Udinesse next and then arseanal.

FORZAAAAAAAAAAAAA ROMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA