A status report
A Dane commenting an Italian derby on a Swedish fanpage.
Go figure.
(In english, as my last article, had people cross, because it was in Danish)
So much to say, and, really, so little, about Sunday. We lost. Period. But how, is a question that remains in my head. HOW ?
I was in flat out PANIC the entire Sunday. I was too confident. We were too confident. That is usually a bad sign. Now I’m a pessimist just like the next guy, but I was, however, in a relatively good mood during the 1st half.
The wings.
Roma was in absolute control. We had the Lazio team, were we wanted them. Roma played skillfully from Doni to the penalty area, failing only, to produce real, open goal opportunities. Those darn opportunities, that, evidently, are so important. I must admit though, that a creeping feeling emerged in my head. The wingers. Mancini and Taddei were not playing up to standard. Mancini far from his best, and Taddei likewise. That meant that Lazios defence could pull together, and close down any attempts from Pizarro, Perotta and DDR. The strength (and weakness) of Spa’s philosophy is that ALL players must work hard, in order to put the opponent under pressure. If anyone fails, it’s relatively ”easy” to shut Roma down. Without the raids from the wings, there are no sideway movement in the defence, to create the holes necessary for huge goalscoring opportunities.
The attitude.
Attitude is a huge factor in these games. And Lazio had the attitude needed. They grew into this match. They didn’t try to outplay Roma. They couldn’t. So they defended, and waited. And waited. For fast breaks. Admittedly they had the biggest opportunity thus far in the game, forcing Doni to a miraculous save, from a header. Set pieces. Also important, especially if you are outplayed. But it was a reminder that they weren’t going to lay down. After debutant Ledesma’s, really terriffic shot, I was still a believer. Roma would score. A matter of time, and luckily, I thought, we had 45 minutes to do it. Roma played well for 5 minutes in the second half. But it wasn’t to be. After the controversial penalty, it seems that Roma lost their faith. They fell in tempo, and it seemed, naturally, that the boost Lazio got, was to last the entire match. The attitude of Mr. Frank Totti and his right hand man, De Rossi, left a lot to be desired. The General and his Sergeant Major. Daniele was invisible, and Totti spent a lot of time complaining. Understandable maybe, but HE could DO something about it, Roma could DO something about it, we the fans, saw no will, no effort to hit back, and were helpless in watching. It reminded me of a CL game against Arsenal a few years back, were Roma litterally walked the last 25 minutes, being 0-3 down. Embarrasing. Fight goddammit, FIGHT ! That’s the least you can do.
The break-down.
The Spaletti Attacking Machine, was side railed. We have seen it before this season, and it seems that if the opponent gets off on the right track, Roma lack the ability to change tactics. This is why it is so absolutely important that Vucinic starts producing. We know he can, but when will he? To be fair, he’s just coming back from a serious injury, but it seems that he’s technical skills lack enormously. His first touch is just too poor. We need other options really. So we can shuffle the deck of cards, and not run into the same closed holes all the time. I’ve seen it a lot, when wings are key to the ”system”. If they’re shut down, they’re really useless, as they usually lack the grid and nashing of teeht, to work themselves into a game. The Danish national team suffers from that same illness. (No comparisson what so ever). Another issue was the defence. They seems nervous. Weird. The, then, leagues best defence, was not under pressure, but still managed to look like debutantes. I really can’t explain that. Nor will I try to.
I have had a bad few days, Monday and today, - my girl friend knows better than to start yapping about Christmas, presents or even New Years Eve parties. I really couldn’t be bothered.
What remains, is, a long shot in the 45th minute, a penalty, and a fast break. ”Fair” ? Hell no. But I’m biased. ”Reality ?”. Very much so. Unfortunately. Any Scudetto dreams we may have had, were cut in half that Sunday evening. Well, it has always been Inters to lose, so never mind.
Let’s hit back in good manner, against Palermo. We will. I’m sure.
Pretty please. With sugar on top.
