The thread to end all threads... one main place to discuss all things Red and Yellow...

Well done Shield, just what this place needed.

Shield ( ),
I thought I'd come over here and share a little soccerpils with your fine self:

Lol maro, that banana is fucking hilarious.

Stick a thumbtack in this thread...its PINNED!

i do have a request that Totti related articels and incidents go in the Temple and why is he hated threads, and that the pre season thread is kept in use until the League kicks off, after that, anythign Giallorossi (Im trying) goes!

Dreamlander, I'm sure you're pretty happy over here, but those of us who've already added a bit of nonsense to this thread have all been over at goal.com together for a while. Over there we have one main Roma thread where we add most of our contributions. Shield is encouraging a move over to this much better managed site, but if you're looking for a bit of entertainment in the interim do join us over there. At the very least, anyway, this may explain the familiarity and sillyness amidst one or two of us very new posters here.

Alan, thanks for pinning this thread. As Maro said, this is what we are all kinda more used ta. One big feck off thread for the banter and also for the serious stuff about Roma. I have suggested those of us over on goal.com move to this site, and its good to see a few here already, so we'll see what happens. And just so you know, Alan, you would wanna keep your eye on that Maro fella, he thinks he's some sort of a serious professor type, but he's really a prankster, who has a likeness for all things that go baa. But that is a story for another day...

Smiley (George huh!), welcome my man!

good to see some new people posting here

welcome peeps

I am excited to see some signings like Crespo to the club. A couple mid-to-big signings in goal and mid-to-up front would be extremely exciting!

Yes, good old George Smiley is here, live and direct. What a miserable day it was for justice. Im ready to wake up to a more positive morn. Ciao a tutti.

Ok, how does everyone see the new Roma lining up for the season ahead? This is my take on it (yes, I did originally post it over on the other place Maro/Tuna/Smiley, but we need to get some life into this thread and some discussion goin, so its a good as place as any to start):


--------------------- Doni ---------------------

Pan ------- Mexes ------- Chivu ------- Cufre*

----------- D.D.R. ------- Simeone ------------

Mancini ------------ F.T. ---------------- Taddei*

--------------------- ??* ------------------------


SUBS: Curci-Kuffour-Cassetti-Tonnetto-Aquilani-Alverez-Okaka
BACK-UP: Julio Sergio-Ferrari-Faty-Rosi-Virga-Cerci-Corvia-Tulli-Mido-Nonda


This, as it stands now, this would be our line-up next season, in my opinion. For me, there are three areas where we need strengthening (highlighted by a *), and by strengthening I mean bringing in 3 quality replacements who would be certain starters.

In order: (1) Striker, (2) Winger, (3) Left-full back.

(1) A striker is obvious – we require someone of a better standard then we already have in the squad. Currently we have Okaka, Mido, Nonda and Montella – and I would put them in that order – yet I don't see any of them as being that starter for every game. That is why we need someone like Crespo/Vucinic etc. (2) While I do have a lot of time for Taddei, I think we need someone better, an improvement. Semioli is the obvious choice. Taddei would be a great player to have on the bench – versatile, able to fill in in a lot of positions, and he wouldn't complain. (3) Like Taddei, I am a big fan of Cufre, but yet if we are to do well in both Serie A and the CL a step up in quality is needed.

We have achieved, I think, good squad depth. Granted, some may yet still leave (Mido, Corvia, Tulli etc.), but overall we have a decent sized squad, plus a our great primevera side, and all that is needed is that extra bit of quality as mentioned above. One position which I haven't mentioned is centre-midfield. We have DDR-Perrotta-Aquilani-Faty. Whether this is enough I'm not sure, but I think it depends on where exactly Spalletti will field Simeone. No doubt he is a starter, yet I think he will revert back to his central-midfield role rather than play more forward. Spalletti though does seen very keen on a new midfielder – a regista – and so maybe that is an indication of where he will play Simeone. I don't think he will change formation, but then it does make you wonder where exactly DDR, Simeone and a new midfielder (Appiah, Diarra, whoever) will play. Not far off being complete, all we need is to spend some fecking cash on those three areas.

, I swear I've seen this post before somewhere. Cheapskate. I'm amazed at the order in which you put the strikers. At this stage I'm almost certain that in Spags' mind it probably goes almost exactly the other way round - Monty-Nonda-Okaka-Mido, though I should imagine if Mido stays he'll pretty quickly work his away ahead of the Chuka. I think there's still plenty left in Monty if he can steer clear of injuries which, of course, is a very big if. I especially think this is true if we bring in someone like Iaquinta rather than Vucinic - Vucinic would then, presumably, be ahead of Monty and they're similar players and so you could see Spags wanting to change things around by bringing in perhaps Mido or Okaka who offer us something quite different. Equivalently, if Iaquinta were to come I'm pretty sure it'd be the end of Mido and Monty would then be the second choice for times when Spags wanted to change our game around and go from more of a target man to someone with better movement and pace.

Maro sure does love his . Oh yeah one more time...

Okaka, Mido, Nonda and Montella. Yeah I think I would keep them in that order, altough picking one from the first three to be a starter is a very close call and could all depend on form and fitness. I'll go through each one, in reverse order:

Montella
Monty hasn't even returned to full training yet, and he is not taking part in any of the pre-season preperations. I remember he said he hopes to be back sometime in September, and this was his optimistic view, so in reality it may take longer. So even if he does return sometime in September, he hasn't played a competitive game since, what, last February? It may take him longer to regain his confidence and ultimatley his form.

Nonda
I can't remember the last time I seen him play. Against Chievo or Treviso?? Regardless, he played feck all in the second-half of last season, and like Montella, cannot be relied upon to stay free of serious injury over a long period. If he can stay somewhat injury-free, well he can become a very usefull player for us because when he gets going he can really shine and score a lot of goals, at least until the wind blows to hard and he falls over with a broken leg in 16 different places or something.

Mido
Mido Mydo Medo, hmmm. Ok, assuming he stays: Difficult to know what to expect. Did look impressive at time for Spurs, but then at times he looked very ordinary. He probably does deserve another chance to prove himself at Roma, but it all depends on Spalletti. Could fit the lone-striker role in one respect – he is big and physical and can hold up the ball well – yet could be a disadvantage when being in the lone-striker role because his movement off the ball isn't great and he may not be too compatible with our fast, free flowing, intricate style of football.

Okaka
Our little wonderkid. Will be a big season for him. Really broke into the team last year and looked impressive, if obviously inexperienced. This season more will be expected of him and he will probably see a lot more action, and if he could settle well and get playing with confidence theres no telling what he can do.


So as I said choosing from Okaka/Mido/Nonda to fill the striker position is a very close call. Monty, unfortunatley, won't be ready, yet still could be useful, particularly in a super-sub role, when (if?) he regains his full fitness and form. We definitley need a new striker. We'll be fecked if we don't. Two months into the season Monty and Shabani could be watching from the sidelines in wheelchairs, Mido could be frozen out of the squad after having another one of his little tantrums, possibly over the colour of shite, and Okaka, well he'll still be a beast but can't be relied upon all the time. Vucinic or Crespo or Iaquinta please.

, the is you, my friend. A little as instead of writing "Mr Roma" we might use this guy: . Or, for Fonz, perhaps this guy: . For me? Well, one of these two I should think: or . Personally I think this fella is better for you, but tradition seems now to be insisting on the banana: . And this one for Dino? You get the picture.

Ha ha, very good Maro, very good. Alternatively, we could go for:

Fonz:

Jamoldo:

Italiamia:

Tuna:

Smiley:

And of course, yourself:

(Joking with that last one, I couldn't see a serious, professor type one...). Personally, for myself, I do like the drinkin one. Seems appropriate, somehow...

lol Maro the monkey huh?!? Anyways, has anyone's anticipation of the upcoming season taken a hit? I was really looking forward to the season starting but after the appeals, its just not the same. This was the chance to rid Serie A of cheaters, and the FIGC missed the opportunity. I guess games against Milan( who I officially hate now), Fiore, and Lazio are ones I am not going to look forward too. The real punishment in all this falls on all the teams that didn't cheat. Inter, Roma, Chievo, Palermo etc. are all victims in this. It's fucking sad!

Did you see there's a smiley actually called "smiley"? This could be for gorgeous george - it's the kind of reflexive, post-modernist thing we pretentious intellechils love. I had been thinking of the coffee guy for Italiamia but I reckon that one's going to be perfect when he hits the ground in Italy and starts to respond to these revised sentences. I'd thought the one at the bottom was a yawn but I see it's a "wow" otherwise I thought that might fit for me. This is probably the one my students would choose: And this is the one Fonz would choose for me when I'm working on a little one-on-one personalised tuition: Perhaps this one for Lavazza, or do you think it'd be insensitive after the sufferings of his home town last year? incidentally, your "banana" is much better than mine, but don't tell Fonz - he thinks those sorts of things are the stuff of serious competition. Bloody hell. What an egit. That's got to be tuna, of course:

Yes, , for me, too, a bit of gloss was taken off the expectation yesterday evening. I do really feel that Milan have got off scandalously lightly and the adjustment for Rube is likely to be very decisive too, I think. I just can't see how justice can in any sense be seen to have been done and it has left rather a sour taste in the mouth. Perhaps we only need a big signing or two to refire the imagination, but at the moment I'm left a bit flat too.

Roma cautious over title chances
Planetfootball

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti responded with caution to suggestions his side will start this season as one of the favourites to claim the depleted Scudetto.

This summer's unprecedented Serie A match-fixing trial has seen Italian football shaken to its core, with last season's high-flyers Juventus and Milan handed severe penalties.

The Old Lady will start the forthcoming campaign in Serie B, while Milan are handicapped by a 8-point deduction and possible exclusion from the UEFA Champions League.

The likes of Roma and Internazionale appear best placed to capitalise on the huge upheaval which has also seen the Giallorossi's rivals for a European place last term, Fiorentina and city rivals Lazio, demoted.

"We are aware that we could have a big chance next season and we will do our best," said Spalletti.

"But Inter are ahead of us at the moment, while Palermo and Udinese are also good sides.

"It will be a challenge just to do as well as we did last season."

To that end, Spalletti is determined to bolster his squad further this summer, with the recruitment of striker Mirko Vucinic reported to be his number one objective.

"We will sign a forward," added Spalletti. "Vucinic? He has characteristics like Vincenzo Montella and we need a striker with Vincenzo Iaquinta's characteristics.

"But I do like the Serbia & Montenegro player."

Maro, or should I say , whats the crack? Not posting over on the other place today I see. Thats the spirit.

There isn't really very much to comment on, is there? The usual childish nonsenses between the Inter Scudetto celebrators and the "vindicated" supporters of the spotless Milan. There was a little piece on Vucinic on calciomercato or perhaps I mean goalcity, but everything's pretty static at the moment. If that little piece posted by Totti-69 is true it's a pretty bleak sign - that we could be so desperately short of cash despite our marketlessness last year, the 'sale' of Bovo, and the Champignons League money. I doubt it's true - it's got too much of the flavour of personal anecdote to the writing, but who knows? And otherwise another pretty quiet day with one eye on dib-dab's cricketers copping a bit of a hiding and trying to press on with various bits and pieces of work. Nothing spectacular. Perhaps there'll be a lightning strike in the quiet hours of the afternoon which will get tongues wagging. Do me a favour and delineate the follies of Lumir's reply to me on one of the threads over at the other place. I haven't got the energy for it and it's a bit depressing to see someone who's clearly got a fair bit about him still so fiercely self-deluded.

Urgh, I had a look a that thread and I'm getting involved, at least not now. Like you, I don't have the energy for that sort of thing. I'm not too busy in work this week, and if can actually believe I'm get a bit sick of the interent at this stage, plus its boiling hot over here, which is a royal pain in the ass when your stuck in the office.

Indeed, that story regarding 'Monday's money' is a bit worrying. 10 fecking million? I negociate 10 fecking million euro business deals for breakfast, for feck sake. Where is our money from player sales and CL and such? 10 million won't even buy us bleedin Vucinic. Ah, its probably too much to expect a reasonable transfer budget from a wench like Rosella...

Yeah, I tend to be more sympathetic to Rosella than most. Not that I'm particularly fond of her, but I think she tends to get all the bad stuff hung on her over on goal.com. I'm thinking, for instance, of the Bovo situation. I was, of course, really disappointed about that since it worked out exactly as we both said we feared it would before hand. It seemed insane to me. However, I'm almost certain Spags was in agreement with the bid we made. Otherwise, surely, he'd have come out and made some comment about it. I just don't think he rates Bovo that highly. I imagine he's going to have a fairly undistinguished career amid the lower lights of Serie A. I'd love to see him come through and do brilliantly and he may well, but at this stage I think Spags and BC and others figured it was unlikely and letting him move on for that sort of money made some sense. Anyway, because we were all disappointed Rosella cops the flack which I suspect is both unfair and pretty unreasonably silly. However, I am starting to get a bit worried by this sort of story (the monday money, as it were) since I am starting to wonder if it is true that the Sensis are just trying to suck a bit more money back into the club to recoup some of their costs. I had previously thought we were simply playing it pretty cool, waiting for the rulings to come down and then waiting for one or two of the bigger players to make their move (so, for instance, if two of today's rumours come good, if Toni goes to Inter and Ibra is picked up by Milan then, say, the market for someone like Trez has shrunk massively and perhaps then we could pick him up for reasonable money - or if Buffoon moves we might suddenly swoop for Frey or even for someone like Jankmeofski or Pizarro at that point where Inter and Milan are looking to bring a little bit of money back in having just made some significant outlays). I'm still hoping this is the case - I see the rumours, for instance, that Fiore might move for Iaquinta with the money for Toni etc. etc. So I'm hoping we've been playing it quite clever and I'm also happy enough if the moves we've already made (Faty, Cassetti, Commotto, Tonetto) are ones Spags genuinely believes in. They may not come good, but picking up players for below their real value is clearly better than splashing big on over-priced established stars. I've no problem with that at all. And I wonder, too, if at the moment there's some conflict within the societa' because Spags sees we need someone like Iaquinta but others and perhaps Spags too are aware that Vucinic in and of himself is a more exciting prospect and a better buy. So they don't quite know whether to rely on Mido to do the Iaquinta work or to splash the cash on the guy who really fits the profile Spags is after even if he's older and less talented. What worries me at the moment, though, is the sense that we're not really waiting for anything at all and that perhaps we are just going to let pass by this chance to establish the club at the very very top of the Italian and, therefore, the European game because the Sensis are just too cautious and are looking to tie things up rather than towards a glorious future. I hadn't believed this really but I'm just starting to wonder.

Yeah, at this stage, and with that latest story on our financial spending power, I would be certainly leaning toward the dejecting idea that we are unwilling to spend big and invest the money into the team which would bring us up a level. It may well be that the Sensi's are not comitted to Roma as once they were, unfortunately, with perhaps the old man having one eye on selling the club sometime in the near future (remember, during the season there were several stories floating about of Sensi selling the club and various parties who may be interested in taking it off him, but nothing materialised). Another indication to back this up would be the recent transfer of Jambrotta and all the rumours of Buffoon leaving Corruptus – two top-quality players in their respective positions, and significantly two positions which we were looking to strengthen – and yet there was no interest whatsoever from us in Zambrotta and only a pathetic attempt to loan GG. If we were willing to spend big and really make an impression, surely big bids could of at least been considered for such players. Another worry I have is that players like Chivu and Mancini – players with high ambitions – may see that Roma are not really investing into making the club into a real superpower, and so may look to move on sometime in the future. Chivu himself said he loves Roma and wants to stay, as long as there are plans in place to make us a top side. That is not to say that we could not do that, at this stage. We have signed a few players and have strenghtend an already very competitive and skillful squad, but still the lack of high-calibre and big name arrivals for key areas is slightly concerning. As you said, maybe we are still biding our time and waiting to see how the market pans out, but at present it isn't looking to likely that we will be spashing out.

Yeah I am really hoping Roma is pretending to sleep on the market and spring up and do some serious moves. It would be a great confidence booster for sure.

Maro, or is it , I hope I'm not supposed to be the one on receiving end of that fish?

Anyways on to Roma, I'm still having a hard time believing that Rosella plans to spend only 10mil. Maybe it's 10mil after the Trez transfer? But that is probably just wishful thinking on my part. Also that rumor about Vucinic is either so stupid that it's ridiculous or so stupid that we might actually do it. Vucinic is not worth 8mil IMO, let alone 8mil plus Rosi and Faty. We haven't done anything notable on the transfer front and with about a month left I really doubt us doing anything. What bigger signs do our management need to see that this is the perfect opportunity to great players. Barca and Real got great deals on the Juve players and we couldn't land a single one of those guys. Also we basically haven't spent anything for two straight seasons and all we can manage to shell out now is 10mil? Something isn't adding up.

Maro, the Milan fans are really starting to piss me off. They are being just as bad as the Juve fans were when this whole thing broke out. Lumir's argument that since Milan failed at cheating they shouldn't be punished is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. And Maldini's dare to anyone to find an example where it seemed that Milan were being favored is so easy beat. All you have to do is look back the season where we finished second behind Milan. You brought up the handball incident, but the incident that really stuck with me was the one against Chievo. Milan received a little over 8 minutes of stoppage time, after the ref only called for 5. Once Sheva scored the ref ended the game. And I'm sure you can find a lot more instances than that one.

Well id say the two BS penalties they (Milan) got against us in the last game of the last season were a touch contoversial. But, since it was the ned of the season and we had already missed out on the CL, no one had the energy to complain.

Alright, Im back. But Im still fuming i can tell you that right now. For the next weeks i will be inwardly without a doubt.

Although I do believe Fonz is more worthy of a since besides having an elegant mullet he is an avid village people enthusiast and the cop is his fav.

One more thing before I get angry at the sentence redution thing again. If we dont do the double over both Lazio AND Fiorentina this season im gonna be first then

But shield, i must respectfully disagree. Im not merely

Tuna, the way I see it, you are the fish. George, for all that you deserve that trophy, I'd have to run with either of these: or Either way I fear you come out of it badly. I wonder if this might be another alternative for Fonz: It's the response he gets everytime he drops his trousers in front of a new mistress.

Here's a little story I came up with - in the down time waiting for our big summer signings. It's called "A night on the town with the Fonz."


Fonz is out prowling for talent alone in the bar:

Suddenly he spots some talent on the other side of the room:

Fonz buys the lovely lady a drink:

All this time, of course, Mrs Fonz is at home grumpily wondering where the sod is:

Meanwhile, he's gone back to a hotel room, feeling pretty pleased with himself because he reckons he's in:

A little undressing follows:

But the excitement is just a bit too much for our hero:

The lovely lady is left rather unimpressed -
-
but his friends, of course, when he tells them later all think it's a great joke:

And he still has to go home to Mrs Fonz who smacks him about a bit with his now very cold dinner:

H ha ha lol. Very impressive maro very good indeed. LOL

Well, thats strange, it seems as if i signed up here before. I was wondering how strange it was that someone had already taken g.smiley as a username.

Smiley, you clown. I bet you were a bit grumpy when you discovered someone had beaten you to that username. The competition for maro seems a bit less stiff. The only thing that bothers me, though, is that I can't seem to get my banana to dance. Most disappointing.

I've been thinking about Perrotta, and I've come to the conclusion that he needs to improve two aspects of his game to become a veritable offensive threat. At present, he is a wonderfully well balanced footballer that serves Roma and Italy honorably. The two areas of his repertoire he needs to hone are shots (on target) and finishing (scoring).

I vividly recollect the terrific opportunity he failed to convert agaisnt Germany in the Semi-final. Furthermore, I'm sure we all remember various opportunities he missed this past season. Yes, when he does score he finds himself in the right place in the right time and sticks the ball in the back of the old onion bag. Alas, it's the chances that require more skill and lethal gut instinct that deny him the honor of becoming a true goal getter (for a mid-field player).

My mind wanders back to that formidable goal he scored against Parma last season. Sure, the pass from Totti was of another dimension, but the technique required to slip that sucker in is a God given attribute that Simone certainly has-at times.

What does it all boil down too? Why don't we see Perrotta burning the back of the net with long-range cannon fire. And, why dont we see him surgically inserting the ball into the back of the net while the goalkeeper breaks his legs in vein struggling pathetically to prevent it?

My guess is that nerves are at the root of this issue. Simone has been a DMF for most of his footballing carreer. In turn, when he finds himself in a position to score the winning goal he hesitates allowing the opportunity to scurry of into the sunset.

Spags. Get on it. Longrange shooting practise (private tottiureing10) and finishing practise (private montellstruction9). I'm convinced that if Simone brushes up on these two aspects he'll eventually become THAT player that can do it all.

Just a thought.

P.s. There's only one Smiley and I'm both of 'em. Lol

Good points on Perrotta, he is undeniabley athletic and has seemingly mastered the box to box midfield position in Serei A games, but when its a big game, ie that game against the Germans or even against some of the bigger teams in Serie A, he doesnt seem to possess the same killer instinct.

His selfless running helps make Tottis passes look even better due to his sheer will and determination to get on the end of them. Perrotta, i believe, has the ability to get the maximum out of these passes and assists. Its just a matter of getting him to believe it i reckon!

If Perrotta can improve his finishing then he would really be up a level. He can get on those passes, but as we saw in the WC he doesn't have a great finishing touch.

I would rather see Perrotta revert back to his natural central-midfield role then play on the wing, but if Spalletti believes that he is capable of being a winger on a full-time bases then so be it. I suppose it is still in doubt as to where exactly Spalletti will play him – he has not taken part in any pre-season preperations yet cos of the WC – but with the strong reports of us chasing a new midfielder then that could be your answer. I can't see Spalletti adjusting his formation to accomadate 3 central-midfielders, so Simeone could well line up on the left. I would also still question though, whether he does have the finishing abilities and also the ability to take on and beat a defender to be a full-time winger...

To be honest, Shield, I don't think Spags really wants an out-and-out winger who's going to run with the ball consistently and take players on. I think he backs Mancini to do that job and he only wants one player to do that within the team. If you have two, as I think often happens at ManUre when they play with Giggs and Ronaldo and Rooney (in which case they actually have three, of course - three dribblers, I mean, rather than three true wingers), then you tend to give the ball away too often. And when you add Totti to the mix, of course, you have such an outstanding playmaker that it's simply a waste if every time you get it wide your wingers put their heads down and try to make something out of nothing on their own. This is why I think Perrotta can do the job for us in the trequartista line (or, indeed, from further back) - Spags is most interested in work-rate and movement from 'that' player. He's looking for individualistic creativity from others and doesn't want to imbalance the squad. This is exactly what he wants from Taddei, too, I think. Someone like Ribery, in these terms, might make some brilliant goals on his own, but he's also unlikely to bring out the best in Totti.

At the moment, though, I'm not sure where he wants to play Perrotta. I have a feeling it will be in the middle with Taddei alongside Mancini and Totti even if both Appiah and Diarra were to come in. They may be more about giving us options than about adding a sure starter to the squad.

Smiley, you're right, of course, about Perrotta's finishing. I suspect no amount of practice is going to make him massively better at that, though - it's so much about instinct and a kind of natural poise in front of goal. He doesn't quite have the touch to make things easier for himself and I'm sure he's already been practising that kind of thing for years. I'm sure he'll score one or two crackers this season, but I suspect he'll miss a fair few opportunities too.

I'm not so sure Maro. I don't see how having two natural wingers like Mancini and 'insert-new-winger-here' playing either side of Totti will take away from his creative abilities. If anything, I think he would only stand to benifit more. It is true that wingers will sometimes instinctively put their head down and try do it all themselves, but with our system everything goes through Totti and he is the main creative force. Our defence and our central-midfield will always look for him and pass it to him when available. Then, when Totti gets the ball, he will either run at the opposition knowing he has too fast wingers either side of him or look to play a through-ball down the lines to the wingers who will make good runs, as well as the lone striker. To me, having a creative winger like Mancini on one side and then a converted central-midfielder on the other unbalances the shape of the team. I agree that Spalletti is all about workrate, but that is something which he has to get all his players to do, and in this case his wingers, and not play someone out of position simply because he offers great workrate. Mancini can be a bit of lazy shit sometimes, but Taddei is full of workrate and yet is still a threat when attacking down the wing. Also, Totti is not getting any younger, and when he is missing having two natural, quality wingers will be a great help to the team in terms of creativity. Perrotta or Mancini will fill in for him when neccesary, you would assume, and having that extra bit of creativity there will take away somewhat from missing such a brilliant, creative genious as Totti.

Yeah, you're probably right. You could have it the other way, after all - having another quality winger whose creativity and pace frightened defences might take a bit of the attention away from Totti and allow him more time on the ball rather than less. For me, though, Taddei is already a bit like Perrotta - a converted more central player. He's certainly not an out-and-out winger though I know Spags does ask him to play wider than he would Simone or does Amantino.

In a way, I guess all I'm wondering is whether a quality regista' and Perrotta nudged forward might not improve us more than a quality winger and Perrotta tucked back in alongside DDR. Perhaps in the little eagle and Taddei we already have something special enough to take us on another level this season? Instinctively, though, I'd say were you building a team around DDR and Perrotta you would very much play with a midfield three with, say, a Pirlo as the third. So I'm just not quite sure what the best line-up would be accommodating all of DDR, Perrotta, Mancini, Totti, Vucinic(?) and one other. You reckon Ribery and I wonder Pizarro. Perhaps both and then we'll have options coming out our ears and we can see what really works best?

Maybe Aquilani is that third midfielder?

ah yeah Aquilani, the kid who i have really grown to like over the last season. Seems just glad to be playing no matter what the role, be it partnering DDR in a deeper role or playing up with Perrota and Taddei in a more offenseive central role.

I also believe he is the heart of the Italian U-21 team ya? I quuite like him, and he will go down in legend for that goal against Lazio in Romas record breaking run. Great Goal too

For sure it could be Aquilani - don't get me wrong, I think he's a really exciting prospect and I really like the way he plays. Clearly he's the closest thing to a regista' or a play-making midfielder we have and I hope he gets better and better this season. My point, though, would still be that if you're going to play Perrotta, DDR, and the little eagle then you have two options. You can push Perrotta further forward, as happened, of course, in Totti's absence where he could still play in the middle in a more advanced role, or into one of the wide positions along the trequartista line for which, as Shield insists, he's not really perfectly suited, or you have to change the team shape. You'd either go to a classic 4-3-1-2 with Totti behind two strikers or a 4-3-2-1 with, perhaps, Totti and Mancini tucked in behind Monty or Mido (or Vucinic?). Spags, I suspect, isn't entirely enamored of either option partly because they don't give the team shape quite enough natural width and partly because they don't really make the most of the talents of Mancini. Were you building the team around an axis of DDR-Simone-Alberto (in a parallel world) rather than around, say, an axis of DDR-Totti-Mancini (or however you'd describe where we're at at the moment), you could do it for sure, but it would entail a pretty drastic rejigging of the squad - asking more from the fullbacks going forward, getting forwards who are happy to do a lot of their work running the channels (cf. Toni and Gila in the opening rounds of the WC), perhaps swapping Totti for a trequartista who relies, comparatively, more on carrying the ball than on passing it, etc. etc. It could be done, but I'm not sure Spags would want to do it with the particular array of talent we already have at the club.

I wasn't suggesting that we should actually make a move for Ribery. With the price Marseille have put on him it would be just plain Robery (ha couldn't resist), and well outside our massive Chelski-esque transfer budget. What I meant was a player who has similar attributes, in other words a natural winger, say somelike Esposito, who could surely be aquired for a reasonable amount. Certainly there hasn't been much on any possible interest in him from any parties lately, I think. Now it looks like we are close to bringing in Diarra, which is of course good news, and so our midfield will be strenghten and give Spalletti more options. Now if only we could bring in someone like Esposito, that would give us great depth and even greater options, and we would be sorted.

Shield,
Esposito has been on my wish list for a long time and I don't understand why there has been such a lack of interest in him. I understand that he did not score as many goals last season but a player in his position should not be scoring 16 goals in a season like he did two seasons ago. His qualities would strenghten Roma immensely. At this point anybody would make me happy.

I know what you mean totti_10 (welcome to Soccerpulse by the way). I remember at the start of the summer I was thinking to myself that I was really looking forward to this transfer period and pondering what positions we need strenghtening and what players we will bring in, you know like a new left-back, a quality back-up centre-half, a new centre-mid, a winger and possibly 2 new strikers, but I don't think I've ever experienced such a frustrating summer transfer period (last year's debacle with that imbargo shite aside of course). But now, I guess I'll be somewhat content of we do manage to land only Diarra and Vucinic. We have got a few good free signings, but lets be honest, there not exactly scudetto winners. I would really like us to get a new winger, Esposito being right up there, but at this stage I doubt it will happen.

And now the tranfser of Vucinic mightened even happen if Spalletti spends all of his ginormous transfer budget on midfield. I can't blame him for that, of course, he probably believes we need to strenghten the midfield ahead of our forwards, and now perhaps does consider Mido to be our new striker and so doesn't consider Vucinic to be top priority. It will be a shame. I really want to see Vucninic in the giallorossi of Roma, and the man himself does seem to have his heart set on a move. If we don't pick him up now he will probably begin to consider other options (he has already turned down moves to Liverpool and Spartak), as I don't think he wants to play in Serie B against shite teams like Rimini, Juventus and Crotone...

I thought that considering our financial health, the transfer embargo and our champions league qualification, we would have at least 20-25 million to spend.
It looks like I was sadly mistaken. I really wanted Moretti, Esposito and Vucinic. At this point we will be hard pressed to acquire any player besides Diarra or Appiah. I don't believe that we are going to land Vucinic.

I wonder if Vucinic might be back on were the Nonda-Appiah swap deal which has circulated from time to time to come about. That seems to me the only real way biggish changes are going to be made from here on in. The only other thing is that if you look at Mexes' comments over on ilromanista today you get reminded how important team spirit was to our success last season and you wonder if Spags has half an eye on that. Bringing in new players and moving on others can disrupt that harmony.

maro, I'm not too sold on Appiah. I remember he was linked to us a while back as well. We have a good amount of ball winners, but the way I can see him coming here is if we, as you mentioned, loan out Faty. The Pizzaro deal is looking more and more likely. I wouldn't be surprised if Inter refuse to sell him to us though. Its a shame that a player with his abilities should have to rot on the bench for another year.

, I don't think Spags thinks of Appiah quite as a ball-winner. I'd tended to think of him in those terms in the past, but in the World Cup clearly he played a more creative, technical, play-maker's role in midfield and when Spags was asked about Diarra and Appiah earlier in the summer he noted Diarra's physical strengths but then said that Appiah was a little bit different, a bit more technical, a bit more creative. So if Appiah does come in then I think it would be in the expectation that he would play a bit more of a regista' role and offer something a bit different from the more destructive, box-to-box midfielders we have. We shall see - I still dream of Aquilani coming good and becoming an integral part of the midfield alongside DDR and Perrotta for many years to come.

Totti expects new faces
Thursday 3 August, 2006
Football Italia

Francesco Totti believes Roma must make a couple of high profile signings if they are to challenge for honours this season. The Giallorossi have been promoted to the Champions League and will start the campaign as Scudetto contenders due to the Calciopoli verdicts, but the captain insists his outfit need to become more competitive.

“We need a few top level purchases,” he told the Corriere dello Sport newspaper. “Even if I’d better not mention any names as we are floated on the stock market. The team requires new faces as it’s going to be an intense season with the Serie A and the Champions League, a competition I’m eager to play in again after two years. We also need to take advantage of the fact that Juventus will not be part of next year’s Serie A,” added the No 10.

The Old Lady’s demotion to the Second Division has resulted in the Juve departures of Azzurri teammates Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta.

“We all make our own decisions and I don’t want to judge,” he said when asked about their departure to Spain. "When it was my turn to choose a few years ago, I simply decided to stay and try to win something important with this outfit.

“When I signed the contract extension I was told that Roma had great plans and I am confident this is true. I didn’t sign for the money, but because I believed in this project and am happy I stayed.”

Turning to the international stage, Totti confirmed that he had yet to make a decision on whether to bring his Azzurri career to an end after 2006 World Cup glory.

"I don't want to think about this before I come back from holiday," he added. "I wish [boss Roberto] Donadoni all the best and I will talk with him as soon as possible. I want to understand what his plans are before I decide. I will never forget the joy of winning the World Cup and many persons have encouraged me to continue, but there are many things I need to consider.”

The Roman striker also expressed all his admiration for former Coach Marcello Lippi and said he will always be grateful for his support following his serious injury in February.

“I’m sorry he left, he built a great team and I must confess that I would have probably not joined the Azzurri in Germany had he decided to resign before the World Cup, because of the Calciopoli scandal.”

The 29-year-old striker is still on holiday and is due to return to Trigoria in a week’s time, to start training in view of the Italian Super Cup against Inter on August 26.

That bit has me splitting my sides. Rimini and Crotone must only have dreamed of being as shitty as Juventus.

Anywho, if Totti comes out and says things like that, i think it puts unintentional pressure on Spags to bring someone in. Its just a matter of who. And i agree with Appiah, he is no longer a destroyer as Juve had him down as, he is more box to box. If he could improve his shooting, which was noticeably woeful in the World Cup, he would be worth all the trouble, but i dont really think he is any better than Taddei or Perrotta and certainly not as good as Aquilani looks like he can be.