Roma 1 - Brescia 1
A certain pattern has emerged which has been rather blatantly obvious, only it wasn't quite as deep as initially thought.
Roma v Top 4 (including Coppa): 4-0-1
Roma v Top 4 + Juventus: 5-1-1
Shit, Roma v Milan, Inter, Lazio & Juve - The Names: 5-1-0.
Roma v Everyone Else: 8-5-5
Rather alarming, isn't it? Less than a 50% win rate versus the teams against whom their percentage should be significantly higher. This team may need a psychologist to extract Mirko Vucinic Syndrome from their collective mentality. They're clearly good enough to beat anyone - and they have - but don't seem to treat Inter the same as Brescia or Cesena the same as Milan on some microscopic level.
I do realize things have changed and yes, Roma dominated but to be felled by that old bugaboo (John Arne Riise wears short sleeves and doesn't clear the far post), but this whole team seems to save itself for either the biggest games or moments of necessity - sometimes both (ie Bayern). Granted it's not the worst problem in the world if they're gunning for cup competitions, but it's not the recipe for a scudetto. Small teams, and all that mumbo jumbo.
More to the point, however, it significantly lessens my enjoyment in the 'hey let's take half one off almost entirely' pseudo-tactic, because it goes from funny and effective to borderline arrogant and idiotic. That completely eliminates my ability to kick my feet up on the desk and shake my finger at Fabio with a wry smile when he misplaces a place in the first half. And to be honest, I need that, because this team has become far less compelling with its depth. The ability to just toss on another option is effective, but has me secretly longing for the days when miracles came in the form of free loans and talent whose juices had to be sucked drier than the Shewolf's teats for even remote effectiveness (step on down, Adrian Pit). Mirko & Jeremy on the bench? It's begun to feel like rooting for Juve or something.
There are times, particularly of recent, when I miss Roma. Thankfully, they never fail to remind us they're still here and going strong.
You know, with things like 1-1 draws at home against Brescia.
Roma.
Notes (most of which are obviously in the liveblog...when I was paying attention...which was a struggle at times)
- Evolving my multi-headed coach theory: Spalletti takes first halves, Ranieri takes the second...now find me a specialist to counteract five man midfields.
- Taking into account consistency, I gather Philippe Mexes has been Roma's best/most important player this term, particularly with aliens having assumed the body of Juan and rendered his brain something resembling Jell-o pudding snacks.
And now he's suspended for two giant games for saying not nice things to the fourth official - didn't like his timepiece? - after the game had ended.
AS Roma's central defense of season 2010-11 needs to be checked for chromosomal deficiencies. All of them - and that includes Guillermo.
- Given his penchant for snatching suspensions out of midair against Brescia, maybe they should send Philou on vacation the next time they play. In 2012.
(This is going to look brilliant when they miraculously stave off relegation only to be drawn against Roma on day 19.)
- I can't quite get over this. Why does the central defense insist upon doing stupid shit this season? What sort of crisis has befell them?
- Don't fix what ain't broke: someone needs to get a club, write 4-3-1-2 on the side and beat Claudio over the head with it. I think he gets in a bit of trouble when he tries to get too fancy from the outset, which directly contradicts his 'keep it simple, stupid' mantra on the back of which he rode into Rome.
4.3.1.2. The end.
Anyway, it's just more of the Roman same. Switching coaches hasn't seemed to break the overwhelmingly annoying ability to match the result, if not the play, to the level of the opposition. If you've got a cure, I've got several blank checks and about 42 straight Coach of the Year awards awaiting your imperious legend at this point. Unfortunately, this means things like 1-1 draws against Brescia until a cure is found.
Ultimately, however, two things made me feel quite a bit better:
Life could be much worse - they're fine.
And luckily, they've found a shorterm solution to their level of opposition woes: Inter & Napoli in the queue.
Somewhere, hopefully Trigoria, the A games are aligning.