Derby Notes & News & Donuts

The Midfield

• Fernando Gago's suspended, Miralem Pjanic is 'doubtful' and Daniele De Rossi is a flat tire away from Luis Enrique wiping his ass with Daniele's new contract. The bad news is everything just listed. The good news is availability is reflected relative to their importance to the midfield/team.
• Fabio Simplicio also left training with a knock. For 2011-12's performance considerations, this is addition by subtraction. As far as comedic purposes go...
• Tis highly likely Pjanic plays, and it is equally as likely Marquinho will spend the afternoon attempting to invoke the automatic "win a permanent contract with 100 shots by season's end" clause in his loan contract.
  

And really, forcing a defender to pull from the clusterfuck - if only in terms of sheer numbers - in the box to close down on a mid prone to shooting isn't the worst idea at all, but putting it within a nautical mile of the goal frame would be a nice change of pace.

There now lies the possibility of Leandro Greco. No lineup with four Romans leads to Roma ending a derby with eleven men on the pitch. None.

Don't do it, Luis. Don't do it.

In a mad moment of genuine seriousness - how dare I! - the smart move would be to roll Simone Perrotta into the fray, whether or not it fits with Luis' "vision".

The Attack

• Osvaldo's out, Totti's in.
• Lamela falls into the category in which highly prized phenoms are run out for experience so long as they don't impregnate the owner's daughter. Or, in the case of Siena, the owner(ish).
• That's all, and that's sure enough.

The Tactics

• Well golly gee, I just don't know...