Totti Today: The unbearable burden of being Roma

You’d better ask yourself this question: What has Roma done to annoy so many teams and/or players? Why can’t they just point out a player, contact him, sign him, pay the money and present him in front of the tifosi? Milan and Inter do it and they’re both coming off a piss poor season. Liverpool are doing it and they’re not even near the Champions League next season. It’s not so hard. But Roma clearly has difficulties when it comes to making a move on the market and attracting the right players, or at least the ones it thinks are best.

The list is astonishing so far: (inhales) Baba, Adriano, Dzeko, Mitrovic, Filipe Luis, Romero, Bruno Peres, Darmian, Salah, Ekdal, Van Der Wiel, Sirigu, Lukaku, (choking), Konoplyanka, Casillas, Johnson, Digne, Luiz Adriano, Heurtaux, Lacazette, Santon, (suffocating), Gomez, Van Persie, Hernandez, Savic, Rafael, Rondon, Begovic, Kurzawa, Cabaye, Jovetic, Ibra, (dead)… Roma was linked to every one of them, yet stuttered too much, was greedy or simply too slow.

I admit, we dodged some bullets but it shows we’re falling behind, lacking something. Is it a financial barricade? Or is Roma simply not ‘sexy’ enough for football players nowadays? Italian Serie A has taken a blow since a couple of years ago; the Premier League, Liga A and the Bundesliga are the most wanted destinations. Money is involved sure, but is it solely about the dough? Italy’s a beautiful country, good-looking people, fashion, nice weather… Rome’s the capital, I would even take a pay cut in order to play there. Or did I just put on my giallo e rosso glasses?

Iago Falque is our only new addition so far, it's July 20. Ritiro started 14 days ago. So much for all the promises. So perhaps the fault is the incompetent management? All eyes are now on Walter, but can he pull it off alone? Is he able to be the DS of a big club? Roma is not Palermo. It saddens me that Roma still need to sell in order to buy. Financial rules are getting more strict, but they saw it coming from miles away and still made some expensive choices like Ucan, Iturbe and Ibarbo. Again, why? From time to time, I read more logical explanations and proposals on CDT, why can’t the suits see it too? They should be the ones with all the brains and economic expertise.

Of course you can’t simply hijack someone or use a lasso to bring them to Roma. Remember, players need to willingly play for Roma, it should be their first choice. Determination, passion, blood and sweat for the colors, it is what we all demand from the players on the pitch. But the earlier mentioned list is simply too long to ignore. And I wasn’t even finished.

Complaining in June is not justified, complaining in the end of July with only one (average) official transfer, however, is. Something's gotta give and time is running out. A mercato can make or break the entire season. Finances, a new DS, other targets… Roma needs to find a solution and fast. A guy like Dzeko won’t wait forever. And neither will the fans.

But wait, f*ck it all. If you can beat Real Madrid, there is not really a need for new and bigger additions now, is there?! …………………Yes my dear boy, that was sarcastic.