Chiesa Di Totti - Zdenek Zeman's FiringCautiously Optimistic Since 2007https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48469/totti-fave.png2013-02-03T18:29:19+01:00http://www.chiesaditotti.com/rss/stream/37089592013-02-03T18:29:19+01:002013-02-03T18:29:19+01:00Roma In A Shell Of Nuts
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/805GMHzw2m1Z8rpzyQI1DKXbk5U=/0x134:467x445/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/7569945/gyi0064280901.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Oleg Nikishin</figcaption>
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<p>I never do this, but upon reading <a href="http://blogistuta.com/2013/02/the-false-dawn-of-zemanlandia/">Blogistuta's excellent piece on the crumbling of Zemanlandia</a> - and he is a fan - something tickled a portion of my mind and I needed to build a continuation of it. Need to both agree completely and find some sort of synergy across the past several years. There is a similar thread running through several years; a thread which appears to now be cut.</p>
<p><br>One line:</p>
<p><br><i>"It could have been beautiful, had Roma truly resigned itself to the investment of faith and patience it required. But it never did, nor would it ever: in the same Franco Baldini interview, he claimed to come carrying no revolutions, "only common sense and pragmatism"."</i></p>
<p><br>Two line:</p>
<p><br><i>"... the runs weren't the same in midfield or attack. The movements indecisive and sporadical, rather than razor-sharp, automatic and punctual."</i></p>
<p><br>At not point we were handed a serving of full Zemanlandia, rather the scraps flung from the adult's table just beyond our vision. No one complained for the show, because even pieces of Zemanlandia will provide more excitement than all but a handful in the world. Every week there was at least a bit of vaudeville; sometimes it was just the other team's moment in the spotlight. But the problem with Zemanlandia proved to be the same thing which felled Luis Enrique; the inability of both clubs to do the one thing which Jonathan Wilson, this generation's tactical guru, called the epicenter of football itself.</p>
<p><br>And it's the one thing which defined Luciano Spalletti's Roma: the manipulation of space.</p>
<p><br> The ability to dictate where you play the ball, where the space will be to play the ball, where to make the space to play the ball, and most importantly, where to pull the defender. And guess what? It ain't easy.</p>
<p><br>There is a perfect example of this on the payroll, and it's a gentleman about whom we joke for his beauty, lunchlady hair and a playing style which inexplicably manages more awkwardness than a high school dance. But I will go to the grave stating that <span>Rodrigo Taddei</span> is a far better footballer than ever given credit because he understands the tactical minutiae, the nuance, of the game, and the ability to both close down and open up space for his teammates. He is, while remarkably technically gifted (hello, Aurelio), a high-energy, somewhat chaotic, but slyly gifted brand of individual play. The same came be said for <span>Simone Perrotta</span>, because while <span>Francesco Totti</span> may be the true generational genius, there is a beautiful realization of football academics in Perrotta's ability to make a run here for the sake of the ball, but also make a run <i>there</i> for the sake of pulling the defender, allowing a Mancini or a Vucinic to then "manipulate that space." Some people call them "goals."</p>
<p><br>And this is why we never saw Nico Lopez play under Zeman. Because while he looked all sorts of amazing in space for Uruguay and in spots for Roma during that Coppa match, in moments of normal play, he looked a lost child in a mall in desperate search for his mommy. He simply had no clue what to do, or how to behave in a crowd. When Erik Lamela stopped making similar runs after returning from Christmas break, almost as though he'd decided to coast through the remainder of the season like he'd already been accepted into university and it was time to briefly live the dream, Roma suffered. Well, Roma failed, really. Those runs, called out by Zeman, could be considered the difference between Zdenek having a job and not. For two years, we have seen players far more comfortable taking a stance of passivity, hanging back for the ball behind the box, a safe spot, rather than creating this mess of controlled chaos demanded of a successful attacking system.</p>
<p><br>Because when they can't do it, guess who will be? The other guy. That cat from Lombardia whose name you don't know, but he's got ten years going up against kids and knows that for all the talent this child across from him might possess, if he takes two steps in <i>that</i> direction, this kid is fucked.</p>
<p><br>This team is compiled of Nico Lopez's and <span>Erik Lamela's</span>, which makes it not a team at all; it's a true project. It's not about Erik Lamela the individual; it's about Erik Lamela, the singular representation of a football club's identity at current.</p>
<p><br>Now, would you ever compare Erik and Rodrigo on paper? Absolutely not. Never. And Erik should be playing for the sake of Roma's future, and with the understanding that the intent is the future, but Rodrigo Taddei is going to create that space. Simone Perrotta is going to find that space. Erik Lamela is going to make that run for the sake of finding the ball and putting it on goal; otherwise, he's standing behind the play waiting for someone to drop him a point-of-reference ball like it's a baton. Another is going to make that run with the knowledge he's doing so for teammate X. A <span>Marco Cassetti</span> is never going to be a shutdown defender, but he's going to be able to take away the avenue earlier in the movement. Player X with some tactical know-how, some experience in the manipulation of both space and defenders is going to find that space. Perhaps that was the idea with Zemanlandia; that volume can supersede quality. That by tossing enough bodies into the box, they didn't have to be good, just there, and percentages would take over.</p>
<p><br>Yes, Rodrigo is still here, and so too is Simone, but they are on the wrong end of the careers, and neither has the legs they once had (and Olympians to begin with they weren't), which means that yes, perhaps they need to be replaced. But not with a Tachtsidis or a Lamela or a Lopez. They don't need to be replaced with the talent to become more than they were on a video game stat sheet. Rodrigo Taddei needs to be replaced with another Rodrigo Taddei; a high-energy, subtly technically-skilled player who understands to track down the defender by pushing him inside to his help-defender, rather than outside to have his man send in the long cross and isolate Castan versus the forward and then win the game, because that's a skill. Are you going to find that from an 19 year old just out of Rio? Probably not.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This has always been my issue with Michael Bradley. While he runs a lot, and it's nice, he runs with a purpose to the ball, not a purpose to a tactical structure, leaving space which the opposition all too often exploits. The problem is, he does run, and Zeman likes running, and that meant Michael won minutes, but there is a difference between running and running intelligently. Chasing down the defender on the ball is wonderful. Doing so when it's supposed to be Erik Lamela, leaving a clueless Erik to drop back several steps on the wing and the midfield to shift into a two-man sieve? The casual fan will champion it, but that's just really poor football. You need someone who runs, and someone with technical skill, but more importantly, you need people who know what the hell to do with it. Grab all three and you've got Messi.</p>
<p><br>And that's why football is so damn hard.</p>
<p><br>Curiously enough, <span>Mattia Destro</span> has this ability naturally, this elite set of skills, despite his young age and questionable decision-making in other areas of his life and offers it weekly, which is why I'm so much a fan of his and think they need to lock him up for years and years. He's going to be truly special once the finishing portion of his game catches up to his natural talents. But this is yet another example of expecting polished production from an unfinished product. (<span>Fabio Borini</span> also had this natural knack for football, which is a reason I was also a fan of his, but Destro has everything else and the ability to create it himself. The two are incomparable, so if you're going to pick one to keep around a few years, it's Destro eleven times out of ten.)</p>
<p><br>Another perfect example is <span>Jose Angel</span> who, while a major flop at this point in his career, holds something indisputable: natural talent. But recall when he got that red card against <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/cagliari" class="sbn-auto-link">Cagliari</a>? It was something like <i>Scared Straight: Italian Referee Edition</i>. He didn't net another card for months, I believe, instead playing a brand of football one would expect of a child, and it was almost as though he was never the same. Now compare that to Cassetti, who would play, over the years, to the point my then-girlfriend would think I was developing some sort of new Tourette's variation: <i>"JESUS @#$%ING CHRIST, CASSETTI. YOU'RE GOING TO GET SENT OFF." </i> (That's not true. I don't yell. But pretend like I do.)<i> </i>Well, sometimes you need to play that way; perhaps Roma even needed him to play that way. More guile, less raw athleticism. Or hell, just less raw anything.</p>
<p><br>There are two Roma employees who appears to have it all - the physical, the mental, the technical - at such a young age, and those two have been Roma's best players, Totti aside, each of the last two years - <span>Miralem Pjanic</span> last year and Marquinhos at current. Guess what? That's really hard to find, and more likely it's going to come in the form of a veteran who's acquired many of the mental attributes needed to thrive on the type of stage desired by this current Roma. And out of how many players 23 and under they purchased did it hit on? Two. That's all. Two. Because it's incredibly rare, and it's even more rare to find on the relative cheap. (The Pjanic deal was an absolute steal, even more so than Marquinhos; not based on pure numbers, but on the fact that he was a known commodity.)</p>
<p><br>For the rest, they need time, they need experience, they need patience, and they need pieces around them to fill the voids in their game which they are lacking but with hope, will develop. <span>Panagiotis Tachtsidis</span> is not that piece, and neither is <span>Ivan Piris</span>, nor Florenzi, nor...et cetera. <span>Federico Balzaretti</span> seemed that perfect piece, but he's been a flop. Again, it happens.</p>
<p><br>The Luis Enrique era was one of failure, and it really did appear his brand of football clashed with calcio's idea of defense, but there was one visible problem: the ability of the forward line and runners to break through the opposition's wall was the equivalent of searching for snowflakes in June. They were a team which could play outside the box, living in the middle third, but had no one to make that incisive cut in the box, no one to pull a defender this-a-way while the teammate went that-a-way. The player <span>Pablo Osvaldo</span> has become over the years has acquired these traits, but he's both one man and a few notches down from elite. They were easily countered, and it was fatally flawed.</p>
<p><br>And in processing the difference between the last years, the Spalletti realization of football and that of recent, brought this: Roma is buying technically, not tactically. They aren't buying pragmatically at all, and this sort of identity turnover may feel one of pragmatism from the overview, but there needs to be a marriage of business off-the-pitch and the football on if one wants to be successful. If what Baldini says about pragmatism is true, then they, simply put, aren't remaining true to their own vision, while expecting the coaches to somehow provide it.</p>
<p><br>Perhaps this absolves Luis Enrique of more blame than he's received, while also removing Zeman from the firing squad, and placing everyone else in front of it.</p>
<p><br>There was a beautiful understated nature to Spalletti's football that wasn't conveyed by the spectacular sheen glowing off his mound of genius on the sidelines; it was being offered by the types of players purchased with the idea that a football team is about more than the talent one can find on YouTube, in a youth tournament, or on the beaches of South America. It's about understanding the game and the idea that the whole is indeed worth more than the sum of its parts.</p>
<p><br>Football is about so much more than a collection of talent. It's about finding the best system of eleven, not the best eleven skill sets for each individual position. But if you're simply going to offer up what a collection of talent, then at least allow them the time to grow and more importantly, fail.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This team doesn't need a coach; it needs a babysitter. And it's beginning to appear as though this new crop of directors might need one too.</p>
https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2013/2/3/3947660/the-death-of-zemanlandia-lastMarten Portoise2013-02-02T21:14:07+01:002013-02-02T21:14:07+01:00Beyond Zemanlandia
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cVQ5qiLrTkw7u9lD-J1rZSiFcfs=/0x634:3047x2665/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/7526371/159402186.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Maurizio Lagana</figcaption>
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<p> </p>
<p>Let's refer to a quote from September, shall we?</p>
<p> </p>
<p><i>"We perhaps have to consider other decisions that we made or that we might've over-valued some players for their abilities to perform in this type of match."</i></p>
<p> </p>
<p>That's Walter Sabatini after <a href="https://www.blackwhitereadallover.com/">Juventus</a> thrashed Roma like <span>Fabio Simplicio</span> does a buffet. It has been rather apparent since Day 1 some of these players are either not good enough or simply too immature in their development as professional athletes to provide the necessary fruits of production at this level. The backups at the forward positions had 61 total Serie A matches to their collective names at the outset of the season, and I'm being generous in tossing Marquinho in there. (Hell, toss Dodo's goose egg onto the pile as well.) That's just the beginning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Clearly the idea was festering in their mind from the outset, because at no point during the good months of November & December did anyone think this club was veiling its weaknesses, namely the massive one in the middle of the pitch. If there is a formation which brings DDR back to even mediocrity - he was not benched; he won a spot on the bench - then that's good, and they can find a spot for Pjanic and then, well, somebody will figure something out. But Zeman was not given the pieces with which to succeed given the philosophy they purchased. They gave him the keys but not the parts underneath the hood to get it running properly. And they then did nothing in the month of January to rectify any of this, instead continuing to believe this team could, on both paper and in reality, become something it's not: good enough. Player development just doesn't happen that quickly across the board when the team is constructed poorly. Some players hit fire, but development is more often than not incremental, not exponential. If it was that easy, everyone else would already be doing it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So if they're building for the future, which it appears they are, because throwing your biggest money on a kid who's played 36 total top flight matches is not a <i>Win Right Now! </i>recipe, then perhaps they should approach expectations accordingly. This was, from the very start, a wait-and-see, let's-eat-this-shitty-transition-year-with-kamikaze-scorelines entity with the potential to be something amazing, but the reality that it would be just that, a transition year for the sake of player development. Or at least it appeared to be. To everyone but those running the club.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There is an incredible amount of failure at the very top here. If you want to win now, fine, buy the players to win right now; players with a little bit of experience and some quality to boot, but it ain't going to be cheap in fees or wages. If you want to win tomorrow, spend the money allotted on wages on transfer fees for youthful, unfulfilled talent. The latter is what they did, nabbing talent and filling in around them on the cheap. They then brought in the coach to get them to win tomorrow, and fired him when he didn't win today.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don't get it. I really don't. Nothing should've been expected out of this year given how this team has been compiled. Nothing at all. Not only that, but they knew what they were buying.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now what? Who the hell knows. I don't think management knows either. And it's even more evident they didn't really have a clue as to what they were doing or what to expect last summer, either.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But given that Zdenek Zeman has been tossed into the dumpster like street trash - that would be an embellishment had he not been informed of his dismissal through a third party; classy, guys - a lot of things will change, obviously. Part of the problem is that two years in a row, this club has been constructed around a central ideology tethered to a stubborn personality, leaving with it a wake of players who either don't fit the system or holes which rapidly need to be filled. First, they built <a href="https://www.chiesaditotti.com/">AS Roma</a> in the eyes of Luis Enrique. Fortunately, some of those players brought in, like<span>Miralem Pjanic</span> and <span>Pablo Osvaldo</span>, are rather useful otherwise (teenagers purchased from South America, like <span>Erik Lamela</span>, are Saba Specials and are considered independent of the manager). No, Miralem didn't really fit into the Zemanlandia model (well, he did, but a certain cat named Totti occupied that space already), but he's one of Roma's best players and should feature prominently in any system but a few - Zeman's was one of those few in which he had difficulty finding space.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But they brought in youth. Cheap youth. Guys like Tachtsidis, Florenzi, Dodo, Goicoechea, Florenzi and even a player like Bradley, to fill in the spaces of Zemanlandia. Even Piris could be considered a player more suited to this philosophy, as his speed and crossing ability are his best assets. Defending? Depends on the week lately, which might be a function of the team's overall play (and Erik's suckitude, in particular) than anything else. While the suits will tell you the personnel is bought irrespective of the man on the sidelines, done so with the singular philosophy which will see Roma into its next stadium, there is bound to be yet another summer of turnover. They have hit the nail on the head on a few - Marquinhos, Lamela, Destro and Castan should be guarantees for years to come so long as they can ward off bigger clubs - but a lot of changes are about to happen yet again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, a look at a few. You know - on February 2nd, hours after the transfer window closed until June. Because this is @#$%ing fabulous timing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>The goalkeeper situation. It is likely that <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110468/maarten-stekelenburg">Maarten Stekelenburg</a> will be sold in the summer (this is the "staying together for the children" portion of standard divorce proceedings protocol; they'll part ways sooner rather than later) and Mauro Goicoechea's loan will not be renewed. Mauro fit the Zeman system better in that he is a better keeper against isolated runners - he sucks on crosses, we know - and is far more mobile. Less of a need to worry about that now and frankly, and neither he nor Maarten are good enough for Roma's apparent objectives.<br><br>Whether or not those objectives, given how this club is currently being run, need to be ratcheted down several levels, is another question. (No it's not - they do.)</li>
<li>Panagiotis Tachtsidis. He's co-owned. While talented, he is supremely raw, and his playing time is a result of both a lack of options for the specified role of regista under Zeman and the desire to develop youth. That desire is likely to take a back seat now, and so too is his status in Rome. While he's been much better than given credit, he should be playing beaucoup minutes for a lesser side, not working out the kinks on a club hopeful for Europe. Their willingness to spend the money, however little, to babysit his contract for a few years while he works out those kinks is a big question now. (I vote they attempt to renew the co-ownership and agree, with <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/genoa" class="sbn-auto-link">Genoa</a>, to send him on loan to a club destined for the bottom 6 in Serie A.)</li>
<li>Ivan Piris. Again, he's good, and I'm firmly in the corner that he should be bought, but he is, yet again, a developing piece. His loan buyout is for 4m euros and they just nabbed Torosidis. This is now another question, along with the consideration of a Sebastian Jung or someone else. (No, <span>Davide Santon</span> is not coming. Wouldn't you rather be playing for Newcastle too? Roma's an annual Europa League wannabe in Serie A now; they've got as much recruiting cache as <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a> until this thing gets fixed.)</li>
<li>Rodrigo Taddei. New coach, so you'll damn well see him net more minutes than he has under Zeman, perhaps even win a permanent spot.<br><br>A cloud of Kool 100's is the only thing that can keep Rodrigo away.</li>
<li>Pablo Destro and Mattia Osvaldo. They both missed a lot under Zeman. They got a lot of clear, begging chances under Zeman. A lot. A helluva lot more than they will under anyone else.<br><br>This might not end well.</li>
<li>Marco Borriello's contract is an albatross in this current regime, but there always remains the possibility someone other than every female 15-45 could find him desirable. They might even coach Roma. </li>
<li>Michael Bradley. He will, at the very least, net far fewer minutes under anyone not named Zeman. There's also a chance this means he's one-and-done, too. He's a solid guy on the end of the bench and seemingly a great teammate, but there is much better already in-house, and even better to be found around Europe.</li>
<li>Alessandro Florenzi. At the very beginning, when he was dousing himself in lighter fluid and striking matches, making Prandelli take notice, I thought he might turn out to be Zeman's eternal legacy this time around. That has since come and gone, and while you want the midfield to be strengthened, he's the type of young talent with enough quality and current productivity to sort of, and I hate to use this word, "hide" in the midfield without tremendous responsibility (is that an oxymoron?). Florenzi, Taxi and Bradley as your threesome is another story entirely, and it could be argued without Zeman, Alessandro would be nothing but a name on the roster. But sitting him with a well-oiled DDR and Miralem in a three-man midfield under the right tactics? Well that could work nicely for today and tomorrow. </li>
<li>Dare I? Francesco and Daniele.<br><br>How much do you think they want to see out yet more transition when this club appears to be a sinking ship? They're doing both the little and big things wrong, from the Stekelnburg debacle, waiting until the final hours of the window, to not attempting to add bodies to the team in the window, to buying a coach whose philosophy they decided to discard two days after the window closed, despite knowing from the beginning precisely what they were buying, then getting it. <i>"Why the fuck does this chicken taste like chicken? I ordered chicken!"</i><br><br>You can sit on either side of the Zeman fence, thinking he's the best choice or worst, but one thing is for sure: three coaches in 9 months when they let go of what is now the hottest young coach in Serie A when they bought the club looks awfully bad, to those on the club and those they want to join it. Daniele could see yet another transition period as his one true chance for a winner somewhere else - there are rumors that he gave his go ahead to join PSG in the final days of the window, but PSG balked when Roma demanded Marco Verratti plus cash rather than straight cash - while Francesco could decide siring Acqua Di Gio Totti, Davidoff Cool Water Totti, and Totti No. 5 is a better use of his time.<br><br>Just sayin'.</li>
</ul>
<p>And there's another thing. What is it again? Errr...oh. Right.<br><br>The coach. Small matter, that. Two seasons, oh-for-two now. Third time's a charm? Who knows, but I have zero faith in anyone right now, no matter the coach.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roma.</p>
https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2013/2/2/3944626/the-death-of-zemanlandia-nextMarten Portoise2013-02-02T14:58:13+01:002013-02-02T14:58:13+01:00Zdenek Zeman Fired As Roma Coach
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DSkQmLgGyN1Gl435yIWKIEUw-S0=/0x0:3185x2123/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/7509835/159936753.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Paolo Bruno</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://romanews.eu/it,a106834/Studio-Tonucci-Ufficiale-Esonerato-Zeman-Al-Suo-Posto-Andreazzoli-Foto-Br">Officially, Zemanlandia is no longer.</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>He's not the only one who should have a pink slip, then. What a catastrophe this organization is at current. They gave him the keys to the car, then filled it with cheap wine and asked him to have it win races. Then, when it appeared it needed to change whatever the hell they were putting in it in January...went back into the store for more wine. Or whine in this case. They changed neither the players nor the expectations. It makes no sense. The results of late are poor, but many of the players have shown themselves to be, simply, not up to snuff. Talented, yes, but quality and talent are two entirely different concepts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Aurelio Andreazzoli (internal) is 'interim' coach, but that will most likely change. Laurent Blanc is being discussed, as too is Frank Rijkaard. Blanc would be for more than the end of the year - likely 18 months - while Marco Giampaolo is also mentioned as an option through the end of the season, to which he almost certainly would not make it. Just because that's how he rolls.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goddamnit, I miss Poobah. Maybe finishing 4th and capitulating every second half with no chance for revival is better than this crap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Update:</b> Laurent Blanc was apparently the first choice, but could not agree on money and contract length. (Which is seemingly an extension of their desire to strip payroll yet land the Champions League. If you want something, spend the money. Otherwise, there's a good chance you're going to be rolling the dice.) It's hard to believe Andreazzoli will remain the coach even through Sampdoria, but the options are thin, and any options which appear to be a fit for both the short and long-terms are ghostly. Blanc is really the only name which could fit and would be a desirable fit for the summer and beyond.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, third time's a charm for the summer of 2013?</p>
https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2013/2/2/3943868/roma-coaching-carousel-zdenek-zeman-officially-firedMarten Portoise2013-02-02T00:05:30+01:002013-02-02T00:05:30+01:00The Mess That Is AS Roma Continues
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8BoIgVjsgf8Hd0dBZewjl5BhgO0=/0x0:3011x2007/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/7489543/160488854.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Paolo Bruno</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here. Have my ball.</p> <p> </p>
<p>The immediate question, because it damn sure looks like Zdenek Zeman's job is not only on the line, but in the process of being terminated:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Is there any other coach, available right now, who could do better <i>with this collection of players</i>?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Possibly. None come to the top of the head based on tactics or quality (ie. Luis Enrique's system with these cats would fight relegation - it's not a matter of quality, but fit). And it couldn't be worse timing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The more important question:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Is there any other coach, available right now, who could do better with this collection of players <i>with Roma's current objectives</i>?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That's where it gets dicey, because this is not simply a matter of getting to a specified goal, no. This is about winning while developing youth, and doing so on a radically stripped payroll, because it's now February 1st and they're stuck through the end of the campaign with the pieces they have at hand. Can they win more games by sticking Tachtsidis, Florenzi, Lamela, etc, on the bench? Maybe, but they'd run out of numbers, and I'm not quite sure that's the best boulevard of decision-making when the goal is now, clearly, 2013-14.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The problem is the same problem as last week:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Quality is not measured in talent; it is measured in the capacity to produce and the consistent realization of that production. <span>Erik Lamela</span> has the former in spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts and even jokers; the latter has gone missing since the fall. Florenzi, Tachtsidis, Dodo, et cetera, are the former, offering glimpses, much like Destro and even Piris. The only exception to this amongst the youth is Marquinhos, and he went 0-Superstar in 180 minutes. Despite their incredible ceilings, they are inferior players to some most would consider of far lesser quality because they make critical mistakes, or lack a certain mental gimmick, or whatever. They aren't measured in quality, but talent. There is a difference. This team is, in some respects, defined as such.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There is no one person at fault here. It's not Zeman's fault exclusively, the players, Sabatini or Baldini - it's everyone's fault. Though the bulk of the blame goes to those who constructed this team, then decided during January, when the midfield has been a catastrophe since, oh, June, to keep it status quo.</p>
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<p>There is a clear difference between this and last year; last year, the team played well individually within the demands of the system, and that system produced lots of slinging the ball around the midfield, <span>Simon Kjaer</span> as a right wingback half the time, and Gabby Heinze netting more touches than Roman Polanski in a high school cafeteria. They performed to the demands of the system. The system just sucked in the context of calcio.</p>
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<p>This year, the system has seen them create an incredible amount of chances and opportunities, but the players have failed to deliver. The percentages of both <span>Mattia Destro</span> and <span>Pablo Osvaldo</span> are poor, and as ever, Mattia is still very young. Roma seemed to be playing remarkably well when Lamela was notching home his chances, but for some reason, he's gone missing in 2013, as Zeman's said, failing to run off the ball. That leaves only <span>Miralem Pjanic</span>, completely out of tactical position in the system - that right wing is really a forward and Miralem is a true midfielder - and Nico Lopez, who displayed during the Coppa just why he hasn't been playing. (He plays remarkably well in open space, such as against poor defending and in youth tournaments, but is way, way out of his depth when running up against the clogged lanes of Zemanlandia.)</p>
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<p>And there's no doubt after goal two that Mauro Goicoechea should have a nice, long seat (his glaring weakness has always been his inability to handle cross; turned out to be crippling), but then they attempted to sell on the other option the day before. This makes the entire goalkeeper situation a clusterfuck - note the difference between that and The RomanClusterfuck. (One is good, the other, not so much.) Add in the fact that Dodo should be on loan to <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/pescara">Pescara</a> - he was awful, and though Ivan looked horrid in the season's outset, the difference between he and Piris is roughly 100 professional matches - and suddenly you have a massive hole at leftback. No one nets any blame for Balzaretti; it was a good signing gone awry. It happens. And it's hard to shift blame when the previous regime used to back up Max Tonetto with an oxygen canister, some paddles and crutches, anything to get his carcass back onto the pitch because he was all they had. But this is not a good team on paper. There was hope in the summer, hope that the talent would flourish, but that's the thing with talent: talent is never guaranteed, it's merely the potential for realization.</p>
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<p>They're stuck on that potential, and the bit parts around the major talent has shown itself to be inadequate.</p>
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<p>Yes, Zeman could be more flexible with his tactics, and that's his fault - he gets a chunk of the pie too. (Some mother@#$%in' pie for everyone today.) But this team has been exposed on paper. If they can the coach, then they need to can those above the coach too (I would love to see another DS in the summer, and I've always been cooler on Baldini than most), because the blame runs across the board. But they need to do something quickly, because the Champions League is now three years in the past, and not only will that fail to attract players of the desired quality, but guys like Pjanic, Marquinhos, and even Lamela will begin casting their eye to greener pastures. Flashing a nice new stadium means squat when you're running out a team primed to compete for the final Europa League spot.</p>
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<p>The American regime came in and set about shredding payroll. All the armchair experts in the world can disagree, but a lot of people in sport know what the hell they're doing. Contracts aren't handed out by spinning a wheel and flinging a quill and some papyrus at the lucky winner. Most players have earned those paychecks; not everyone is out there stealing money from dunderhead directors of sport. They make more money because they're better athletes, most often via proof of production. Start cutting it down and you're cutting down on quality. Youth is paid less for a reason - not everything is about the talent so readily visible to the eye. There is a reason why guys like <span>Rodrigo Taddei</span>, the least sexy footballer - in terms of playing style, obviously - on the planet, are brought on to winning teams. Either via intangibles, experience, or the mental attributes everyone seems to overlook as "just things," they are better. Positioning is as much a quality as technical dribbling, and some people get paid on that - especially in tactics-centric Serie A.</p>
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<p>It's the little things which earn the big paychecks, and those little things amount to victories. When you cut payroll, you're cutting quality, and this club has become a reflection of such. None of this should be any surprise. There is always a chance when you gamble with potential on the cheap, and they're paying the price accordingly when they didn't max out their return.</p>
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<p>This is why you buy nice things, damnit.</p>
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<p>That's all for now, because we're all just sitting here awaiting the press conference announcing Zeman's departure or, far less likely, confirmation, in the morning.</p>
https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2013/2/2/3942302/roma-2-cagliari-4-the-dog-pony-show-resurrectedMarten Portoise