Me and Stevie Wonder share a superstitious streak. Given what happened after my last post I want to knock it off top spot sharpish. So here is a gratuitous posting about anything other than last night's events in the Manchester area.
It really is the last stand of the old boys tonight. My feeling is that Milan will have to get ahead early because they ran out of steam terribly in the first leg. They need one of their strikers to find some kind of form and then be able to play it on the break. I just hope that Bayern don't rattle the goals in like that English mob.
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8 comments:
Pains me to say it pal but Manchester United were awesome last night although Roma's tactics have to be questioned. Why go for such an open game straight away?
Anyhoo we'll gloss over that and get behind the Rossoneri for tonight.
I think Roma thought they could strike first but, unfortunately, there was no fallback option if they didn't and within the space of five minutes they had been ripped apart...
It was a complete freak game. Tactical naiveity and individual mistakes cost Roma, Roma were the more attacking team but it was a lesson in efficient/fast/direct attacking from Man United which showed Roma's defence up and they couldn't cope. You've got to congratulate Man United for the way they completely destroyed Roma but there's never that much of a gap between the two sides and it just fuels all this nonsense that the British media have said about Serie A and Roma...
Things just seem to go from bad to worse for Calcio fans in the UK, the 2nd side in Serie A being humiliated by an English side is the tip of the ice berg. It really is a bad time right now to be a Calcio fan living in Scotland :(
The freakish thing was that Roma didn't know how to counter Man Utds sheer *speed* of attack. By the end the Roma defense looked punch drunk and out of it. "Leggy" would sum it up.
Hats off to Fletcher (especially) and Carrick. They completely broke up any momentum Roma tried to build in midfield. And, fair play to Roma. They looked like they wanted to take the game to Man Utd from the off. They had to. But as Ginkers said, it was all over within one, five minute spell.
This is a young Man Utd and Sir Alex must be rubbing his hands with anticipation. So must Ronaldo's agent.
I don't know what nonsense the British media have said about Serie 'A' and Roma in particular. I can only assume that it comes from the tabloids. But surely nobody reads the tabloids for *informed* opinion do they ? Better to stick to the broadsheets (some of them employ Italian journalists to comment Serie 'A').
TT.
When you buy shit foreigners in all positions, especially defense, and you're 2nd in the league by 18-20 pts to a team that is only mediocre with 2 Italians max, then you know that Italian football is in the shit.
Thank God Milan are still capable of shining a light in Europe for us, as they showed in Munich, but Roma aren't good enough to compete with the big boys in Europe.
After beating Lyon they started talking about winning the Champions League - because of 1 good result. They are a joke and need to clear out all of their shit like Mexes, Doni, Pizarro, Wilhelmson, even Chivu. These guys aren't good enough to win a Champions League. And the day Totti retires will hopefully be the day that Roma can look to the future and start constructing a talented and solid, world class squad. Unfortunately Aquilani is next in line in the Totti mould, but for all his skill and rabona bullshit he's still a pissweak pansie. I have always said it - give me Del Piero over Totti any day, for Italy and at club level, because he has often rescued his team. I have never liked Totti and I don't believe he is a true leader, he goes missing so often, he's a sulk, his ego is bigger than his ability, he's unintelligent, he can't score free kicks since the coppa Italia final of 3 years ago aganist Milan yet he keeps thinking he's a specialist and so does all of Rome. The Roman mentality is far too cocky and cockiness won't win in Europe. Where was his encouragement of his team mates in Manchester? I didn't see him for 1 second with determination on his face trying to lift his team in the way that Gattuso would do. Totti was the first to drop his head.
I'm embarassed, disappointed, ashamed, demoralised and disillusioned. They gave far too much respect to Man Utd. Panucci, who has won 2 CLs with 2 clubs, always been a pansie, crapped on before the 1st leg about what a great side Man Utd are, showing too much respect for them. We should have won 3-0 in Rome and thought that 2-1 was a good result, but Man Utd played the first leg perfectly, all they did was soak up the pressure and look for the away goal on the counter attack at the right moment. It's all they needed to do. But in Roma's European naivity we believed it was great just to win and that we could play the same way in Manchester, attacking with no plan B and with no second thought, even though Man Utd had shown they were going to play fast on the counter through Ronaldo and Giggs wide. For an Italian team to approach a 2 leg tie in this way is criminal. I don't think our players are capable of reading the direction of a match and adapting to different situations.
Passing and ball control is not up to world class level. Too much time on the ball instead of 1 and 2 touch passing that the top English teams play, too easily diposessed and too many stray passes. We just do not have the players to compete at the highest level, and we need Italians to play the Italian way, slow a game down when needed, like how Milan played in Munich, not foreign mediocrity and hope for the best.
The biggest problem is foreigners who are not world class, not allowing Italian youngsters to come through and become world class, when Roma has one of the best Primavera teams in Italy. Over the 2 legs, English players scored 5/8 goals for Man Utd, and for Roma Italians scored 1/3. Symbolic, I think.
Now Spalletti comes out and says "Roma need to buy". Bullshit. There is no one to buy. Roma can't afford to buy world class quality players in every position. It needs to nurture them and keep them.
- Aussie Romanista
I'll go along with that AR. Give me Del Piero over Totti any day. Totti does tend to go AWOL when the chips are down. Not what you need in a captain. But then, I'm biased. I don't particularly like the culture of the "celebrity" footballer (i.e. Beckham, Totti, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo - the fat one) and to a man they're overated. Also, ditch Mexes, he's *awful*.
Now Rino Gattuso is a Lion. He's all heart.
TT.
Scott
Certainly no Italian team would have gone on to crush its rivals with seven goals, they would have eased up after the fourth went in. It has to be remembered that Italy handicapped itself this year by the Calciopoli verdicts which effectively put our weakest contenders ever in both Champions League and UEFA Cup.
However, money does talk and there is no doubt that the American/Russian takeovers of the Premiership clubs do give them an advantage. Still, here's hoping for old Milan.
Trent
Summed up perfectly. It was the midfield heart which won it for Man Utd, just as it did for Milan last night. I think Roma showed all their inexperience in such big games, unfortunately. To go out was one thing, but to take such a hammering was a sign of total capitulation which a truly great side would never have allowed.
Aussie
I feel your pain. It is exactly the kind of post I would have made if it had been my Viola taking such a pounding. Don't be too harsh on the Giallorossi, though. They lack the squad to compete at the highest level so losing Taddei and Perrotta ripped the heart out of the team. They need to add more quality throughout the side and it would be nice if a good slice of it was of the young Italian variety.
AR says what I felt on Tuesday evening
but I seriously disagree about Mexes who had an awful game but I think is along with De Rossi the reason we don't concede many many more goals, what with our vulnerability to counterattack
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