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| | Monday 21 April, 2008 | | Blog: Roma’s Achilles' Heel | | Yet again Roma have leapt majestically over hurdles only to trip up on a twig. Susy Campanale wonders what it’ll take for them to win a Scudetto |  |  | | As with almost every cliché, it originally contained a nugget of truth – it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Roma are just not built for the kind of weekly slog against the smaller sides who pack their defences and midfields, hoping for at most a snatched equaliser on the break. Their tactics, manpower and general attitude are to dance around the opposition, leaping from space to space. A brick wall of defending can only lead to a bruised nose.
It would be unfair, though, to single out tactics in this situation. The fact remains that for many years now – ever since the master of the hard slog, Fabio Capello, left – the Giallorossi are psychologically ill-prepared for a League title. If you look at this season’s results, the Scudetto was lost in a 3-0 defeat at Siena and two 1-1 draws with Livorno. That’s seven points right there thrown away against teams in the relegation zone.
Last Saturday’s debacle proves they have learned nothing from all the previous setbacks and we saw the same mistakes over and over again. David Pizarro epitomised Roma’s problem with this sort of game when he attempted a back-heel in his own final third, which was intercepted and created a great chance for Livorno. A few minutes later he did the same thing again and it led to the equaliser. Foolish doesn’t cover it.
Then look at Inter’s performance against Torino. If I were the Coach of the Serie A leaders travelling to a team in the bottom six, I would frankly be embarrassed to field a 4-5-1 system and take off a striker after going 1-0 up. Rarely have I seen such desperate Catenaccio tactics in the modern game among anyone except a relegation struggler scrambling for points.
Embarrassing, yes. Effective? Definitely. The Nerazzurri have perfected the art of winning while playing, as Dejan Stankovic himself put it on Sunday night, “really, really badly.” You need that to take the titles, as you can’t be on sparkling form every week.
This is why Francesco Totti’s injury may be a blessing in disguise. Roma are forced to find a Plan B and a system that can work without their talismanic captain. Luciano Spalletti must occasionally set aside the aesthetics and create a battering ram when his opponents put up that brick wall. He has the summer to consider his options and it goes without saying a centre-forward is sorely needed. Otherwise we’ll be back here making the same observations next season and Pizarro will still be back-heeling the ball on the edge of his own box. |
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It was so obvious that Roma were going to blow it. They are big time bottle-merchants. That’s why it’s so dull when Roma are the team chasing the League leaders, you always know deep down they have absolutely no chance of winning the title.
Simon L.
Since the days I moved to England and began reading Calcio Italia Magazine to improve my English, I have almost always agreed with Susy's words of wisdom. However I must say that you are a little off the mark with this piece. It was only a few weeks ago before their exit in the Champions League, all over Europe journalists were falling head over heels for Roma. They achieved what they have become through evolution, and not revolution. With less money to spend, and a team less strong in depth than inter, Roma were never going to truly challenge this season.
Having said this, I'm convinced they would have pushed Inter even more if they hadn't spent so much energy on the Champions League. Roma shouldn't be criticised for their style of play. Just like Arsenal, they are being criticised for sticking to beautiful football, when they could try and play the long ball to achieve more. But Luciano seems to be determined to achieve through beauty.
Roz Salihiano
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