I'm not convinced the Bradley haters were driven by insecurity. I think it had far more to do with the fact that they didn't/don't have faintest idea what they're looking at when they watch the game ;-).
Most people early on just didnt know where he would play in the squad. You had Totti at ACM, you DeRossi at DM/ACM role and you had a ton of recent wingers brought it in addition to the existing team. Wither Bradley? I don't think MB had a bad game necessarily, he was further up the pitch, expected to create the final pass against a team with 5 back on transition. His touch was a bit off and there was no margin for error. He got behind the defense on the run often and Totti found him in space regularly, he just couldnt make much from it. **I'm kind of ambivalent about Rome...except for the Jewish quarter which I found to be terrific and probably where I would live.
Here are the ratings from La Gazzetta dello Sport for Siena 1-3 Roma: Siena: 5.5 Pegolo: 6.5 Neto: 6.5 (chosen as Siena's best player) Contini: 6 Felipe: 5.5 Sestu: 6 Vergassola: 5.5 Bolzoni: 6.5 Rubin: 5 Rosina: 6 Reginaldo: 4.5 Valiani: 5.5 D’Agostino: 5 Calaiò: 5 Larrondo: N/R Cosmi (coach): 5.5 Roma: 6.5 Goicoechea: 6 Piris: 6 Marquinhos: 6 Castan: 6 Balzaretti: 6 Bradley: 5 Tachtsidis: 6.5 Perrotta: 6.5 Florenzi: 6.5 Pjanic: 6 Totti: 6.5 Destro: 7 (chosen as Roma's best player) Marquinho: N/R Zeman (coach): 6.5 The comment with Bradley's rating: "The weak link in midfield: born to play centrally, he struggles mightily on the outside in a 3-man line. Also because he's not the most mobile and Bolzoni, his opposite, ran twice as much. Was better when Roma went to a 4-4-2 and he was one of the two in the center."
"Professional soccer player in Rome". I'm trying to think of a better quality of life situation to find oneself in ... and I'm not having much success.
Everyone generally falls in love when they come, the only time it turns sour with the people is when rumors/truth start going around when people start talking with Juve and the Milan teams about getting transferred. Then you might get stabbed and def. will get rocks in your face.
I don't know if anyone else hear drops in on the Roma board (as I do occasionally, resisting the temptation to post there). You get a different perspective from a Roma fan than from a Bradley fan, sometimes quite different. They also seem to get their game day threads going a week ahead of each game, so post-game comments often appear in the following game's thread. Bradley posts start here ...