All the suffering we've endured thus far in the campaign can finally pay off. A victory over the cheating scum Lazio will see us finish off our calendar of terror in style and put us in a good position to keep on Inter's trail until the winter break. I haven't heard anything new on Totti's injury, but I'm certain that he will do everything in his power to be there for this game. Should Totti return to action that I expect Spalletti to use this attacking formation: Totti Vucinic - Perrotta - Mancini Mancini connected extremely well with Cicinho so I expect him to remain on the right until Taddei is a 110%. In case Totti doesn't make it back for the match then I'd like to see Spalletti change some players around to help Mirko out. This in my opinion would be a good basis: Vucinic Perrotta - Pizarro - Mancini Perrotta doesn't get much play in the middle without Totti, so he could be moved over and used in a Taddei type of role as a ball fighter. Pizarro as a trequartista, and Mancini on the right. I'm in pretty high spirits, I think our defensive problems are starting to be resolved. I hope this weekend was a sign that Spalletti has realized that he can't play Mancini and Guily together, something I believe leaves us out of balance. I just feel that he needs to modify the formation a bit to make Vucinic more effective. Lazio is full of problems, they played this weekend with a 45 year old goal keeper, so hopefully we can disgrace them this game. I know they have a bunch of injuries so that will hopefully play into our hands. However it's a derby and I'm sure they will be pumped up to try and obtain a result. We really need to give 110% towards a victory as this match will be the springboard for the rest of the first half of the season. A victory here will keep us next to Inter and give us some confidence knowing we will face the smaller clubs (some of which shouldn't be under estimated).
Roma are on great form after victories against Sporting and Milan, where Lazio have not been on great form this season and all it may take is a derby match to motivate Lazio to turn the season around. On paper, this should be a convincing win for Roma. But we may go into this match with too much confidence and we may slip up. (Like Napoli) But Roma do have to avenge the winless derby matches from last year where we lost and tied Lazio. We need to win as our good friends Inter play Genoa. They will most likely get the victory there so we need to keep up. Hope Totti plays...but if he's still not 100% fit...rest him. It's a long season and we can not risk his health.
Some clips to set the mood...i love these clips!! [youtube]L9gXvfkm5FM[/youtube] [youtube]BnjVmJLvmhs[/youtube]
Spalletti said he wasn't ruling out the option of Vucinic playing striker and Totti as the trequartista.
Ahhhooooooooo!!!!! Allora Regazzi! mo' ve chiedo o a Roma o a Lazio? chi se ritira dalla lotta , e' un gran fijo de na' mignotta!
You got a source Cassano? The closest to that I've heard come out of Spalletti's mouth is playing Vucinic in a trequartista role behind Totti. On another note, it's not looking good for Totti to make his return in this game. He says it's a 60% chance that he won't be playing as he's still in a lot of pain and doesn't want to risk further injury.
Well it's official we're going to have another derby without our capitano! Here are the players selected for the derby: ANTUNES Gabriel BARUSSO Ahmed BERTAGNOLI Julio Sergio BRIGHI Matteo CASSETTI Marco CURCI Gianluca CICINHO DE ROSSI Daniele ESPOSITO Mauro FERRARI Matteo GIULY Ludovic JUAN MANCINI Alessandro MARANGON Alexander MEXES Philippe PANUCCI Christian PERROTTA Simone PIT Adrian PIZARRO David TONETTO Max VUCINIC Mirko I'm expecting more or less the same formation from this weekend. Cicinho definitely deserves a start, and I liked him and Mancini on the right. Hopefully Spalletti continues to not play Giuly and Mancini together as it really throws us off balance. The big thing lingering in my mind is if Spalletti will move Perrotta, without Totti on the pitch his role is greatly diminished. The smart move is to play Pizarro there and either put Perrotta on the left, which could be better than Tonetto. Or put him next to De Rossi, personally I prefer Brighi. Hope to see Roma win this comfortably. Lazio is really lacking confidence right now. If we take an early lead it shouldn't be impossible to break them completely. I want Vucinic to score another one, a double would be even nicer. The guy has the talent, but lacks the confidence ... putting the ball away in this game will go a long way in helping him build that confidence.
Article confirming Totti's absense. Won't be the same withought him, but we still have the quality to win.
Mazzone dopo il derby [youtube]plPZSVpZcHw[/youtube] roma lazio 3-1 carlo zampa (purga!!!) [youtube]Hs78uPcWnKE[/youtube]
Let's hope Roma come into this match with more motivation then Lazio. When it comes to the Derby...it's all about heart and not necessarily the talent on the field. Lazio will probably come out strong with the recent comments by DDR and Vucinic stating that Roma would most likely win.
Probable formation according to Il Romanista: Doni Panucci - Mexes - Juan - Cassetti De Rossi - Pizarro Mancini - Perrotta - Tonetto Vucinic Can't say I'm too pleased, in my opinion it's a no brainer that Pizarro should be playing behind Vucinic instead of Perrotta. I just don't see Vucinic being able to put Perrotta into play the way Totti does, in which case he could be better used next to De Rossi or even try him out on the left.
I'm sure Giuly can't be happy being dropped again...at least Spalletti noticed that Giuly-Mancini do not play well together for some reason.
ItalianMike has a good point about Perrotta. Also, I am not a fan of having Tonetto there. Is it just me, or has he been making hideous passes this season? Even some games the commentators have noticed and commented on his poor passing. I would say move Perrotta to the sidelines . I can't wait for Aquilani to return; with him on the pitch I feel it gives us more possibilities as to our formations and who plays where. Anyway, as long as we play well, and don't get lazy we should handle bussiness out there. FORZA ROMA
Ya, Tonetto hasn't played as he did last season thus far. But didn't Tonetto play MF when he was at Samp?
I won't be able to watch this match live, except for getting text updates from Gazzetta. Wish Roma all the best and let's pray that Vucinic can be our hero for a third game in a row!!! Sempre Forza Roma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
