I have to completely disagree at everything you said, and I feel almost the opposite. Taxi is skillfull, he can make a man look foolish with his dribbles( see the Inter game), he isnt that slow, cant remember one time where he was exposed. And to say that heart only gets you so far, he has the rest too! To say that all he has is heart is ridiculous, he has all the talents required to (one day) become a world class player. None other than Zdenek Zeman believed so!
I don't really think it's a big deal. I am not convinced that in a few years time we will be regretting letting go of Tachtsidis. I do think there are some interesting aspects to take away from this entire saga though. For me the most upsetting bit is that Roma moved on Tachtsidis because they told Zeman no on Verratti. At that point Zeman suggested Tachtsidis as a cheap alternative and told the club he felt he could build the player. In this whole situation there are two dynamics worth examining. The first is how bad of a job Walter Sabatini did last summer. I hammered on it all last summer, but the guy spent the bulk of the money on a bench player. Alloting some 2 million for a role that was crucial to the coache's setup. Regardless of whether you like the coach or not this is just plain bad business. It was very obvious before the season even began that the team was badly constructed to play a 4-3-3 and this is just unacceptable. We were destined to fail and no one from the management did anything to lower the fans expectations. Moving back towards the player, the other interesting aspect kind of falls on the often quoted words of Zeman that he would turn him into a champion. The quote which became a weapon used by the media and then the fans. It's a situation that kind of epitomizes how lost we have gotten in Italy with football. Everything is about winning the next match. There is little room for error. You are either strong or you are a "pippa" (loser). There was talk in another thread a few days ago about the Spanish U-21 and why Spain is so successful at the moment and we are not. I kind of feel that this in a way relates to it. We live football like a war only thinking of the next battle. In Spain young players are not discarded after bad games. You can debut in Barca and play an average or bad game and you are not massacred. We have a way of snobing players. "Non e' da Roma" in English: He's not worthy of Roma. And there is a place for some of this, because obviously you have to find that balance between growing a few guys and being competitive. However in Italian football everything leans to an extreme. We are the country of "meglio due feriti che un morto" which means "Better two wounded that one dead." In pursuit of the result we have moved too far away from sport. And this hinders us. It hinders us developing players and it hinders us developing certain type of players. In Italian youth sectors if you have constructive traits dribbling, passing, striking you will go strictly into offensive roles. It you have destructive traits anticipation, marking, tackling you will go strictly into defensive roles. A kid with good passing skills is not going to be tried in defense at an early age. Rather than seeing it as an opportunity build a more complete player, people just see the possible negatives. The kid and his parents worry he could do bad and not get to play again. The coach is only concerned with winning and so on. This is a problem, and when you look at the current crop of Spanish players you can really see it. These guys are developing players that are more complete. You have defenders with great passing skills able to dictate play and to start the attacking maneuver. Meanwhile we our player gets the ball and then has to look for the Pirlo type to lay it off to so he can get things moving. I went a little off topic there but it's something I was dwelling on after the U-21 game. In a way it kind of ties in to Tachtsidis. When he didn't play the first matches like Pirlo he was already a failure and he was never going to recover either. You knew it back in October, the piazza had decided "non e' da Roma."
That attitude is what I've been touching on with criticism of the players, philosophy of the project/the expectations the entire time, DDR. There is no consideration of the big picture. You're either a champion player, or you're shit; there is literally almost no room between the two opinions. There is no understanding that teams (especially young teams) need to grow, and yes, they will make mistakes, but that doesn't mean things are necessarily wrong. It's just part of the process, the way things are.
Excellent post DDR. Taxi for me letting him go was a mistake because he has the raw potential to become a top bracket midfielder. Unfortunately for him he was used as a scapegoat for the DDR saga that unfolded. He would pick out a long pass with ease and follow it up with a short pass that was intercepted. He made mistakes and lacked concentration but that is something that will come with time and experience and his best option was to go away to a less heated environment and develop. He is not the quickest player given his size but he is still quicker than he looks and given his football ability and direct attitude to picking passes I feel he has something alot of midfielders dont have now adays. How often do you watch a game and you see a midfielder looking at that pass but is afraid to risk possession so plays the safe pass that kills the chance. Taxi would more times that not see it and attempt it. This rejection I hope makes him stronger and he goes on to fulfill his massive potential. Even though he did frustrate me at times, he comes across as a really likable big friendly giant. His teammates always had his back and that says alot
How is it not the same thing? De Rossi is Roman and Italian and gets way more attention about his play because of it. If he was Greek would he get less attention. Yup. Its the same thing it all just depends on the player
Winning vs. development is tug of war that happens in all countries in all sports. The Roman media and fans want so desperately to stick it to the North that it breeds expectations like a Serie B player stepping in and running the show after spending a staggering 2 mil on half of said player. The same ridiculous expectations came with the Guberti signing, and everyone thought D'Alessandro was the next coming when he split two Juve players at the end of a 4-1 game.
Everything from his rushed purchase, to Zeman not given the time to nurture him, to the fans turning on him and now him leaving this way is disgusting business really. I wanted him to stay, loaning him out was the appropriate path, losing him is stupid — his skill and grinta were obvious, and he has the vision very few players nowadays have, he just needed to build up the confidence that comes from playing (in a place without the massive pressure of the Stadio Olimpico) but the damage was done a long, long time ago. All that's left to say is, good luck Taxi
100% correct. I think also if he was Brazilian or a slav he would have got an easier ride also. Roma is not the only club with fans who do that. In the UK, certain footballers speak from their passports that they are good players before they even kick a ball. Passports that carry currency in Europe? Croatian, Serb, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Italian etc Passports that make fans like ´heh?´ before they even kick a ball? Greek, Swiss, Belarussian, Lithuanian, Cypriot, Moldovan, Austrian etc..