True but Chelsea are not the team that won the League last year. Not even top 4 this year and are not an amazing attacking force, Roma are made for them and Barca Kudos i can't argue against them other than to say i truly believe we will give you a much better game than either of the teams mentioned. I honestly hope whoever goes through wins the cup. I think we would definitely beat Madrid and we destroyed Bayenr in pre season although that guarantees nothing. either way Good luck YNWA
Hope you won't let that fool keep you away from posting here in the future. You add a lot to the forum. Do understand that it's often not worth the stress when you deal with idiots that just want to create a bad vibe but our Roma forum is usually an enjoyable discussion with pretty good natured "arguments" for how forums like these can go. Hope to see you back.
Roma's tactics last night - disastrous, but also have to be considered in relation to Serie A's recent regeneration https://t.co/9DEZgsMrB2— Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) April 25, 2018
As brilliant as EDF's approach for the second leg against Barcelona was, I can't help but feel that he really should have known better with his tactics against Liverpool. Shortly after the game, the adrenaline after our lively final minutes still had me, but one day later and I'm absolutely gutted. We've seen this before, haven't we - us trying to "play our own game" and then getting thrashed instead. It really did not look as if EDF had studied or watched Liverpool at all. If Perotti and Strootman are unfit for the second leg, our chances diminish even further. If we could have had Jose Mourinho coach us for one match, I would have loved to have him for yesterday. But the damage is already done.
Yeah, it really was just suicide tactics. Only difference a 4 man backline may have made would be the players being more used to playing it. Regardless of formation, if Kolarov wasn't ready to help left CB on long balls to Salah and our mids were leaving 30 meters of space between them and our backline, it would spell trouble. I think Schick pressuring and then Perrotti entering to run with ball certainly helped. However, biggest help was simply Klopp taking off Salah since he alone and not the rest of Liverpool was pretty much the issue.
Amateur stuff really, he got the basics wrong. Makes me think he just got lucky against Barca. He could've easily adjusted his tactics 30 mins in when it was clear what's happening, but he just let his players suffer for 70 minutes until the score reached 4-0 and the game was over. He was worried about all the wrong things, and missed the most important ones, you don't let your slow defenders face 1 vs 1 with acres of space against the fastest attack in CL.
It looked better. But I definitely think Klopp began to pity us after the fifth goal and we took advantage of that. It was reaching embarrassing levels, and I don't think he wanted to make a team like Roma a complete laughing stock. Which was where it was heading. I mean he took Salah off on a hat trick and brought in the English Matri to replace him.
Trust me, Klopp did not take Salah off because he pitied us. Klopp did not pity us in any way shape or form. I seriously doubt Klopp is that unprofessional. I have been following Liverpool and Klopp's words closely since we drew them. Klopp is fully aware that his team haven't quite secured a top 4 finish in the PL just yet. As such, at 5-0 up Klopp felt he could start to think about the game ahead rather than the tie in hand. Hence the Salah sub. Lets not be naïve, this had nothing to do with pity. I have no doubts Klopp and co are more than a little peeved that they allowed us a glimmer of hope in the 2nd leg. (Not that they're overly concerned either).
Amateurish indeed. The more I think about it, the stronger this thought becomes. Someone mentioned that the Barca game could've been just a fluke. I'd really hate for that to turn out true, but EDF has laid the foundations for exactly that outcome with yesterday's tactical shitshow. I was legitimately terrified with Liverpool's long balls even before half time. I don't pretend to be some expert football analyst, never have, but I'm pretty sure it was obvious what was happening. I thought we had to change something if we want to keep the game in reach. Instead, EDF only changed Under for Schick, which wasn't a bad call, but it also wasn't enough to remedy the situation. We never should have been so naive, that's my biggest regret. I did not expect it. Judging by EDF's post-match comments, I'm not sure what he thinks went wrong. He said something along the lines of "we lost too many one-on-one situations, etc". Well, yes, because we let them have too many one-on-one situations. In fact, De Rossi's comments were more on point, he rightfully acknowledged that Liverpool had simply bypassed our entire midfield with the long balls. It's a pity, really, because we could have had a better result here without the suicidal approach. Now I hear that the fan who got injured is in critical condition. I hope this person can fight through it and make a recovery. Fans get their panties in a bunch every time Pallotta's "a few idiots" comment gets thrown around, but the guy is absolutely right. Those few idiots may now cost us a hefty punishment. I'm reading UEFA may make us play the second leg behind closed doors, and I was supposed to go to the game. This totally stinks.
There's no question in my mind this tie can be made good by the way. I have faith, always, in this teams ability to be an irresistible force. I also know this Liverpool side is not even close to being an immovable object.
Shhh, don't you dare speak badly about Liverpool fans, just look at the halo's hanging over their heads
Roma got themselves a nice shirt sponsor for the semifinals. Does anyone know the specifics? How much was the deal worth?
No the Barca game was not a fluke. Thats just an emotional response in the moment. His post match comments we lost too many one-on-one situations, etc". He is referring to the long ball duels. People have mentioned our slow defence. Well, for defenders I dont think you will see much quicker across the ground than both Juan Jesus or Manolas in a back 3 covering the right and left channels. The only obvious thinking was that between the two of them they have enough speed to cover the direct ball. Either by reading it and being back in a position to be ready for it as it was played before bouncing on the ground or have the pace on the ground to shadow and control them 1v1 when running at them. We seen them lose these 1v1 duels. Thats what he meant and its not out of line with De Rossi's comments who just acknowledged they bypassed the midfield in order to do that. His first mistake was gambling that this system could contain them. Maybe because he wrongly assumed it worked so well against Messi etc. But its a whole different ball game dominating the air against a side that doesnt have a direct ball game v this Liverpool team who thrive on it. Thats ok hes young and human after all, people get it wrong.... BUT his second mistake and the biggest one, more so imo showing a young managers naivety on the big stage was not adjusting sooner as rightly pointed out above...fixed at ht. Contain them much easier in a 4-3-3 with a similar approach to the first Barca game which was the perfect approach for this game. And with all that said, as bad as the tactics were I cant fully get over the 1st and the 3rd goals being given. Who knows the effect that had on the potential scoreline if they didnt count at those times. We could have come out of this game with a narrow lose while being absolutely battered and thinking how lucky we were.
It really did not make a lot of sense taking Salah off. With the way the game was heading, they looked like they were going to go on and score 7, 8, or even 9 goals by the end of the night. The smart thing would have been to continue piling on as many goals as possible in the first leg, and then just play the bench in Rome. We were showing no signs of life before Salah was taken off. And Liverpool have a sizable lead over 5th place. There is a level of respect when it comes to scorelines. Not every team cares, but some do. Given our status as a club, and the stage we were on, I'm sure there's a level of sympathy when the score is becoming that humiliating.
IIRC, our play improved when we switched to 4-3-3, even before Salah went off. That forced the fullbacks to drop back and, suddenly, Liverpool's long balls stopped being so deadly. Go figure. And I must say that I agree 100% with La Magica. EDF should have made the aforementioned switch as soon as HT. Going out for the second half in the same way in which we were getting torn apart in the first was his worst mistake. That being said, I suppose we could look at the situation differently, and be thankful that he made the change at all. A double substitution and change of formation in the middle of the half takes balls. He's only human and he's shown great potential leading a team known mostly for getting thrashed in CL to the semi-finals of CL. 5-2 looks menacing, but it's actually better than losing 3-0. A few incidents going differently and it could have easily been 4-2 or better. For example, the 5th goal was dumb as shit and I have no idea how we let that go in. A comeback is not impossible, but Liverpool are much more direct than Barcelona and I'm concerned that they will eventually catch us on the counter attack. We'll see.
Agree that the lack of a major re-thinking at HT is inexplicable. Di Fra should have mainly just had the fullbacks tuck back a bit along with midfield and stop the half-assed pressing at about the 35' minute mark. It had clearly been resulting in Liverpool running rampant at our backline for over 10 minutes by then. I assume players as experienced at Kolarov, Stroot and Radja could have understood the simple instructions to close the space in behind them a bit.
The worse thing from the defeat, was not the scoreline ( we are expected to be easily beaten in the latter stages of the CL ) - but our Zeman-lover, acting like, yes Zeman; some how sticking to a tactic that clearly was not working and only changing it when the match was lost. That is truly something to worry about in the coming games / seasons. It is like Zeman himself, never a great manager, crappy tactics; but as far as he is concerned losing 10 - 0 will never undermine his believe that he is right. Unfortunetely; our coach's comments about how much he loves Zeman worried me last year and could be coming to haunt us long-term. In the press conference he seemed like someone who is fightining for his job, getting annoyed, telling people to stay at home. Always a sign of a coach who has his back to the wall and little support. Then all he seemed to do on the night, was complain on the side-lines and some how argue with the players. He could be walking on dangerous territory soon. That been said his diva-like attitude is nothing new to managers of Roma - still it is not his fault our American Heroes gave him a squad as pathatic as the French navy.
The thing is, we didn’t really play a high line in the second half, we essentially bypassed the midfield and had Strootman and Nainggolan make runs onto Dzeko. Lovren looked like a lost child and even VVD had trouble. If we can combine Schick and Dzeko using this tactic I think we can pull it off