Dude, what are you talking about? I haven’t really rooted for Juve in over 13 years! That was mostly because they were in Serie B and wanted them back in the Serie A but only on a competitive front. As a matter of fact, I actually stopped rooting for them when Lippi gave Roby Baggio the shaft for ADP who I never cared for. I'm glad they lost to Atalanta that way someone else and/or an underdog will win something for a change.
"I'm hard pressed on my right, my center is giving way, situation excellent - I'm attacking!" Some people would forever have their noses transformed into the shape of Moronchi's arsehole. Ah, humanity, where have we gone so wrong!
I'm torn. Part of me thinks, at this point you might as well let him finish the year. The other side says maybe a change will give us a short term boost and help qualify for the CL. If we miss the CL it could get real ugly in the summer.
I say we keep him until it's beyond clear we just can't continue with him. I actually like EDF quite a bit and I want there to be continuity at Roma. I also hate like half the roster , so there's that.
I think he stays if Roma gets at least a point against ACM, I don't see the point in sacking him now only a point out of 4th and with a winnable CL round coming up in less than 2 weeks. The schedule isn't too daunting for the next month, if EDF can navigate through it and remain in the race for 4th and have a good chance to advance in CL, there isn't much reason to fire him. But this is Roma so who knows...
An opinion based on historical data and was subsequently supported by multiple evidence from the present is not a line in the sand. An opinion that is NOT supported by historical data and evidence from the present, and only based on best case scenario and wishful thinking.. well is wishful thinking. At his time in Roma, EDF showed no tactical maturity or growth, just like before when he was fired by 3 Serie B clubs and Sassuolo. At Sassuolo he threw away big leads and lost by big margins and was one trick pony. Yet, everyone is acting surprised now that he is throwing away big leads, losing by big margins and being a one trick pony.. ha! Monchi might have done great things at Sevilla, but since he left his comfort zone his decisions have been baffling to say the least and are not consistent in any shape or form with what he did at Sevilla. It has been more than 16 months of lost identity, baffling off and on the field decisions, obvious decline and chaos. Insanity is repeating the same actions expecting different results.
"But hey Sabatini did not buy defenders." Fair enough. Monchi went into the season with grandpa Kolarov, a kid with zero official minutes and broken knee for LB. He sold Emerson and replaced him with an average guy (Silva) with another broken knee who couldn't get more than one game. He also spent 18 mil on a kid with a broken knee, who broke it again, yet he still thought he and Florenzi were more than enough to compete in 3 fronts. Don't ********ing even get me started with 9.5 mil for freaking Santon! But hey don't complain he is MonchiMagic! "Sabatini wasted money on kids" Fair enough. Monchi spent 13 mil on Fuzato, Coric and Bianda when the starting 11 is full of holes. "But Monchi is building for the future" Oh is that why he paid 25 mil for 29 year old broken Pastore? 25 mil for Nzonzi who was 30 last month? "Sabatini wasted money on deadweight" Moreno. Gonalons. Marcano. Santono. Jonathan Silva. Mirante. Heck.. at this point you can throw in Pastore too. "Iturbe" Schick. EVERY. SINGLE. COMPLAINT. about Sabatini, Monchi has done the same or worse in his 16 months here. Stop the hypocrisy please.
I can stand by much of what Monchi has done, but the two things that don't make sense is ignoring the defense & the purchase of Pastore/Nzonzi. With the financial situation we've been in, it makes almost no sense to buy two aging players with little re-sale value. At least if you purchase Ziyech or Barrios (just an example), they still have time to turn it around or get you a return. The only time you would do something like this is if you're challenging for the title, which we're clearly not. I'm willing to take bets on what kind of loss we end up taking with Pastore.
Just to add.. I actually like Nzonzi and think he's a good fit. I'm just curious about the thought process there.
This all may be a moot point. I've seen a couple things that make the stadium more unlikely and I'd be surprised if Pallotta still owns the club this time next year.
They weren't all free transfers, I believe the only one that was free was Marcano. I do believe that Moreno, Gonalons and Mirante were all under 5 mil. Silva was a loan and Santon was about 9 mil. None of them a lot of money but technically not free
Moreno: 6 mil fee; 1.5 mil year salary Marcano: free; 1.5 mi/year Gonalons: 5 mil fee; 2 mil/year Mirante: 4 mil; 1 mil/year Santon: 9.5 mil; 1.3 mil/year This is a total 32 mil expenses on fringe players that went into the balance sheets. We sold Paredes for 22 mil and Emerson for 20 mil because we wanted to balance that very same balance sheet. Source: Transfermarkt.com and Gazzetta
Are we still calling EDF a one trick pony even though we can't use all the 4-3-3 memes anymore? Every coach has a preferred system, EDF has left that system to get the most out of the roster available. It was obvious to most when signed that Pastore wouldn't work as a mezzala. He went with it for a few games and ditched it. He's come to realize with his group of midfielders that the 4-2-3-1 is probably best suited to get the most attacking talent on the field at once. Last season we essentially had all attacks coming down the left wing with Kolarov or Perrotti as our only effective creative forces (I use creativity loosely when speaking of Kolarov). Our midfield offered nothing. This season it's a more balanced attack coming centrally through Pellegrini and at times Zaniolo as well as the wings. Defensively I agree we still have an issue. I hate the reliance on Kolarov and Florenzi to be part of the attack because they offer so little defensively. It was mentioned here or another how they play too narrow and allow crosses in at will, and I agree and it infuriates me. But honestly, I believe that this teams defensive issues this year mostly show how much this team misses De Rossi (which yes, is problematic at this stage in his career). Sometimes we shut up shop too easily, but I hardly believe that the strategy EDF is imparting from the bench is "Alexander and Stephen, jog leisurely alongside the attacker with the ball and usher him into a prime attacking position." At some point the players need to show some grinta. I get the frustration with EDF especially given the results, but I think the one trick pony line is unfair at this point.
One trick pony also applies to a coach who cannot master a different functioning approach beyond what he knows. EDF changed to 352 and got embarrassed by Klopp. Changed to 4213, which somehow fixed the attack and ruined the defence. Trial and error approach.
Moreno was brought in at 5.7 and sold for 6, that’s a wash Pareses was sold (23 mil) well before any of these players (besides Gonalons) were brought in, so I’m not sure how his sale is related And 3 of the players listed are still on the roster, players cost money, if it wasn’t those 3 players it would have been 3 others that would have cost somewhere in the same neighborhood What is great is that the profits from a sale of Zaniolo will cover all these and then some
Sure- using the same logic why did we complain about Sabatini wasting money signing fringe players then?
Low hanging fruit, confirmation bias Every DS in football has bad buys and good buys, Walter wasn’t the best DS, he wasn’t the worst. He had 7? Years, most of them with Totti still being very effective and a focal point for the sqaud and won almost nothing. Some people see that as a failure and focus on his deficiencies Same with Monchi, the team isn’t performing well so all people can see is the mistakes (potentially) he has made
To be fair Sabatini was hired in the summer of 2011 and fired in May of 2017 so he really had 5 summer transfers. Second, while he did have Totti, Totti was 34 or 35 when Saba took over, waaaaaaay at the end of his career. Third, Walter took over when JP took over an the club was near bankruptcy. All that said, yea, it was time for Walter to go. Also, while Monchi has made some big mistakes it's only been 2 summers and I always cut them some slack on the first one because there is no way a new DS can really know the squad after a few months. Monchi is also getting familiar with a new league and how nuances of Serie A play. It appears Pallotta has given Monchi a free hand to run build the squad and hire a coach and I'm all for giving him at least 3 years to see if there is a concrete plan or not.
People were also saying Prade was a genius 200 IQ 5D underwater speed chess grand master compared to Sabatini when he was our DS. At the end of the day none of them managed to put together a winning side.