**Di Francesco & the Ghost of Zeman**

Strootman played cdm in a pinch for Garcia. Not sure if that was to his credit or a condemnation of Bradley at the time. Maybe some of both. I see him being a decent cdm down the line. It's clearly not a 17/18 plan with DDR and Gonalons holding down that spot.

 

Well yeah, hes obviously not going to have the awareness of a player with the experience and quality of DDR in the position in a handful of games.
I think Strootman spends the rest of him career here, well at least the years that are relevant. He does has the brain to adapt and learn and I believe we'll get to see that in a few years.

 

Just saw this. EDF doesn't ask the striker to drop deep, he asks the wingers to do that, hence why the midfielders move to the wings. The striker is supposed to attack space and receive the ball behind defenders, which I'm not sure Dzeko will be able to on a regular basis. He does ask the 3 forwards to do a bit of rotation though, which is normal.

What you saw in the friendlies of Dzeko dropping deep was not by design, this is Dzeko getting frustrated by lack of service. When the midfield is dysfunctional and cannot deliver good balls to the striker, its normal he will drop deep and try to be involved.

 

I have confidence that EDF is tactically flexible enough to change his approach given his resources at Roma. What he did at Sass he did because of the personal available. We saw Spalletti move to 3 in the back and do so successfully.

There are going to be growing pains as EDF gets used to the players and their capabilities. Hopefully, he isn't rigid in his tactics and adjusts. Does anyone remember the struggle Juve had in Allegri's first few months?

 

You know who would enjoy coaching the current Roma squad? Klopp. Seems like his counter pressing style is suitable for the current squad, only missing a hard working RW.

We were never able to adopt a high press system before because of Totti(with the exception of last year), but maybe now we can. As Klopp would say, counter pressing is better than any playmaker, Ninja and Strootman should strive in a system like that.

Lets hope EDF has a trick or 2 in his sleeve.

 

I don't understand "Wingers dropping deep hence why midfielders move to the wings". What's the correlation? The way I saw it the midfielders moved to the side to create a some sort of triangle with the FB and wingers on that side. With the midfielder and winger on the the other side pushing inside the box and attacking spaces. Not sure if that was exactly what EDF did at Sassuolo but that's certainly how we looked in pre-season

 

Here Biondini (the CM) didn't push forward, instead just moved to the side to complete the triangle. That's exactly what I saw from Strootman and Nainggolan when the attack came from their side, with the other CM on the other side pushing into the space in the box. I certainly didn't see either of them push forward on the wing.

P.S
Nainggolan is completely wasted in this set up.

 

Yes it doesn't make sense. That's why I asked. But maybe I misunderstood what @Salmeen10 means? What I saw was one CM moves to the side and the other CM on the other side of attack pushes forward.


For example: When the attack comes from the left- Strootman goes to the left side, Kolarov pushes forward, while Perotti opens space inside the box if it is a quick a counter or drops deep to complete a triangle with Kolarov/Strootman if it is a slow build up. Under (the RW) attacks the near post while Ninja (the other CM) attacks the far post. (just in the formation I posted above)

Here's an example from our game with Sassuolo last season to illustrate that movement:


Defrel (ST) dropping deep to open space for Politano (RW) to attack the near post and Pellegrini (RCM) to attack the far post.

 

Strootman is acting as a cover for kolarov? Defensively it makes sense, no? Nianggolan is pushing. On the opposite side it works in reverse with nianggolan acting as a cover and strootman pushing on.

 

Yes it makes sense that way- but not how @Salmeen10 described it (at least to me)

The main issue with that is the over reliance on the wings and lack of versatility in build up play. There is no presence and limited creativity from the CMs in the middle in the park. Strootman and Nainggolan are reduced to secondary roles (whether it is covering for attacking fullback or making simple runs behind the defence) when they are the best on the field and the formation should work to utilize them to full effect.

 

In theory the faster direct attacking play leaves less of a need for creativity from the centre. Nianggolan and strootman making alternating attacking runs should work, it suits both their qualities. I know it's going to be a little rough initially at least... hopefully it can improve. I said a while back us being a success will rely on those two working together. Yes we'll rely on the wings but here is the critical area...As they learn the basic movements they can work on different combinations so they're just not making the same run every time. It will be a work in progress.

 

The vertical attacking moves that EDF wants to implement work well if you are facing a team that is interested in playing football and leaving spaces. In Serie A, 80% of the time Roma play against parked buses. As we have seen from Garcia days, once Serie A coaches realized his obsession with wing play it was easy to break Roma's attacking routine.

That faster vertical football works well for a team of Sassuolo size. At Roma, EDF will face situations were he has to figure out a way of slowly building up using various approaches beside his wing routine. And in these situations Strootman and Nainggolan has to be incorporated in the middle of the park and around the box.

 

No doubt he will have to evolve as he ages, Im willing to give him his chances. You're correct to say its a different story tactically for the bigger sides but the best way around a parked bus will always be getting in behind from the wings. Its entirely possible we will have two basic rhythms, his go to quick counter to the wings when its on and a possession style when its not.
What we have in Perotti is a player who can function in both but becomes even more critical in the slower possession base build up. This is a player Garcia didnt have, one who can help open it up when the quick attack doesn't work. We may still get our guy for the right wing to also be able to do the same on that wing. Im optimistic it will work once they get settled.

 

I hope so. But parts of me believe he lacks the tactical maturity and experience to develop a team with two different styles to switch between depending on the opponent dynamics. And to be fair few coaches can do that.

Just like his mentor Zeman, he has no interest in possession based football. He said in an interview "I always tell my boys, two passes sideways is way too many"

 

Average position from Udinese game. Very close to the diagram above

 

Ses and Perotti switched sides between halves, thats why their average position looks like that. Look at other matches diagrams for better representation.

 

So far we are ahead of where we were at the same time last year with one match delayed.

 

That Inter game was tough too. We could have / should have been up 2-0 or 3-0 at half.

 

Its starting to click with the guys, excited for how the rest of the season plays out.

Love how much youth integration we've had this year. Screw you Spalletti, cant wait for Inter to collapse.

 

I found this article rather interesting and thinks it dispels the myth that EDF is just a Zeman clone only capable of playing certain tactics. It shows how Roma have adjusted how high a line Roma have played against various teams and how EDF adjusts depending on who is playing at CB and who the opponent is.

Against Benevento our defense averaged a 56 meters from goal, against ACM it was only 46.7. I think EDF learned from the Inter match and adjusts depending on who Manolas CB partner is.

http://www.forzaroma.info/rassegna-stampa/il-messaggero/roma-si-sale-in-alto-con-la-difesa-bassa/

 

Well, the DDR comment comparing him to Zeman and the fact the squad wasn't gelling was giving me Zeman flashbacks. Thankfully that was short lived.

 

Well to be fair, EDF is the one who associated himself with Zeman a couple of years ago.