Olsen along with many other players of the squad really are costing us... will cost us more then 4th this season. EDF acts like his hero Zeman sometimes; but he is honestly only so good as the team. This team is unfortunately a crap team in a crap Serie A. The crap team, thanks almost entirely to our " PSG-Lover".
We have given up 29 goals in 21 games. In the last 15 years there have been only 2 other years with a worse defense (statistically); 2005 and 2012. In 05 we gave up 30 in 21 and in '12 under Zeman we gave up 33 in 21.
There is one change that can make a dramatic impact on the consistency through the team but the pool is limited. A top class ball playing centre back beside Manolas. A leader is installed there and it's a domino effect through the midfield. He starts to organise, he gives the team around him confidence. I said a couple of months ago. It needs to be a player with the same mentality signings like Benatia, Strootman originally brought. Think back to the difference we had on the pitch in that period. The team needs that level of boss and the many issues we see now suddenly become less of an issue.
And last season, under the same manager, we gave up 28. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wasn't really talking about total goals conceded , though. More the mental fragility and capitulation that has plagued this team. Our defense is ass, there's no hiding from that.
oh yea.. that's a staple of Roma. It is amazing the difference from last year, we already given up more goals than all of last year when we were 2nd in the league in goals against... we just couldn't score to save our lives. We can't seem to get any balance. Either our attack is lethal, as it is now, and our defense is trash or it's the opposite, we can't score but our defense is fantastic.
I think a leader at CB would fix some of our issues but, IMO, I think the brains of our CB tandem that year was Castan, not Benatia. Castan was that stable, rock in the back that allowed Benatia to venture forward, break up plays in the MF and start counter attacks. Without Castan Benatia taking those chances become problematic. Not taking anything away from Benatia because he performed his job great, I'm just saying that Castan back there organizing the others, doing the dirty work, allowed Benatia to shine. edit. I do wonder just how different (and better) our defense would be if poor Castan had not had that terrible issue. At 32 he'd still be in his prime for a CB
I dont disagree but you're missing my point a little. It's a Ying and yan thing. I'm just pointing out the type of player we're missing now. Manolas is the Castan comparison He needs a champion beside him to complete the dynamic.
oh yea, fair point. I'm just pointing out Castan because I just think a lot of fans overlook his contribution to that team. As you point out, you need both to have a successful CB pairing.
Roma isn't a provincial side. EDF shouldn't need to put anyone on to keep the pressure. The players we have can do it, they just need a coach with balls and who instructs them to press and attack.
It’s the players who shit the bed not EDF. We were leading 3-0 against a good Atalanta side that tells me we had a good setup.
I would also agree it's beyond the coach to some extent. I don't think EDF does himself a lot of favors with his late game decisions, but some of the errors we've seen this season are kid level. There's a lot of talent in the team but I would kill for a Panucci or a De Sanctis right now.
That's a bit of a stretch IMO. We've only ever played in B once and while our trophy case doesn't exactly sparkle with tons of hardware we've still finished runner up in the league on 14 different occasions. Only Milan and Juve best that. We are also the 2nd best team in the history of the Coppa Italia. Provincial teams come no where close to that.