MD3: Milan vs Roma (August 31st, 2018)

Poor game, the plan didn’t work. Fazio is a walking disaster, Manolas isn’t much better. The defence is not as aggressive at closing down opponents as last year.

EDF needs to find balance again.

 

1p would've been fine but the loss really hurts. EDF needs to find out his starting XI and how he has to use the others as soon as possible. This loss was on him because of how we lined up in the first half. So was the game against Atalanta.

 

I just think EDF's too weak to be a great manager, and he'll stick around only because of his ties to Roma. If he had no Roma history and had come over from Ukraine, I think there'd be a big chance of him getting the chop next season - which i don't think will happen.
It's clear as day when a manager fails to get the basics right, and EDF really does, really often.

 

Looks like Monchi has got you. What on earth, is formidable about relegation threatened Torino, an Atalanta C side and Milan team that has been playing like a bunch of losers for years. I think your love for our owners is clouding your judgement.

 

People keep talking about a project. Maybe I am misunderstanding but I don't see a project.
- We got older at GK, it's a real stretch to classify a 29 year old GK as a project.
- Replaced Radja with Pastore... same age.
- Replaced Gonalons/Strootman with a 30 year old N'Zonzi.

On top of that it's clear, if anyone is objective, that even potentially great players like; Under, Kluivert, Coric will be sold.

So what's the project? Flipping players and hoping for a top 4 every year after we sell off key players? That's been the project at Roma forever, it's nothing new. I understand what Roma is, but please don't anyone sell me on the notion that we are building something better at Roma... we are building what we have always been; a club that will float between 2 and 7 selling off key players every year because we have to.

 

I think I'm disagree on this one. I see your point on the sub, but I can live with knowing that you are without Florenzi for the game.

I thought Karsdorp was one of our best performers on the day. He seemed to be the only defender who could break the lines with a pass (Marcano maybe had 1-2 as well). He looked good/confident going forward with the ball. There was definitely some rust, but I was more encouraged by his confidence and his ideas than the rust. He actually tracked back and did work defensively. I'm unsure of the last time I could say the same about Kolarov.

Nobody on Roma deserves a MOTM after that performance. But, Karsdorp was easily one of our best performers on the day.

 

I agree with this. EDF has been extremely frustrating this season in new and bizarre ways. One of the criticisms of him last year was his insistence to stick with a 4-3-3 to a fault. Beyond that we all complained about lack of in game adjustments.

This season he has made in game adjustments that turned the Atalanta game, and got us back into yesterdays game. His insertion of Kluivert and Cristante played a huge role in the Torino win. But the team has not seemed ready or sure of the game plan at the opening whistle in any of the three games. That's an enormous problem and needs to be fixed immediately.

 

While he did show promise, IMO, I can't see him as our best performer. He had some really great balls into the box but defensively... well they were just racing down our right side. If you go back and watch the vast majority of their attacks came down that side.

Again, I think he played ok for a guy who hasn't played for 1.5 years but just looking at the game only he was just as poor as everyone else.

 

This is my thought. Its great EDF is making adjustments. But he is getting it all wrong from the start in 3 straight games. That is worrying. It just doesn’t feel cohesive at all. I wouldn’t panic just yet, even though that is the Roma way, but if we don’t start getting some wins, the season will become derailed before it really had a chance.

 

Player ratings from the major newspapers below. I do find it interesting to look at these and compare it to the general sentiment of board. The consensus of the papers is that Kolarov was our best player, which I can't argue with too much. The other thing I find interesting is that their general opinion seems to be that Fazio and Manolas were not nearly as bad as the general opinion here says (certainly no worse than the rest of the players). It also seems Pastore and N'Zonzi were their least favorite.

At any rate, I just find it interesting to see outside opinions vs. ours.

http://www.forzaroma.info/rassegna-...e-si-perde-per-il-campo-nzonzi-errore-fatale/

 

That's probably fair. I don't think you can say anyone played great when you give up 26 shots. I just feel like he was at least putting in the effort defensively, even if the positional awareness. Hopefully that will come with more game time.

As a for instance when I look at Milan's first goal. That last 30-35 second of buildup that led to it, there isn't anyone besides Karsdorp that made an effort to play the ball. DDR and Nzonzi waltz Milan to the edge of the box. Kolarov is asleep. We know Fazio's issues. Karsdorp was the only player who even attempted to pressure the ball.

Maybe my frustration has me searching too desperately for silver linings, but I saw a lot to build on in his performance.

 

I agree completely. Like you I'm not throwing in the towel on this season but I'm also not guaranteeing that the future will be brighter... maybe it will, maybe it won't.

If you abandon the present for the future, you likely won't have a future because a top 4 is no guarantee and with CL money rest assured there will be major sales again next summer.

My hesitation going into the season was the same as yours.. all the question marks. The one thing I've learned in sports (regardless of which sport) is that some of those questions marks will turn out great for you and some will not. The more of the question marks you have, the more likelihood you have of 1 or 2 failing.

Like I said, given the fact Monchi himself has said everyone is for sale, I just don't see how this "project" is any different, buy low, sell high.

 

I wonder what Fazio's rating would have been without the goal. Or Nzonzi's if his goal stood. Or without that final pass. I know those are all big moments that obviously influenced the game. But man, Fazio was absolutely terrible for at least 70 minutes of the match.

As for Kolarov, I just didn't see what evidently everyone else did yesterday.

 

yea, I think that fair. Like I said, I'm in no way judging this kid after that disaster and certainly not after his first game back from an ACL tear. My only issue with starting him was that going into the match you knew that by the end of the match; Karsdorp, DDR and N'Zonzi would be gassed and you knew that 1 of your 3 subs would have to be Karsdorp.. that takes away a lot of your tactical flexibility. My issue wasn't with Karsdorp, my issue was with EDF starting him and not working him in before he starts.

Honestly for me the best player by a long mile was Cristante. He was fantastic when he came in.

 

I feel like Cristante's performance yesterday was extremely divisive. I've seen some people say he was awful and focused on his turnovers etc. I've seen others say that he steadied the midfield a bit, held possession and created chances. I feel I am somewhere in the middle. But I am very happy that he came in and definitely performed better, had a more positive impact than vs Atalanta.

 

That's why I find it interesting. Just my dime store physiology, I think a lot of posters/writers opinions are skewed by personal bias and group think.

If a board member or writer doesn't care a certain player they probably will seize on any issue to validate their opinion. Same for players that they favor.

I also think opinion is biased as people read and hear others opinions and group-think seems to take hold. If the writers are all sitting together and 1 or 2 start talking about how poorly or great a player is playing that can help form a consensus.

 

- 29 is far from being "old" for a goal keeper.
-radja for Pastore was done very much for tactical reasons in order to resurrect our attack that was for the most part abysmal last season, aside for the contributions from both Dzeko and Under. Radja's off field lifestyle and refusal to change it likely didn't help matters either. If Pastore can settle.in and find his groove then it'll turn out to be the steal of the mercato.

-Nzonzi may be older than Stroot, but he is undoubtedly a player of greater quality. Everyone here has been harping for the longest time about how Stroot has taken a major dip in quality since his string of injuries, so we essentially flipped him (for a good return I might add) and brought in a beast of a replacement.

You're also being highly assumptive that kids like Under and Coric will somehow be sold within the next year or 2. For all we know they will make up the new core of this squad and stick around for st least 5 -6 years. What many people fail to realize is that a lot of departures aren't just because the club is looking to cash in, but also because said players simply WANT OUT (ex. Salah, Pjanic, Mehdi, Alisson).

In the end, people frequently need to be reminded that we simply aren't Juve and we do not have the cash flow to do what they do in any given mercato. At leasr not unless we get new billionaire ownership, or ideally a new stadium. Of course, we could just do what Napoli did last season and go all in for the scudetto, only to fall flat and miss out on valuable CL revenues at the same time..

 

The kid can play. He just needs a few more starts to really get settled in, and for EDF to make up his mind as to what direction he wants to go in tactically.

 

I was pretty skeptical to give Karsdorp the start in such a difficult match to be honest. Starting the kid against a tough Milan team, on the road, after missing over a year of action is a little far reaching imo. That being said, he could've done far worse.

 

yea, like I said he wasn't horrible, certainly no worse than anyone else. I just think knowing you had to sub him limited EDFs ability to make tactical adjustments. Nothing wrong with him at all

 

Yeah, I don't see the point of going over this again.

Just wait. If it's still shit in a couple months, then you'll have plenty of evidence to suggest there's something truly amiss at the club.

A couple minor things I'll add:

- I agree with some here in thinking Karsdorp was actually pretty good. I thought you could clearly see things we've been sorely missing from our RB position for some time. Decision making with the ball being the major one.

- I don't understand why the hell Under or Kluivert didn't play. Some will say the Karsdorp selection caused this by needing to put on Santon , but EDF did sub-on SES. That was the opportunity to bring one of them on- disappointed we didn't see it. SES was never going to make a difference offensively yesterday.

 

Ya burning that sub was a bit of a back breaker in my opinion. We definitely could be used one of Under or JK at that stage of the game . Unless of course EDF was pushing for the draw, which would've been dumb imo.

 

SES actually didn't look bad, in his defense. He was helping out a ton defensively and was actually creating on the offensive, but unfortunately our link up play in the final 3rd was so terrible that it amounted to very little. Dzeko really didn't have one of his finer outing either.

Speaking of Dzeko, I absolutely HATE seeing him and Schick lining up together. I've never been a fan and never will be. At least EDF came out and admitted that that was a mistake on his part and it doesn't work. If there's one thing I respect about EDF it's that he's willing to actually accept accountability for his decisions, and not opt to blame everyone and everything else first. A coach that holds himself accountable will at least be more likely to learn from his mistakes.