We are in a similar position Juve were in when Conte left. The starting 11 is pretty much set, all we need is a guy to keep the train on the tracks, and we will finish in the top three pretty comfortably. I would be worried if we were heavily rebuilding, but that is not happening. EDF is the perfect manager for the direction we are going. We hired arguably the best spotter of talent in the world, and now we have a coach who has a very strong track record of developing talent. EDF also knows the environment in Rome, and I don't think that can be understated.
Keep the train on tracks in Roma is easier said than done. All it takes is missing on CL again (with Milan and Inter reinforcing heavily) and we are back into chaos and rebuilding again. Juve had a stadium and steady stream of revenues going that act as safety net, we are completely hanged in the air. Our situations can't be any more different.
Also can we please clarify that Monchi rarely if ever signs kids, especially in his later years with Sevilla. He signs undervalued established players and builds teams that win. Monchi philsophy is not growing kids. That was Sabatini's and almost everyone hated him for it.
We missed CL this season and the world did not end. Serie A soon will have its fourth spot back, which we can sleep walk into with this squad. Inter have been strengthening for four years and finished in 7th place last season. Milan could make some noise, however they still finished 24 points behind us last season, and that was without having to deal with mid week games. We are absolutely in the same spot as Juve were in with their squad three years ago. Unless EDF wants to reinvent the wheel and use players out of position, the team is set. And Monchi definitely signs kids as well as established player. Just off the top of my head, both Dani Alvez and Fazio were teenagers when they joined Sevilla.
Spending does not necessarily mean reinforcing. With 4 CL spots it will take something extraordinary for Roma to miss out on CL entirely. Bring on the EDF PDF already!
Offseason blues always brings out the trolls who will run wild here all summer unchecked. No one really wants them here but they'll continue on anyway... and that's fine. On the other hand there was a poster who always kept the board up to date with the latest market news helping make this place churn on in the summer. He was also almost unanimously loved by everyone here but he's banned for life because of a butthurt midget mod who can dish it out but can't take it. Also the irony that when his thoughts do get posted from time to time by others some of those very same mods that oppose him rep him. Hypocrite much? Sad.
No one said anything about the world ending. We are talking about having to shuffle the squad and rebuild. In case you haven't notcied we are once again dismantling the squad that finished 4 points away from scudetto selling at least 2 starter players if not more because we missed CL. If you are happy being in that vicious annoying cycle, then yes EDF is a reasonable choice. But matter of fact we had a chance for the first time in few years to build on our success and aim to build a squad that can win and we are throwing it away adopting a different approach and going into completely different direction. Monchi signings in the last few years: 16/17: 16 players signed only 2 less than 22 (Correa a starter at Samp, and Lenglet a starter at Nancy) 15/16: 14 players signed (zero players less than 22 years, youngest was 25) 14/15: 9 players signed (one only was 22 Kolodziejczak) You got the drift.
I don't think anyone had a problem with Sabatini signing kids, it was just some of the kids he signed and for how much (e.g. gerson). We needed fullbacks and you spend an astronomical sum on an unproven one. The other issue is that why are you signing these kids if you aren't even giving your own a chance? Sabatini's plan was not aligned with that of the coach and that's where a lot of the problems people had I think came from.
Saba plan was to play the lottery with some South American youths every year praying one of the tickets would pay off. That's not developing youth, that's gambling.
Yeah, someone who took Sassuolo from Serie B into Europa League and then had a worse season because the squad was obviously not deep enough for 3 competitions. I understand if you have your doubts because of other reasons but his record with Sassuolo was extraordinary.
I'm on the fence about Di Francesco mainly because it is an unknown how well he can do with a stronger roster. However, I'd also balance any concern about his record at Sassuolo with the fact that they always seemed very well organized/drilled and played a brand of football that fits perfectly with what the Roma squad is built for and has been playing under Spalletti. It's a gamble but certainly not a blind one by any means. Also, I'm not sure that there were many candidates for the job that come anywhere close to equaling Spalletti in terms of being both an elite manager and also having experience with Serie A. So, this hire was almost certainly going to involve some risk. Perhaps the only names I've seen mentioned by fans/media as options had Roma wanted to go the direction of a very established manager are Pellegrini and Blanc? Gasperini and Mancini were mentioned but I'd guess only a few were not happy to see those rumors vanish quickly. There's some like Lucien Farve that may have been options with a bit more success than EDF that also fit stylistically but would also be inexperienced in Serie A. Were there any others that seemed at all realistic? Pellegrini may be the only name that really stands out since I do love his beautifully orchestrated attacking maneuvers and he's somewhat similar to Spalletti in terms of, I think, being a lot better manager than a lot of people credit. ( I'm pretty sure he was the first choice in 2012 to replace Luis Enrique and him turning us down was part of what led to the Zeman hire.) Anyway, while there's no assurance that EDF won't struggle, I'm also not going to trash the hire before I see what he can do, especially since I've always been impressed watching his Sassuolo teams play.
You should keep in mind that Sassuollo is one of the best managed clubs in Italy, they have the most financial support from their owner among smaller clubs(20M sponsorship deal) and have strategic relationships with bigger teams that give them access to their best talents for cheap. Midtable is the normal place for Sassuollo, its not an accomplishment.
I know about their budget but 6th place is a finish above what is expected from them and I'm pretty sure that they would've finished 6th or 7th again if it wasn't for their first half of the season where the participation in the Europa League and really bad luck with injuries took its toll on them.
In my opinion, EDF is way more of a reliable choice than LE, Zeman and R. Garcia were when we hired them. It would've been the best option to continue with Spalletti for another season, but I think he became a slave of his own 'If I don't win, I'll go' words. I believe he was 100% sure he'd coach Juve next season. Right now it's hard to predict how good EDF will do with Roma. I don't think he'll do much worse than Spalletti with the team we have now. With Florenzi and Emerson out, I'm more curious to see how Monchi will do on the market, keeping in mind that Roma has to sell first. How good EDF does depends solely on Monchi's 'magic'
Luciano #Spalletti è il nuovo allenatore dell’Inter 👉 https://t.co/4b6CKQINK4 #InterIsComing #WelcomeLuciano #FCIM pic.twitter.com/NwSqKGZ62o— Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter) June 9, 2017 Official. Merda.
UFFICIALE! Eusebio #DiFrancesco è il nuovo allenatore dell'#ASRoma 👉https://t.co/lyZOSlS9Pi pic.twitter.com/lPQnKvXQ53— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) June 13, 2017