Look, we lost Benatia. But instead of focusing on the negatives, lets focus on the positives. We already signed his replacement in Manolas and will probably get a 4th CB in Basa, Balanta or other. That right there means our CB depth of Astori, Castan, Manolas and Mr. X is better than last year's Castan, Benatia, Burdisso/Toloi, and Romagnoli. We held onto Pjanic. We signed the bright prospect of Iturbe. Our LB situation is better in Cole/Urby v. Balz/Dodo last year. Our midfield is really deep with Ucan, Paredes and Keita joining De Rossi, Pjanic, Nainggolan and Strootman. And of course, we have Totti. The transfer window isn't closed yet but the first game is this weekend. So where will Roma place in Serie A?
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The midfield is stronger and deeper. We acquired the winger that can mirror Gervinho's contribution on the other side. We kept our depth in attack the same (for now). Huge positives. On the other hand, defence was one of our main strength points last year largely thanks to Benatia who was one of the most consistent best performers in the team. He also provided leadership and character. Whether we will be the same without him remains to be seen but one can't help but feel we will be weaker in the back with him gone. Although we brought in two new fullbacks, in my opinion it remains one of the big weakness of the team. Last year Balza and Maicon had some sort of resurgence that contributed a lot to our insane good form. Now Balza is broken, and Maicon is unfit and unprepared (likely unmotivated too). I had hoped Sabatini will do some magic and get us some reassurance but both Cole and Emanuelson so far proved they are far from that. Additionally, I think the drama of losing Benatia will have some effect on the team morale. Not to mention we created unneeded extra pressure by proclaiming ourselves as the scudetto candidates. Last year we entered the season as huge underdogs with lots to prove. This year we go in as the favorites. And if you know Roma enough, you would know we do much better without big expectations. So in summary: Positives: - Deeper midfield -Completed the attack Negatives: - Weaker defence - Same uninspiring fullback situation - worse psychological state. Prediction: Without Benatia drama I'd say the scudetto. Now I am content if we can keep CL spot secured.
I went Scudetto. Because why the ******** not? We have arguably our best and deepest squad ever. We have Rudi and Juve can't replicate what they did last year with Allegri. Lets go for it!
Benatia's loss is not good but surely Juve losing Conte is a bigger loss, no? The impact of Benatia's absence can be marginalized, even if it will be difficult. I believe in Rudi.
No he is not. But you need to be really optimistic to think selling your best defender and brining in unreliable young replacement from different league in the last week of the market won't have huge consequences. Had Benatia been replaced by Manolas in July I'd say the damage would have potentiality been minimal but not now. You need Manolas to be the next Marcos/Benatia in terms of adaptability and performance to maintain the same level in defence. As much I'd like it to happen, I don't think we can be that lucky to strike gold three times in a row.
We also didn't have CL distraction and now we do. Both Napoli and Juve did well last year while playing very tough CL and EL campaigns. You must factor that in as well.
Juve certainly the strongest up until now, bcoz they kept their 2 best players in Vidal n Pogba. With Shaqiri n other players in the queue to join, they r certainly the favourites. My prediction is till now( may change after transfer window): 1.Juventus 2.Napoli 3.Inter 4.Roma 5.Lazio 6.Fiorentina
i wouldnt write off juve just because they have allegri. he's a competent coach when he has a great team.
What the f is wrong with you people. We're in a far superior position than last season even with CL "distraction"
Think we have maintained the gap to the old lady. We have brought in depth, but our first team is weaker so we will deal with the increase in games but not really push Juve. The only place I think we will close the gap is that the depth will allow us to cover the loss of points we suffered when key players where out last season. The Allegri factor is the biggest unknown.
I think the team has improved, but has it improved enough to cope with Serie A and CL, that we are yet to see. I predict we'll be in the fight for the scudetto but with added pressure this year around. This year will be a big test for Rudi, can he keep the squads' frame of mind in the right place and keep everyone motivated? I think we'll make it to the knockout stages of the CL unless we draw a terrible group. We'll still put a strong fight to anyone I believe. The Scudetto ain't gonna be easy but if the team puts out the same level of quality as last year we can win it.
“I would give up ice creams for a year to win the Scudetto.”-Totti http://www.romanews.us/totti-confident-for-roma-next-season/ Let's do it one last time for our God.
scudetto Roma knows that they are a force and the better team this season, i beleve they will push harder than last season. i hope maicon snaps out of it, manolas to gel with the team quickly and stroots to make a return soon with CL make it to the knockouts