I am sorry, I rarely laugh or make jokes on this forum, but you have taken the biscuit. lolololooloollolloloolooo.... Apologies.
I know you do, you've told me 10 times already but from what I see you're mistaking temporary form for ability. They are not bayern Munich level players on a consistent basis but they are still good players capable of playing for consistent European places in any big league. You cant run through the list of starting players and say they're shit players end off. It's an easy way to claim we're overachieving when you set the bar so unfairly low. These are high level international and future international players we have one our starting 11 and we've had the luxury of starting the same small group consistently which is rare for Roma. Lopez is also a decent keeper but is atrocious with the ball at his feet. Hes made as many important saves in his time here but his mistakes as a keeper will always be the ones hes remembered for.
Yes, I think our squad is being under-sold and the issue of it over-achieveing so far is based largely on the fact that we have struggled to beat teams in the top half of the table. That's a fact we can't deny, but we also drew against Inter, Milan and Juventus, and the last one should have been a victory based on the performance. With Reynolds and SES added to the squad, there's no reason to think that we cannot have a stronger second half of the season, particularly if Pastore stays fit between now and May,
I disagree, I simply think, if you look at our squad it is in some ways light years behind Inter, Juve and co. Our performances against the decent teams not just this season has been dreadful. Atlanta, Lazio and Napoli tearing is to pieces. ... Not able to beat the poorest Juve side in many years, was also proof. I think the quality of Serie A , has also propelled us up to the better places in the table. Let's be honest, teams like Samp, Udinese or Torino are not who they used to be. They used to give us a kicking. If we were in the EPL or Bundesliga, we would be lucky if we were in the top half. We can however; only beat what is in front of us. Fonseca has done that, even with a poor squad, that for me should be acknowledged. As far as I can see Pastore is a lost cause. One of the biggest mistakes Roma ever made.
Jesus wept.....they're not abysmal by a long stretch. Young and occasionally error-prone yes (especially Ibanez). Abysmal? Absolutely not. Kumbulla hasn't seen much game time. Mancini is having a pretty solid season I would have said (though still prone to get silly yellows) . Pau is Pau.....decent shot stopper, OK in the air, but yes can be dodgy with the ball at his feet. Abysmal? No. Smalling is struggling with injuries it seems and has regressed somewhat. Milhouse has done just OK in that position when called upon. Our best CB? Gimme a break. Calling for Fazio to start is a waste of time. We've been trying to offload him for awhile now. We'll be sticking with these guys and rightly so. They all have the potential to be very solid, dependable CBs going forward. You just have to accept that at this stage of their development, there will be some off days (see Lazio). Calling for an overhaul is pure nonsense. Although perhaps GK will be looked at. Mirante is about done and I simply don't know to what extent they rate Fuzato. When we finally manage to move Fazio and JJ on we'll likely look at bringing in another CB of some kind but that's about it. Sorry man, but not your best post.
Suggesting that we should even consider giving up on Mancini, Max and/or Ibanez is lunacy. They are all outstanding for their age. Our defense is our weak point but how much of that is due to tactics? We are statistically one of the best attacking sides in Europe this season, and it’s not due to the sheer individual brilliance of our attackers. We’ve suffered due to individual mistakes but we’re not exactly playing defensive football either, and I’m sure that plays a part in conceding so much. You can’t point at any of our starting defenders and say they are not good enough for Roma.
Ok, but in fairness I said this before the season even started so I'm not simply cherry picking poor performance. I said this because last season our GK was a huge issue and I saw nothing to make me think Pau was going to improve. He is poor with his feet and he's not strong coming out of his net. Throw in his questionable positioning and it doesn't bode well. For me, it's his timid play that spells his doom and I think most of it is because his confidence is shattered. All of our CB, minus Smalling, are young and inexperienced. One thing I know without a doubt with young CB, save a very few elite ones, is they'll make a lot of mistakes. They'll make some great plays but they will make mistakes especially against the better teams with elite players that will cost you goals. I thought Smalling could cover for some of this based on how he played last year but his play has only exacerbated the situation. I said all along there are going to be growing pains with these CBs. Ibanez and Mancini have shown glimpses of being good CBs but they have also made a lot of mistakes. As we have both said most CB don't reach their peak until their late 20s or early 30s, just the nature of that position. There is potential at the CB position for sure but right now they just aren't experienced enough to realistically be a CL caliber group.
We have given up 33 goals this season. You have to go all the way down to Benevento at 12th to find a team that's given up more. Hell, even Parma, Torino and Cagliari who are all battling relegation have given up 38 goals. So yea, I stand by my post, we have been abysmal defensively and it's due to very poor GK and tons of mistakes by our CBs
Ok, I didn't say we should give up on them, not at all. What I said is they are young and young CB make mistakes that will cost you goals. Relying on so many young, inexperienced CBs was always going to mean we were conceding a lot of goals this season. For the record, I'm not suggesting we give up on any of them. I'm merely saying that considering how weak we are at CB(and GK) and still sitting in a CL spot is nothing short of amazing and Fonseca deserves credit for that.
My latest analysis for @ASRomaEN on the crucial win over Verona. https://t.co/D3hZeJBLhX #ASRoma #SerieA— Edward Stratmann (@EdwardStratmann) February 3, 2021
Nice attempt at trying to backtrack there with both this reply and your reply to me @Java65..... Maybe you should read your post again, in which you said straight out, they're abysmal and we need an overhaul. If that's not what you meant, then you shouldn't have typed it.
Until this team can take a result from a big team they're flat track bullies. Nothing more, nothing less. Let's hope they can develop beyond that.
Defensively I think our issues are more in midfield than the back line. Almost none of our midfielders can defend. Which is why we need 3 cb’s to compensate. Any team with a decent midfield just runs through ours with little resistance.
Again, who on earth is Edward Stratmann and why does this poster keep trying to subject us to his propaganda?
#ASRoma will be without Chris Smalling, Pedro Rodriguez and Bryan Reynolds against Juventus, but Stephan El Shaarawy trained partially with the group. https://t.co/JnluldaMcZ#SerieA #Giallorossi #JuventusRoma #SerieATIM pic.twitter.com/eAlGLBJoo6— Football Italia (@footballitalia) February 4, 2021
Rumors that Fonseca will deploy a 352 with a midfield 3 of Cristante-Villar-Veretout, with Miki playing off of Borja.
La formazione ufficiale della #ASRoma (3-5-1-1): Pau Lopez; Mancini, Ibanez, Kumbulla; Karsdorp, Cristante, Villar, Veretout, Spinazzola; Mkhitaryan; Mayoral #JuventusRoma https://t.co/mkQZiR3isF— Pagineromaniste.com (@PagineRomaniste) February 6, 2021 🚨📝 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦:𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗣𝗶𝗿𝗹𝗼'𝘀 #𝗝𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮 𝗫𝗜! ⚪⚫#FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/DY0avaDkP9— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) February 6, 2021