Compared to the first leg match, Roma e Verona they presented two revolutionized lineups at the start, with only five players starting the return leg who also took to the field from the start in the first leg. One would think that the six who escaped Baroni (Hien, Terracciano, Hongla, Duda, Doig and Ngonge) are worth more than the six non-starters in Roma’s starting list (Mancini, Smalling, Kristensen, Cristante, Zalewski and Belotti) even if for Baroni there were structural losses (fruitful sales) and for From Rossi mostly unpleasant setbacks. The most striking change, however, was that of the bench, with the Ddr-Mou rotation, each with their own personal load to put into the match. Just to clarify a concept, we inform the readers of this column that we will try in every way to resist the temptation to judge one in relation to the other. Compare De Rossi to Mourinho today it is mortifying for Daniele even if we all hope that in thirty years the comparison between the two curricula will be possible. And in any case we have seen too much football to know that each context is different from another. To put it simply, Roma built more against Verona in the first leg and suffered much less of the yellow-blues’ attacks and yet on that very hot 26th August Baroni prevailed, at the end of one of the matches that cost Mourinho the most in terms of of ranking evaluations. We compared the numbers: 9 shots taken on Sunday (of which 2 on target) against 23 in the first leg (of which 7 on target), 12 shots conceded (of which 3 on target) against 5 in August, 62% of ball possession against 72%, 2 corner kicks at 12 and 17 scoring chances certified by the Lega Serie A against 7. That day Roma played particularly well and were very unlucky in the final result.
The risks of the 4-way line
Let’s now try to understand what Daniele De Rossi’s game proposal is because the first sixty minutes of the game were more than enough to glimpse the basic concepts. The starting point is obviously the 4-man defense which guarantees the advantage of a more streamlined approach (with Paredes or one of the two wingers who can remain in line with the two central defenders to guarantee maximum width in the first finishing and sometimes leaves the sensation in the phase of not possession of not filling the area enough on the opponent’s initiatives. In today’s more offensive football, with many teams bringing many players into the penalty area in the finishing phase, it can be risky to defend with 4 men if you don’t have midfielders ready to insert themselves in the area in the protection mechanisms or wingers unwilling to follow the opponents in the long retreat areas. And Roma, for example, on Dybala’s side risks being left a little exposed, despite the Argentine’s good will to shield at least the passing lines on the left back of Verona Cabal when they set up the central defenders.
The new movements
Another aspect continuously sought was the low verticalization from the defenders to Lukaku or from the wingers from outside to inside the pitch with immediate crescent movement of the players in the ball area to resume the immediate discharge and spread it onto the full-backs or onto new combinations in the narrow area. This highly sought-after movement has many times freed the man in tow with free spaces to reoccupy. Thus were born the various occasions that amazed many fans, ready to ask themselves why players who appeared limp and unimaginative in the past had such creativity. The question, however, is simple: there are small movements, studied rotations, stimulated overlaps which, when appropriately trained, guarantee continuous solutions. However, they do not guarantee victories and this is the reason why Mourinho doesn’t believe in them very much and evidently prefers to train other aspects more.
The drop in the last half hour
What happened in the last 30 minutes instead? In our opinion, there are essentially three factors that determined the decline. The first is the exit of Dybala, the true champion of this team, the player who alone changes the inertia of a match, the one who with the ball at his feet is able to invent the goals, the assist, the an unthinkable plot capable of changing the meaning of a comparison. It was the problem that affected Mourinho the most, especially this season: without the Argentine the quality of the game faded in such a worrying way that it was considered that the psychological reflex was superior to the technical deficiency that had arisen. And here we are at the second aspect that must be considered: a bit like what happened to Roma when Francesco Totti passed away, there is the feeling that when Dybala leaves the pitch the team not only no longer finds its technical point of reference, but from from a mental point of view he begins to convince himself that he won’t make it and this sort of depressive state transforms over time into a real fear of winning that blocks his minds, muscles and plays. Furthermore, this factor influences the opponents who suddenly no longer seem to suffer from Roma’s competitive arrogance but perceive their difficulty in a sort of virtuous circle which slowly leads to the reversal of the forces on the pitch. It had happened in a plastic way against Fiorentina, on Saturday in some way the same phenomenon was felt. Finally, there is one last consideration that must be made and that concerns the precariousness of the team from an athletic point of view. The tour de force which culminated with Mourinho’s dismissal also left its mark on the muscles of the Giallorossi and in the second half, apart from the players who reported physical problems such as Spinazzola and Dybala, there was a real decline in athleticism which did not it allowed the harmonious development of the plays with which Roma managed to appear in Montipò’s direction several times in the first half. Daniele De Rossi in the locker room took on part of the responsibility, citing as a mitigating factor the hard athletic work carried out in the days preceding Trigoria by his staff. Anything could happen, but there is no doubt that from an athletic point of view, a further effort is needed to improve the general state of the team. Even more so if you change the way of playing and focus more on the speed of the maneuver, it is essential that the players are supported by a perfect athletic condition. Daniele will have to work on this too.
