Claudio Ranieri, Francesco Totti And Roma: Marking Time?
Last season Roma lost their opening two fixtures & sat bottom of Serie A. The extremely talented & innovative Luciano Spalletti resigned & the club appointed Claudio Ranieri to his dream job. The Roman coach did what he was seemingly incapable of elsewhere & inspired his home-town team to an incredible 24 game unbeaten run during which his every move seemed perfect. The final game of that streak was a come-from-behind derby victory over Lazio in which he substituted iconic captain Francesco Totti at halftime.
They ended up atop Serie A, finally looking like a team who could end the spell of dominance Inter have enjoyed for far too long. Yet just when they had done the difficult part of chasing down & overhauling the Nerazzurri they capitulated to Sampdoria &, typically of Ranieri’s career, finished meekly in second place.
Over the summer the Giallorossi were one of Serie A’s least active sides, & this was deemed a good thing. Stability, slight improvements & a good start would surely see the team that did so well last season go one better than 2009-10 this time around. Luca Toni left but was replaced twice over, firstly by Adriano – a brave gamble but one that has a huge (stop sniggering) potential upside, then by Marco Borriello. Surplus to requirements at Milan, the striker arrived in the capital on loan with a forced option to buy, making him effectively a Roma player immediately.
He gives them the focal point & cutting edge in front of goal they lacked, while the club also secured the permenant transfer of Nicolás Burdisso from Inter to ensure solidity in defence. With a cohesive, intelligent squad having grown together this was a side that had all the ingredients at it’s disposal to finally wrestle the crown from their northern rivals.
Yet by the time the two sides faced off in Week Five Roma had lost two & drawn two of their first four games, a nightmare start that saw them once again afoot the Serie A standings. They pulled out an incredible win over Inter however, but the defining moment seemed once again to be the second half substitution of Totti, this time for eventual match winner Mirko Vucinic.
What has quickly become clear this season is that this team is better without their Number Ten in the line-up. With Vucinic, Borriello & the supremely talented Jérémy Menez, Roma look a much more potent force & also have better shape defensively. Behind them Daniele De Rossi provides security & leadership with Matteo Brighi also impressing. Leandro Greco has proved an excellent find but it is David Pizarro who really pulls the strings, his vision & range of passing unsurpassed by almost any player in the league.
In defence the club opted for Ranieri favourite Marco Cassetti over Marco Motta at right back & this is their real weakness. Burdisso, Philippe Mexes & John Arne Riise are all dependable if occasionally liable to make a mistake, but the defence is held together by the excellence of the Brazilian Juan. A truly world class defender, he looks as comfortable in Roma colours as his illustrious predecessor & compatriot Aldair, who’s number was retired by the club. Julio Sergio is a capable shot stopper to round out a seemingly complete team, yet the problems persist both on & off the pitch.
In order to realise their potential Roma must seemingly sever ties – at least from their current status – with two names intrinsically linked to the club, Totti & Sensi. The family which controls Roma sold most of its assets this summer to wipe out the debt of €325 million held by Unicredit, Italy’s biggest bank. This allowed them to create an ad hoc company, 51% controlled by the Sensis’ Italpetroli company & 49% by Unicredit which has now become the vehicle for the sale of the club.
It is hard to decide which is having more impact upon results; waiting for a credible buyer to emerge or a coach strong enough to tell Totti he no longer deserves to start games. With the situation as it is Roma cannot replace Ranieri, nor do they want to, but the affable former Chelsea man is not confident enough to do what is apparently necessary. New ownership seemingly guarantees change throughout a club & Roma will be no different.
Fans of I Lupi must hope it happens quickly, the squad is young & talented, but will not stay together long while underachievement & uncertainty reign. AS Roma could become a much more credible challenger almost overnight once the sale goes through if the right buyer is found. They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but here it may only take as long as a due-diligence check.
Adam Digby writes the Il Tifosi blog and is a regular contributor at Beyond The Pitch
