Season Preview: Roma Opening/Recap To say that Roma disappointed last season would be an understatement, like proclaiming that peanut butter and jelly is a somewhat popular snack amongst children. Claudio Ranieri tried to improve his side from the second place finish of the season prior, but was ultimately sacked amongst a midst of horrible results. The low point included a thrashing in the Champions’ League at the hands of the Shakhtar Donestk and throwing away an astonishing three goal lead [...]

2010 - 11 Recap What a contrast there is between the three newly promoted teams arriving in Serie A this season. Two of them, Atalanta and Siena, make a quick return to Italy’s top-flight after just a season’s absence, the third , Novara, are welcomed back into the peninsula’s premier division for the first time in 55 years . It seemed for much of their previous campaign in Serie B that the club from Piedmont would arrive at Italy’s top [...]

Last year’s campaign saw Roma possess the second worst defensive record of Serie A’s top twelve teams - and worryingly, an inferior concession rate to all but one of the three sides demoted to Serie B. Therefore and understandably, Luis Enrique made buying a keeper his priority and finally secured the services of Dutch giant Maarten Stekelenburg. So will a little Dutch courage help shore up Roma’s porous backline? It is fair comment to suggest that the Giallorossi have struggled [...]

Fittingly, for the first Serie A club to fall under foreign ownership, AS Roma’s willingness to embrace change continues with gusto. An influx of youth and experience from various corners of the globe is creating real fervour amongst tifosi, singling Roma out as one of world football’s teams to watch this season. But amongst the excitement and anticipation, does the existing blend of old and new make for a harmonious camp or is there discord for which further fine tuning [...]

Episode 25, Alex, Julian, and Greg all return for another round of LaMagicast- and it’s edited this time! This pod has somewhat of a sad tone to it- the departures of Jeremy Menez and Mirko Vucinic leave all three hosts wondering what’s next for Roma. Podcast Powered By LaLigaWeekly.com Standard Podcasts: Download

Week 1 & 20 28/08/11 and 29/01/12 Atalanta - Cesena Bologna - Roma Cagliari- Milan Inter- Lecce Lazio - Chievo Napoli - Genoa Novara - Palermo Parma - Catania Siena - Fiorentina Udinese - Juventus Week 2 & 21 11/09/11 and 01/02/12 Catania - Siena Cesena - Napoli Chievo - Novara Fiorentina - Bologna Genoa - Atalanta Juventus - Parma Lecce - Udinese Milan - Lazio Palermo - Inter Roma - Cagliari Week 3 & 22 18/09/11 and 05/02/12 Atalanta [...]

Typical Mirko, it was inevitable wasn’t it? A big game player by design, scoring against one of the titans of modern day English football on the greatest club stage in the world. In fact, nearly every facet of that goal simply oozed of the Montenegrin, an epitome of the way he played. It was his second of the night, and Roma’s third. On a chilly November evening at the Olimpico, everything seemed to be going well for Luciano Spalletti’s side [...]

Youthful exuberance is sweeping through Trigoria. Gone is the wizen Ranieri, replaced by the comparatively fresh-faced Luis Enrique – and accompanying the Spaniard is an armada of talent barely free from adolescence. But while fan’s fervour is reserved for the nineteen year old Erik Lamela, along with Bojan Krcic and Loic Nego at just one year Lamela’s senior, an investment in experience may possibly be Luis Enrique’s shrewdest move of all. The recruitment of Gabriel Heinze at the ripe old [...]

Philippe Mexes is a dirty cheat. He’s a walking red card and a thuggish scumbag; an explosion waiting to happen like that quiet, inevitable interval in between lighting a firecracker and waiting for it to go off. Philippe Mexes is a tremendous defender. Sure, he has a dirty side, but what centerback doesn’t? His expulsions tend to be a bit exaggerated, and what he gives to his team far outweighs his overstated lack of discipline. Loyalty, passion, and aggression are [...]

As Roma welcome new recruits into Giallorosso, fresh speculation about Daniele De Rossi’s future has arisen. So what will this mercato have in store for Roma’s ‘capitano futuro’? Recent press speculation suggests that Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini has designs on Daniele De Rossi, with a sensational salary apparently on the table – a deal which practically doubles the package already being offered by Roma. Much is being made of De Rossi’s contractual position, with just one year of his current [...]

As news broke of Roma’s latest signing, Serie A Weekly turned to Spanish football expert David Cartlidge to find out more about a man replacing Fulham-bound John Arne Riise at left-back for the Giallorossi. Here’s his view; The transition over the years for Spanish players going to Italy and plying their trade has been a one mostly of an underwhelming nature, but a young man from Asturias is looking to add his name to that short list of success stories. [...]

Truth in football is dead. The internet killed it. Well, perhaps maybe not dead. But “truth” as it was once known is seemingly disappearing. It should be a rather simple, black-and-white concept: X is true, therefore Y isn’t. Circumstances can change but what is simply is, simply should be. However, this week in football saw quite a few challenges to such a rigid definition. Take, for example, the case of Erik Lamela. The Argentine is hotly sought at in the [...]