A mere week ago, Rudi García, the fearless Roma boss who confessed that he takes full tactical responsibility for the terrible mishaps which led to the crushing 7-1 defeat against Bayern Munich in late October, has spoken out about Juventus. He claims that Roma will not be forced to feel too concerned about Juventus’ lingering top spot position in the Serie A league table; they should not become fixated on the results of others, and quite rightly so.
Juventus Not Enough to Frighten Roma in Scudetto
García appears a reasonable chap, and can clearly determine that Juventus’ infallible technique to get through a game virtually unscathed is something likely to rattle Roma. However, the Roman club’s leader is correct when he states his men should remain only interested in their personal performances.
But what exactly does this mean in terms of the side’s Serie A bid so far? This certainly conjures up the image that Roma will plough on, grappling with and battling opponents, hoping to win, and demonstrating their utmost ability to fulfil this. Of course, García’s words were uttered prior to Roma’s devastating 2-0 loss against Napoli.
During the tenth week of fixtures, Roma and Juventus separated themselves once more, with the latter stealing a 2-0 win against Empoli, whilst the other facing the opposite side of the coin, seizing the less desirable nil portion of Napoli’s 2-0 triumph.
In Roma’s boots, it was all to play for at San Paolo; relying upon the native crowd to gush and support them at Stadio Olimpico has never been Roma’s forte, for they are much stronger, and typically completely reliable on the pitch. Despite this, their spell versus Napoli in fact highlighted their ability to hinge certain elements of a game on the faith they put in veteran Roma boy, Francesco Totti.
Gonzalo Higuaín opened the match with remarkable confidence, bagging a goal within the third minute of play; rather unfortunately for Roma, their campaign at San Paolo had not started particularly fruitfully, and they would have to retaliate with great spirit if to earn themselves some points. At this stage, García’s active drive to push Roma forth without them considering how Juventus are faring might have been straying towards the window.
In a nutshell, for want of a more sporting term, the match was evidently sloppy; Alessandro Florenzi was booked, which might have tipped the vote towards García replacing the 23-year-old in the second half with Juan Iturbe. A slightly younger model (by two years), with much more elegance and pace, and allegedly echoed to be some form of “new Lionel Messi” with similar skills blossoming; Iturbe really is much more than a super sub.
Perhaps the notion of starting the more experienced of players did not serve Mr. García so wonderfully; Iturbe is mighty enough to begin for Roma, he has conveyed that many a time, whilst 23-year-old Mattia Destro’s appearance later on in place of Totti should have come far sooner. This alone could hint at a sniff of dodgy tactical planning from the Frenchman. Paving the way for younger blood began too late against Napoli; perhaps it was a peppering of vigour, stamina and hunger that Roma yearned for and lacked dramatically.
To make matters that bit worse for the relentless second-place holders, José Callejón sunk one into the back of the net as 85 minutes chimed. Roma couldn’t struggle for much longer, and they certainly weren’t about to claw three cheeky goals in just five minutes.
Could things have ended a little differently for Totti and henchmen if they had been hosting the game? Could the events have also steered alternatively had García planned more practically, with youngsters at the helm of his vision?
We can only speculate, but I should think the Roma boss will stand firm in his choose words of last week to focus their energy into their own Serie A efforts, rather than feeling anxious about how well Juventus are racking up points.
I must say, though, it’s definitely a brave slice of information to divulge, especially as jealously and anger can so easily formulate against worthy opponents. However, it’s also entirely sensible; becoming tirelessly bogged down in what others are facing only partitions true attention, and with Roma on 22 points and Juventus just that bit ahead with 25, they need all the assertiveness and concentration they can muster.
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