Firstly, check it out: Rudi Garcia’s thoughts following Roma’s defeat to Atalanta.
On Wednesday night, AS Roma’s Rudi García will be given one final chance to remain in charge of the Giallorossi. Without a win in four league matches, Roma are in dire straits. Crashing out of first to just one point within a Champions League position, what with a Juventus squad firing on all cylinders behind them, things aren’t looking pretty for the Lupi. Yet again, Roma find themselves in a midseason slump.
The final match of their Champions League group stage set of fixtures is against a BATE Borisov side hungry for glory. Yes, hungry for glory may be the guise AS Roma’s corporate sector desires their club to rally by, but they’ve been anything but of late. Many major publications in Italy are claiming that García faces being sacked if Roma were to lose and fork out the $15,000,000 for reaching the knockout stage. James Pallotta, the President himself, will be visiting from Boston to enjoy the fixture. To make matters worse for the under-performing side, it’s a match at home – surely a riot will break out if they were to lose. Roma’s ultras are not content and have made it very clear by bringing sacks of carrots to the club’s training facility for their “rabbits”.
Frankly, there is a lot of unnecessary pressure on Rudi García. Everyone needs to back off slightly – people tend to forget that he is statistically the greatest manager in AS Roma’s history, for over 100 matches. The real issue is the squad that he has at his disposal; problems are running rampant throughout, from the back to the front line.
Edin Džeko has been dysfunctional up top, lacking the service required to contribute efficiently. With his confidence shattered he’s been terrible in front of goal as of late, missing two sitters in the last fixture against Torino. Roma’s only other natural centre-forward and true leader, the King of Rome, Francesco Totti, has been out indefinitely. Both Sadiq Umar and Edoardo Soleri have impressed for Alberto De Rossi’s Primavera side and have been rightfully at the receiving end of calls to the seniors. The irony in all of this is that Roma loaned out misfiring striker Seydou Doumbia back to the club that they purchased him from, CSKA Moscow, and guess what? He’s bagging goals like no one imagined was possible!
The best wide attacker Roma have is stuck playing defence for the time being, but with injuries up front it’s proving difficult establishing where Alessandro Florenzi slots in best. Mohamed Salah, the most dynamic offensive threat, is out with an injury that he picked up in the Derby della Capitale for several more weeks. What of García’s favourite Gervinho, though? He’s as injury plagued as ever, contributing a mere 21 minutes on Saturday against Torino before being substituted off for Juan Iturbe. Iturbe, oh Iturbe. Costing somewhere between $19-28 million depending on who you talk to, he’s stuck behind Iago Falque on the depth chart.
At the back, García consistently has used Wojciech Szczęsny, despite the many glaring errors he has committed – Morgan De Sanctis, after all, is not getting any younger. Kostas Manolas, Antonio Rüdiger and Lucas Digne are at the opposite end of the spectrum, and it’s been put on display for everyone to see. Every other week it seems that Maicon has succumbed to injury, but has been on form when he does feature. The same cannot be said for the loose cannon that is Vasilis Torosidis – one week the hero, the next the villain. Leandro Castán? He’s just returned from brain surgery. So, it’s sad to say it, but the best defender is a natural attacking midfielder in Alessandro Florenzi.
Then there is the curious case of Miralem Pjanić. One of the longest serving players to feature regularly in the starting eleven, his form of late has been off. Whether it’s a missed pass, a free kick that’s weighted too heavily or just a dejected glare, he is not the Miralem Pjanić of two months ago. Daniele De Rossi is starting to look his age, is slow and often leaves his teammates frustrated. As to why García has not moved him into the central defending position he has excelled at when filling in for others, no one is sure. Seydou Keita is going to be 36 in a month and also looks very much his age. On transfer deadline day, Walter Sabatini made a panic acquisition when he signed William Vainqueur after news broke that Kevin Strootman would have to undergo further surgery (he has been out for nearly two years!). Vainqueur has definitely looked the part of a bit-player.
It isn’t all terrible news, though! Besides being mistaken for a terrorist while on national duty with Belgium, Radja Nainggolan has been vital to Roma and, oftentimes, it appears as though he is the only one playing with heart. He’s constantly sacrificing himself for the benefit of his teammates making difficult challenges, and one has to imagine at some point he will wear himself out. It must be frustrating for him seeing the lack of effort around him, you’d gather. He has a never-say-quit attitude and on a squad short of anything right now, has been the one picking his teammates up by the scruffs of their necks.
Whether the rumours amount to anything or not will be decided on a sure to be eventful Wednesday evening in Rome. After all, would anyone expect anything else from La Magica?
