Great expectations: the season begins with Cagliari

The previous season was not a classic by any means. After a change of coach mid-season, Roma stopped haemorrhaging points and clawed their way back to respectability, and now with some fresh faces, including two high-profile forwards to add flair and fresh ideas to a faltering front line, prospects are good. The coach has settled and much talk about the arrival of new owners fills the air with hope and expectation. Then the first game comes and goes and precious points are dropped against minnows. No longer are Roma the antidote to Milanese dominance, they're a shambles. And there's still 37 games to go.

This is not 2011, it's August 2010.

"Cesena spaventa l'Olimpico" screamed la Gazzetta dello Sport: Cesena scares the Olimpico. They did more than that. To anyone willing to watch, they pealed away the paper that had been thrown over the cracks, showing that Roma was anything but Scudetto material. With six debutants and Roma old-boy Francesco Antonioli in goal, coach Massimo Ficcadenti took on the title favourites and held his own – with a team that had been in Serie C two seasons previous. Experience required to be a success, indeed.

How much has changed since that drab 0-0 against Cesena on the opening day of last season? Well, a lot. But in Rome, the more things change the more they stay the same, and despite an influx of new players, new coaching ideas and new money, many of the same problems linger. The pressure to deliver now is palpable. Last season, the papers here had unanimously installed Roma as the only viable "Anti-Inter", but while this season it's Inter who are the "Anti-Milan", the press and the Roma faithful still expect the Giallorossi to figure heavily. If this doesn't happen right from the get-go, the classical Roman witch hunt will soon follow.

Ficcadenti is coming back to Olimpico – with another Roma old boy in the shape of Daniele Conti, leading his team – this weekend as Cagliari's new coach Can he repeat the trick? A draw in Rome would be a solid opening result for the Sardinians; no question. It would also be a disaster for Roma. An unmitigated disaster.

Daniele Conti: son of Lupi legend Bruno, graduate of the Roma academy and current Cagliari captain

For the new and inexperienced coach it would prove him unsuited to the highest level of the game. For the back-room staff and the new owners, it would make their gamble on such an untested talent look like a foolish one. For the new signings it would be used as a rod with which to beat them, and for the 34-four-year-old captain, it might be evidence that his powers in front of goal are not what they once were. Hard to complain about being benched if you can't score at home against Cagliari.

Of course, a good win would make Luis Enrique into Pep Guardiola version 2.0, allow the owners and technical staff to spend days slapping one another on the back, boost the confidence of the new signings and – should he be the protagonist – prove what everyone in Christendom has always known: Francesco Totti is not finished, he's only just getting started.

After a tedious summer of clubs playing Top-Trumps with their stars, you gotta love the return of fickle, fickle football.

So how will Roma go about this glorious win? Good question.

The likely line-up will be: Stekelenburg, Cassetti, N. Burdisso, Kjaer, J. Angel, Gago, De Rossi, Perrotta/Pjanic, Osvaldo, Totti and Bojan with Curci or Lobont (Eeewwww), Rosi, Heinze, Pjanic/Perrotta, Taddei, Borriello and Caprari or Okaka on the bench.

With Juan still recovering from injury, Kjaer looks set to line up alongside Burdisso, with Gabriele Heinze on the bench for cover. Cicinho is out too, meaning that Enrique will likely start with the veteran Cassetti on the right. With no real competition, Jose Angel is a sure starter at left-back, where hopefully his pace and craft can provide plenty of support to the forwards.

In the midfield, Gago and De Rossi should play beside one another, offering plenty of protection for the central defenders should Angel or even Cassetti go on a probing run forward. After a fine showing with Italy, hopefully De Rossi can do the same for Roma without sacrificing his defensive contribution. Certainly, with so many fresh faces, his experience, composure and confidence will be vital across the park for the start of this season.

Behind the three-pronged attack, Perrotta or Pjanic could start, as Lamela is still injured and likely still needs time to adjust to his surroundings anyway. Perrotta would be the safe bet, but while Pjanic is only back from international duty and hasn't had much time with his teammates, he is a player of real quality (as shown here against Real Madrid) and it would be great to see him at some point in the game.

Up front, Totti and Bojan will surely get the nod, in the start of what is potentially a devastating partnership. With Osvaldo on the right, the forward trio will be fluid and interchangeable, with the Italian roaming freely and creating space for the Argentinian and the Spaniard to exploit. The former Espanyol man will have a lot of convincing to do, especially as it will likely be he who has to fight Marco Borriello – already a fan favourite – for a starting birth over the season.

With only a couple of senior games to his name, it is far too soon to judge local boy Gianluca Caprari – who was born the same year Francesco Totti made his debut: 1993 – but coming on from the bench he might make a difference down the right side in the closing stages of the game. Compared to other Serie A coaches, the spaniard Luis Enrique is far more likely to give Roma's youth a chance, which is no bad thing considering how many of the academy's most recent crop are featuring for la Nazionale in the youth ranks.

So the season begins. Cagliari will be waiting, but for the first time in a long while, at the start of the campaign Roma seem up to the challenge. I can't wait.