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| "Il calcio a volte è ingiustissimo" |
"Sometimes, football is really unjust". That was the post-match musing of Luis Enrique, who was no doubt as frustrated as anyone with his stuttering Roma side. Two goals from Genoa, against the run of play, meant that Fabio Borini's debut goal (the result of some good work from substitute Marco Boriello) counts for nothing.
But despite watching his team somehow let their dominance slip to defeat against Genoa, the Spaniard declared himself "soddisfatto" – satisfied.
"For the first time, it was the team that I want", said LE, before adding: "I wanted to win, until the last. This is our idea for football. Surely we need to improve but the team played the way I like. We had a great game and we deserved the three points, not only the tie."
The stats suggest he has a point: Roma's possession was at least 63% (the official Lega Serie A figure; as ever with Italy, is not the only figure available. Some fan sites quote as much as 68%) and they managed 16 shots compared to the hosts' tally of nine.
But then, stats can be used to prove pretty much anything ... as we can see if we change the direction of this discussion and use them to prove how wasteful Roma were. Only five of the 16 shots were on target, to Genoa's four. And no one shot more than Fernando Gago (four times), despite the fact he was playing behind Erik Lamela, Borini and Bojan Krkic.
This profligacy should be the main cause for concern at Trigoria. Of Roma's serious rivals, only AC Milan – who beat Parma 4-1 this week and whom Roma will host on Saturday evening at the Stadio Olimpico – had more completed passes: an impressive 77% to Roma's 70%. Napoli and Juventus both secured victories with less possession and fewer successful passes. Juve beat Fiorentina 2-1 with just 55% possession and 67% of their passes completed, while Napoli beat Udinese 2-0 at the San Paolo with two impressive goals, despite completing less than 60% of their 490 passes. So the fact that Roma could not take more advantage of the kind of possession that nearly 490 completed balls allowed them is telling.
The midfield worked well, but the front line as wasteful and the defence wholly culpable for both goals. It was Heinze's incompetence against Rodrigo Palacio that allowed the former Boca man to set up Boško Janković for the first, but Nicolas Burdisso was shaky in defence throughout and typically bad-tempered. It's taken a couple of years, but many fans – and seemingly all of Italy's referees – are now beginning to tire of the Argentine's stroppy attitude to the game. No Serie A footballer was sent off more than Burdisso last season (three times) and only five players got more yellow cards (seven; Palermo's Cesare Bovo got an astonishing 14, or almost one in almost 50% of the games he played). He has built a reputation for illicit tackling and for being aggressive with referees, two traits that help only the opposition.
All that said, it's hardly panic stations just yet. The performance was only frustrating because it was, in parts, so promising. The return of Simon Kjaer from suspension and the inclusion of Juan should offer a much tighter, more level-headed back line and as the attackers get to know one another better and become more comfortable within their roles he goals should come – as long as they keep getting such great support from the midfield.
"We are studying our options,” Luis Enrique said post-match, “but I just want to score more goals than the opponent. I work every day for this and am not change my way [because of the defeat]. In football you can win a game playing defensively – it happened here. But I am convinced that ours is the right way for my team: I saw an excellent attitude, we have always tried to retrieve the ball when it was lost, pressed up. And that's what I want. That's why [the owners] brought me to Rome. If they wanted defensive football, there would be no need of me.”
