The Expert: Has Dzeko really turned a corner at Roma?
"I don't know what you're talking about," Daniele De Rossi insisted. The "fiery" manner in which he celebrated Edin Dzeko's goal against Inter, pointing at the name on the back of the striker's shirt and shouting at the crowd at the Olimpico, had left fans with the impression he was having a go at them. "You can't really understand what I said [from the pictures]," De Rossi observed. "I can't even remember." Then, all of a sudden, it came to him. "I was telling the fans to go and buy Dzeko's shirt... in Bosnian," he joked.
Whatever the truth of the matter, the incident served to demonstrate just how much Dzeko's teammates care for him and want him to do well. Clearly he is not a player they are tired of and frustrated by. On the contrary, the heartfelt solidarity expressed not just by De Rossi but the rest of the team was moving. As De Rossi reminded everybody, Dzeko has come in for a lot of criticism since his arrival in the capital from sections of the press and Roma's fanbase - "a lot of it unmotivated."
Some compared him with Darko Pančev, the Red Star Belgrade striker signed by Inter after his part in their European Cup triumph in Bari in 1991. Known as the Cobra, the Macedonian soon got the nickname the Grass Snake for the lack of concern he caused opposition defenders at San Siro. With Dzeko, it's unfortunate that his surname rhymes with the Italian for 'Blind'. As such, it didn't take long considering some of the chances he missed last season, particularly the one against Palermo, for him to get the sobriquet Edin Cieco.
Bought for €15m from Manchester City, he was one of the biggest disappointments of last season in Serie A and that's despite scoring as Roma beat Juventus and won both derbies against Lazio. At one stage Dzeko went 17 league games without a goal from open play and even including penalties, there was a drought over the winter that lasted almost 12 hours in Serie A.
It wasn't easy for anyone towards the end of the Garcia era. The team was dysfunctional and short on confidence after morale sapping defeats to Barcelona and Spezia. Fitness levels weren't what they should have been. There was little collective endeavour. The service to Dzeko was poor. Gervinho and Mohamed Salah were too selfish and when they did cross the ball it wasn't to Dzeko's strengths. Roma didn't use him correctly.
All that was supposed to get better upon the return of Luciano Spalletti and, generally, it did. Roma ended the second half of last season as the league's top scorers. Their points-per-game average under Spalletti was in line with what you would expect from title winners. The trouble was Dzeko started seven of the last 10 league games on the bench and people were seriously beginning to wonder if he had a future at the club.
Dzeko sulked after his substitution against Frosinone at the end of January and, in reaction, Spalletti decided to play a little game. He gave every player a piece of paper and asked who they thought should be in the starting XI. Practically all of them were different and this made his point for him. If he could play 18 players he would. But he couldn't. He could only pick 11 so stop complaining and get to work.
Before a match against Udinese in March, Spalletti left no one under any illusion about where he now stood with Dzeko, whose playing time had been reduced to 11 minutes against Empoli and four minutes against Fiorentina. "I expect him to be so wound up that he comes and begs me to have his shirt back." Dzeko ended up finding the back of the net in a 2-1 win and it wasn't without irony. He played less than under Garcia but scored more.
His problem now was twofold. Whenever Dzeko did play, he was keeping a fit again Francesco Totti out of the side, which made fans impatient and must have ratcheted up the pressure to perform. Roma's preference was also for an attack with no reference points - classic Spalletti - and Stephan El Shaarawy, Diego Perotti and Salah combined to great effect.
Viewed by the media as non-essential, Dzeko was a luxury and an expensive one at that, taking home €4.5m a year until 2020. "I would get rid of him," Vincent Candela made clear. "Roma have to buy a player like Batistuta, a bomber, a decisive player in front of goal. I wouldn't give Dzeko another chance because Roma can't afford to wait any longer. The time has come to win."
The club, however, was never going to recoup their initial investment on the back of his performances last season and would struggle to find anyone willing to take on his wages unless he was willing to follow Gervinho to China. It was in Roma's interests for Dzeko to come good. The goal he scored against Inter before the international break was his fifth in seven games in Serie A this season. It took Dzeko 21 appearances to reach the same number last term. You have to go back four years to find him making as prolific a start to a campaign. WhoScored consider him the MVP of the season so far in Serie A with an average rating of 8.02.
The question is: has Dzeko really turned a corner? What stands out is the number of shots he has taken this season [40]. To put that into some perspective, Mauro Icardi, his nearest rival in Serie A, has attempted [26]. There are a few snap judgements to make from this figure. First, credit to Dzeko. He seems better adjusted to Serie A after a year in the league and the marginal gains derived from following a new diet and seeing a sports psychologist appear to be having an effect.
Break his shots down further and a picture of a complete player is revealed: 19 were with Dzeko's right foot, 12 with his left and 9 with his head. The next conclusion to draw is that this team is creating an absurd number of chances for its player. Even so, Dzeko still seems to need at least two or three of them to find his aim.
His opener against Inter was the first time he has scored with his first attempt since the derby back in April. Contrast that with the other top strikers in the league, but particularly Carlos Bacca who scored 12 of his 18 goals last season with his first shot on target and three of six this season, and one wonders what a more merciless centre-forward might achieve up front for Roma. Going by their conversion rates this season, if you extrapolate Higuain's [29%], he would have scored more than double the goals Dzeko [12.5%] has with the chances he's had in the capital. Icardi [24%] might also be in double figures already if he were a Roma player. Dzeko doesn't quite have their ruthlessness.
A Gentle Giant, Spalletti would like to see Dzeko be more like Mag the Mighty during the Battle of Castle Black, picking up defenders and throwing them out the way. No one should be allowed to get between him and the goal. "Considering the physicality he's got, he sometimes isn't as ferocious as he could be. He lacks ferociousness in some moments." If Mr Nice were to develop a mean streak, there is no reason why Dzeko couldn't be Capocannoniere in May.
Will Dzeko continue to prove his critics wrong in Serie A this season? Let us know in the comments below
