Team Focus: Change of Tack Sees Direct Roma Re-emerge in Race for Second
Paulo Roberto Falcao was crowned the Eighth King of Rome in 1983. Leading Roma to only their second ever Scudetto was behind his ascension to a throne that had been vacant since 509 BC. There has never been a succession. But the title has passed on. It is one of the nicknames Francesco Totti goes by and as a true Roman no one has a more legitimate claim to it than Roma’s greatest ever player. However, at the end of last season, statistically their best ever in Serie A even if the team did finish runners’ up, coach Rudi Garcia was spoken of in the same regal terms.
A year later he has instead assumed the guise of the Prince, the eponymous subject of Niccolò Macchiavelli’s 16th century treatise on cunning and expediency. Garcia appeared to acknowledge very early in this season, particularly after the injustice of a 3-2 defeat to Juventus in October, that it was time to change approach at least in the message he wished to send. From now on he would deal not in poetry, but prose. The campaign was entering another phase, a charm offensive replaced by Realpolitik.
Garcia became less Jedi, more Dark side. He cast aspersions on Juventus and their success. He put pressure on referees. Things got a little dirty. The gloves were off. In the meantime, Roma’s style of play remained unaltered. Comparisons could still be made with Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar winning film ‘The Great Beauty’. Since the end of November, however, it has got ugly.
Hubris, the unbearable weight of expectation, mounting injuries, mental knocks to go with the physical ones, errors of judgement in the transfer market and an anaemic attack were the environmental factors that provoked a perfect storm. Souring the atmosphere, the enthusiasm around Roma began to fade. The skies looked like they would never clear and depression set in.
Twelve points ahead of Lazio at the beginning of February, a 13-point swing came about as Roma’s slumped to 10 draws this calendar year while their rivals were in the midst of a hot streak crescendoing in eight straight wins. Overtaken on April 12, reclaiming their automatic Champions League qualification spot has brought a renewed sense of urgency, particularly with Napoli also threatening to make a run at third.
After “putting the church back in the centre of the village”, the chiesa romana risked being relocated to the outskirts again. Lifting the malaise is without doubt Garcia’s greatest challenge since taking charge of Roma. For a time, it looked like he could no longer get through to the players. Rudi has had to get real. The romance is dead. He has turned to Macchiavelli, the ends justify the means. All that matters now are the points. Not how Roma get them.
He has modified the team and its attitude. Totti has been benched for the last two games. Even an injury to Seydou Keita didn’t see him return. Of the options available to Garcia he could have withdrawn Miralem Pjanic into the line of midfield from his role as a No.10 and used his captain as a false nine. Instead he elected to play Seydou Doumbia and belatedly give Roma a threat in the penalty area that they haven’t had since Mattia Destro was loaned to Milan. Told to stay in the box, Garcia wants nothing from the January signing other than goals. Doumbia has delivered by finding the net in back-to-back games. Typically he is now injured again.
Consecutive wins against Sassuolo and Genoa have coincided with Garcia naming the same starting XI for the first time in 46 matches. A choice rather than a necessity, continuity is a priority. After losing that winning feeling, rotation just isn’t worth it if it means losing it all over again. Roma have become more pragmatic, more cynical. The Sassuolo game ended with them playing 4-1-4-1. A centre-back Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa came on for Doumbia. Upon Genoa’s visit to the Olimpico on Sunday, Roma closed things out on Sunday by morphing into that again and then a 4-4-2. This time Yanga-Mbiwa replaced Pjanic while Jose Holebas, a full-back, substituted Victor Ibarbo, a winger.
It’s the possession stats, however, that best demonstrate Roma’s mentality shift. Only Inter (59.7%) have averaged more in Serie A than they have this season (59.5%). There have been five occasions when Garcia’s side have had more than 70% of the ball. A season high was in the 2-2 draw at home with Sassuolo in December when they had 76.6%. Contrast that with the 50.2% they had on meeting again at the Mapei stadium last week and it’s clear the emphasis is different. It wasn’t a one-off either. The trend continued against Genoa when Roma had even less possession, only 46.3%, the lowest of the Garcia era.
Doing more with less, the sterile, horizontal passing of recent months has finally been transformed into potent, vertical and efficient distribution. There’s a dynamism and a directness to Roma again. Back in second after Lazio’s slip ups against Juventus, Chievo and Atalanta, they are determined to stay there from now until the end of the season. Roma’s run-in is more favourable although the Derby della Capitale on the penultimate weekend of the season promises to be decisive, pitting Serie A’s second best defence (25 goals conceded by Roma) will come up against its joint best attack (64 scored by Lazio).
Garcia will need all of his cunning. The wolves are a sly proposition now. In the meantime, Milan and San Siro await Roma on Saturday. How apt then that Garcia is being likened at the moment to one of their great former players, a managerial legend. “Garcia fa il Trap” declared Monday’s Il Corriere della Sera. Tactically, the Frenchman has done a Trapattoni. A year ago, few would have made that comparison. Of course one of Trap’s famous aphorisms also applies to Roma’s aspiration to finish second. “Don’t say cat, until you’ve got it in the sack.”
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