Arsenal vs. AS Roma Discussion Thread

And Eduardo is now out for the first leg. Still can't wait though, who else is going next week?

Allez les rouges wrote:And Eduardo is now out for the first leg. Still can't wait though, who else is going next week?

I couldn't get a ticket, we tried so hard but they didn't give us Red members a chance. And it's unlikely I'll be travelling to Italy on a midweek in the middle of school, my brother and dad are considering it though.

Roma 1-0 Siena
Taddei 63

Roma: Doni; Cicinho (Filipe 72), Mexes, Juan (Diamoutene 46), Riise; Pizarro, Brighi; Motta, Baptista, Taddei; Totti (Montella 82)

Rodrigo Taddei sunk former club Siena to send Roma temporarily into fourth place, but Juan and Cicinho sustained injuries.

The Giallorossi needed a boost after their shock away defeat to Atalanta, but had a team torn apart by injury, suspension and resting ahead of the Champions League trip to Arsenal. Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta sat out bans, while Mirko Vucinic, Marco Cassetti, Jeremy Menez, Alberto Aquilani, Max Tonetto and outcast Christian Panucci were unavailable...
http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/sa0809/rom-sie.html

Allez les rouges wrote:And Eduardo is now out for the first leg. Still can't wait though, who else is going next week?

Going to see if I can get myself a return on Monday.

From what I hear Juan >>> Mexes for Roma this season, it would be a real positive if he wasn't fit enough for the game.

If either one of Juan or Mexes get injured, Roma are screwed. Now that Panucci is off the CL list, they only have Loria as a backup CB and he's shit! They've also got a problem if Cicinho is out because Cassetti is a long term absentee and see above for Panucci.

I was pretty impressed with Juan when I saw him against Italy the other week for Brazil.

I still think this game is hard to call and will probably be won by whoever wins the midfield battle.

Roma have the advantage due to Arsenal's injury atm.

With Totti's magic Roma have slight bigger chance

Juan is not fit. Totti isn't playing all that well. Vucinic is out for the game. Arsenal have a slim chance.

Any chance to see Menez? It'd be nice to see Nasri vs Menez.

Unflinching Frenchman wrote:Juan is not fit. Totti isn't playing all that well. Vucinic is out for the game. Arsenal have a slim chance.

Are you serious? If that's all true, then it suddenly becomes even. If we had Eduardo fit we could have been favourites, but I'm very happy with Juan out.

Sorry with all our problems this season I have no scope for sympathy for another footballing side.

shazlx wrote:

Unflinching Frenchman wrote:Juan is not fit. Totti isn't playing all that well. Vucinic is out for the game. Arsenal have a slim chance.

Are you serious? If that's all true, then it suddenly becomes even. If we had Eduardo fit we could have been favourites, but I'm very happy with Juan out.

Sorry with all our problems this season I have no scope for sympathy for another footballing side.

Well I do sympathy Arsenal because they could be a better squad than Chelsea and Liverpool and become serious contender for ManU in EPL

Arsenal to win.

They are way too athletic for Roma (who I rate as the most intricate and sexual team in Yerp when they're on form).

Pierre Littbarski wrote:Arsenal to win.

They are way too athletic for Roma (who I rate as the most intricate and sexual team in Yerp when they're on form).

What does that mean?

Agree that Arsenal has better athletes however if Roma retreat and go for more pragmatic as they did last year against us then they could have more of a chance. But if they go for their more intricate beautiful football then I fear they will get overrun as it happened against Man Utd.

Anybody know if it is true Vucinic is out?

Super Madrid wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:Arsenal to win.

They are way too athletic for Roma (who I rate as the most intricate and sexual team in Yerp when they're on form).

What does that mean?

Agree that Arsenal has better athletes however if Roma retreat and go for more pragmatic as they did last year against us then they could have more of a chance. But if they go for their more intricate beautiful football then I fear they will get overrun as it happened against Man Utd.

Anybody know if it is true Vucinic is out?

Its how posh people pronounce "Europe".

Pierre Littbarski wrote:Arsenal to win.

They are way too athletic for Roma (who I rate as the most intricate and sexual team in Yerp when they're on form).

Not at all. Only Toure, Clichy and Sagna are great athletes now. Song and Denilson are slow without the unlimited stamina of Flamini/L.Diarra.

Juan ready to face Arsenal

Roma Include Juan & Vucinic In Squad For Arsenal Clash

Despite their injuries, the Roman duo have been selected in the squad for the upcoming Champions League clash against Arsenal.

Roma will be looking to resume their quest for Champions League glory in 2009 on a positive note, when they travel to the Emirates stadium this Tuesday, to take on Arsenal in the first knockout round.

It promises to be an enthralling battle between the two clubs, who both have had their problems throughout the course of the season.

Heading into the first leg, the Giallorossi unfortunately have a number of injuries to contend with, as the likes of Mirko Vucinic, Alberto Aquilani, Marco Cassetti and Jeremy Menez all missed their most recent outing against Siena.

In addition to this, Juan and Cicinho both picked up minor injuries in the corresponding fixture, which consequently has placed some doubt over their fitness for their crucial upcoming encounter.

Despite the initial reports claiming that all of the players listed may be set to miss the match in London, the latest reports from Tuttomercatoweb are suggesting that this may not be the case, as four of them have been included in the squad this week.

Juan, Vucinic, Aquilani and Cicinho are all there, meaning that the capital outfit may very well have their strongest squad available, for a match that they will desperately want to win.

Luciano Spalletti’s Roma squad in full is as follows: Aquilani, Artur, Baptista, Bertagnoli, Brighi, Cicinho, De Rossi, Diamoutene, Filipe, Juan, Loria, Doni, Pizarro, Mexes, Montella, Motta, Perrotta, Riise, Taddei, Tonetto, Totti and Vucinic.

Batman wrote:

Luciano Spalletti’s Roma squad in full is as follows: Aquilani, Artur, Baptista, Bertagnoli, Brighi, Cicinho, De Rossi, Diamoutene, Filipe, Juan, Loria, Doni, Pizarro, Mexes, Montella, Motta, Perrotta, Riise, Taddei, Tonetto, Totti and Vucinic.

Including in squad could just be a "hopeful" exercise... If Juan misses this one or is not fully fit, I fear for Roma.... the rest of their defenders are rubbish and cannot partner Mexes. Diamoutene and Loria are clowns, even Panucci would have made a much much better CB (yes, they are that bad)... I am sure Spalletti is regreting leaving him out of the CL list now.

When did Diamoutene leave Lecce ?!

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

When did Diamoutene leave Lecce ?!

This winter, on loan

Roma surely a CL playing club can do better than Diamoutene!!

well it is Roma

apparently totti is a doubt for tonight.

all though id bet a lot of money on him starting tonight, they always say so and so is a doubt and they always end up starting.

Totti is always a doubt.

Anyway we'll win; all passes to van Persie

De Guzman wrote:Totti is always a doubt.

Anyway we'll win; all passes to van Persie

He has passed a late medical today... Roma need him so badly that they will probably start him even if he is on crutches...

As long as he's on crutches I don't care.

this game has 0-0 written all over it IMO. We're so shit at the moment

Nethertheless, Roma are seriously overhyped and I hope we can do better against them than we did against Sunderland.

Didn't end up getting a return in the end, iTV4 and some Corona's it is then.

Even with our lack of options upfront I still hope we go 4-4-2 with van Persie partnering Bendtner and NOT Diaby. We are going to need Denilson and Song to be at their best because De Rossi is no shinking violet and the last thing we need is him dominating the midfield. Our team really has no pace right now, I would have relished seeing Walcott up against Riise again.

Glad Vucinic is out, as Pierre mentioned in the past he is something of a big game player. Can't recall ever seeing this Diamoutene either.

Claus Bo Larsen is the official tonight. He done well when we played Milan at the Emirates last year, lets hope for more of the same.

Arsenal team:

Almunia

Sagna
Touré
Gallas
Clichy

Eboue
Denilson
Diaby
Nasri

Bendtner
Van Persie


Not happy with it. I'd have played 3 midfielders in central midfield(Roma have got 3 there). and played Vela on the wings and tell him to run at their backs(who struggle against pacey wingers).

My team:

-------Almunia
Sagna---Toure---Gallas--Clichy
---------Song-----Denilson
Nasri---------Diaby---------Vela
---------------RVP

Diaby in midfield coz on a good day he can be handful with his dribbling ability and physique, he can pick the ball and drive forward(something Song and Denilson can't do). But I don't just trust him in a 2 man CM pairing despite doing well there this season.
---

Eboue

The Professor wrote:Arsenal team:

Almunia

Sagna
Touré
Gallas
Clichy

Eboue
Denilson
Diaby
Nasri

Bendtner
Van Persie


Not happy with it. I'd have played 3 midfielders in central midfield(Roma have got 3 there). and played Vela on the wings and tell him to run at their backs(who struggle against pacey wingers).

My team:

-------Almunia
Sagna---Toure---Gallas--Clichy
---------Song-----Denilson
Nasri---------Diaby---------Vela
---------------RVP

Diaby in midfield coz on a good day he can be handful with his dribbling ability and physique, he can pick the ball and drive forward(something Song and Denilson can't do). But I don't just trust him in a 2 man CM pairing despite doing well there this season.
---

I was thinking something like
-------Almunia
Sagna---Toure---Gallas--Clichy
---------Song-----Denilson
RVP---------Nasri---------Vela
---------------Bendtner

would have made sense, but did we really expect anything else?

Only one English born player on the pitch and that's Perrotta