Field of View

10 Years of Roman Tactical Revolutions & The Return of Zeman

By Jared Mercer

*Originally posted September 19, 2012

Zdenek Zeman has returned to AS Roma, in what is yet to look like a super successful team but rather a super entertaining one.  Zeman likes to play his teams in very attack minded formations that leave space all over the pitch, which often makes the opposing team more attack-minded as well creating some of the most eye catching soccer that Italy or Europe has on offer.  In the long run this is not the kind of stuff that creates champions but it will only add to the allure of a Roma side that is (or should be) the neutrals favourite.  Roma, since the turn of the century has been at the forefront of creating new attacking formations and tactics that have influenced Europe’s top clubs and this season should be no different under their new (returning) manager.

Barcelona over the past decade have become one of the most popular teams in the world from the time Frank Rijkaard returned them to European glory with Ronaldinho to the even more successful and influential Pep Guardiola and his star player Lionel Messi.  Their passing and possession game has gained many admirers with every player on the pitch able to play the ball, essentially creating a team of central creative midfielders and discarding the traditional roles of center forward and central defender.  Zlatan Ibrahimovic couldn’t find his way into the system that has forwards like David Villa playing wide and Lionel Messi in the false nine position and defensive midfielders like Javier Mascherano and Alex Song will regularly find themselves playing in the center of the defensive line to keep everyone on the pitch moving the ball.  Not only has this been successful at the club level but also at international tournaments as Spain replicated Barcelona’s success at Euro 2012 by playing without a recognized striker with the most advanced players being Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta, both Barca players.

Much credit is due to Barcelona and Guardiola for not only their vision but their ability to pull it off, however, they are not the first team to use this type of system in the past decade but they are definitely the most successful.  Roma have been using such a system since their Scudetto success in 2001 but because they are a much smaller club than Barcelona and can’t afford to buy players like Pique, Villa, Keita, Mascherano, Dani Alves, Fabregas, Song, Jordi Alba, etc. the giallorossi have had much more modest success. Roma also suffer from having their top players poached by larger teams around Europe and over the past decade have had to part with players such as Samuel, Zebina, Batistuta, Panucci, Cassano, Mexes, Aquilani, Mancini, Pizarro, and Vucinic.  Most of these players ended up at Juventus or one of the Milan clubs, while in Spain, Barcelona don’t have richer clubs to deal with and are not only able to hold onto their talent but sign top players from other smaller teams like Roma.  Therefore, Roma with a few loyal players (Totti, De Rossi) and a revolving door of new young talent have not won the Champions League or even dominated the Serie A, but in a more modest way have developed the style that many fans have come to love, and a style used by other wealthier teams to win many trophies.

If Roma had the money to keep their best players they would be able to make a push for more trophies but have done well in winning the Coppa Italia a couple times in this time frame.  It was Zdenek Zeman who started this attacking trend with Roma in his first spell with the team between 1997-99, but it was Fabio Capello who mastered it by adding a tough defense that earned Roma the title Serie A Champions in 2000-01.  Roma spent a lot of money gaining Gabriel Batistuta, Emerson, and Walter Samuel to be the new spine of the team and the investment really paid off on all areas of the pitch.  Emerson’s season ended early due to injury, which meant that Damiano Tomassi and Cristiano Zanetti were the anchors in midfield that allowed Francesco Totti, who in that season became truly world class, the freedom to burst forward from midfield and not worry about tracking back.  His goals were of great value but it was also Totti’s passing that aided the strikers with Gabriel Batistuta hitting 20 goals in 28 games in his first season at his new club.  Totti was the main creator behind the strike duo of Batistuta and Montella (or the less efficient Delvecchio), with Zanetti and Tomassi holding the fort behind them.  This would appear to be a very narrow formation but the two wing backs of Cafu and Candela were essentially wingers who marauded forward at will.

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Cassano and Pazzini Swap Milan Sides

By Jared Mercer

Originally posted September 9, 2012

Amongst all the transfers this summer, it was the Milan clubs who swapped strikers, which has been the most surprising and well planned by Internazionale.  Inter’s 28-year-old Italian striker Giampoalo Pazzini suffered a poor year with the Nerazurri, playing in 33 matches and only notching 5 goals. He quickly became one of many players offloaded in the summer transfer season by Inter as they try and reshape their squad. At AC Milan, 30-year-old striker Antonio Cassano only participated in 16 matches, scoring 3 goals but assisting on 10, with his stats tainted because of health issues involving his heart.

Both clubs decided to send their star strikers packing as Cassano questioned Milan’s ambitions after the sales of their top players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to PSG and he had also never really fit into the Milan fold since joining from Sampdoria anyway.  Inter wanted to cut all the dead wood loose from their poor season and underperforming Pazzini headed that list. The two former teammates at Sampdoria and good friends off the field swapped teams while remaining in Milan in what looks to be a relatively fair trade other than the fact that Milan also had to pay Inter €7 million as well as sending over a top player.

Cassano is two years older than Pazzini, and with his heart problems over the past year, that does not make him an ideal transfer target, which is perhaps why Milan had to pay the extra amount of cash to land Pazzini. But is the gulf between the two worth that many millions?

Between 2008 and 2011, which were the years where Cassano joined Sampdoria from Real Madrid before moving to Milan, and Pazzini made the move from Fiorentina to Sampdoria where they were teammates before his transfer to Inter, Pazzini did outscore Cassano with 57 goals to Cassano’s 36 with their golden years both coming while playing as teammates at Sampdoria.  This is not necessarily because Giampaolo Pazzini is a much better player in comparison to Antonio Cassano but rather their roles within the team are much different.

Cassano was largely responsible for much of the good form of his striking partner as over the course of that same time he had 28 assists to Pazzini’s 4 and often plays in a more withdrawn role.  Where Pazzini is a penalty box area striker who is on the field only to score, Cassano is a forward who likes to run with the ball, has great passing and can play on the left wing with ease as well as occasionally fill a trequartista role from time to time.  Pazzini is a goal scorer, while Cassano scores goals while creating many more, who is of more value?  The best option seems to be having both play in the same squad as they did at Sampdoria but with much of Serie A going broke, that is not an option for either side.

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Euro2012 Wrap

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