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Forza Roma Sempre!
Roma 1:0 Bologna
Two raw teams were playing, and I was surprised by just how raw Bologna was. I never quite figured out what they wanted to do or how they planned to create chances. Roma wasn't exactly sparking the imagination either, but Roma was energetic in their forward runs. It's worth noting there were no defensive breakdowns, but for that, we have Bologna to thank, especially Ciro Immobile. I get that Immobile isn't what he used to be, but his lack of fitness was glaringly obvious. Things got a bit livelier when Castro came on, though this Bologna side still looked half-asleep. But that's their problem.
I was quite surprised to see posts with epithets like “unbelievable win”, “domination”, or “strong performance”. It was a win that could’ve easily been a draw, if not for a mistake by Bologna’s defender. Still, it’s important to start with a win, as it is always easier to keep the momentum going than to start the motion from a loss.
As for the players:
Mile Svilar. He wasn't faced with any impossible tasks. Castro's beautiful strike that hit the crossbar was an anomaly, and I think Mile would’ve reached the ball if it had gone lower; otherwise, there were just two not-so-dangerous shots from inside the box. For a goalkeeper of his caliber, the game was a warm-up. When we had Rui Patricio, situations like this could have led to a loss.
Mario Hermoso. I can't tell if it was just because of the quality of Bologna or if Mario has genuinely improved. He's not Super Mario yet, but for playing not on his flank after a disastrous preseason, it was not bad at all.
Gianluca Mancini. A nearly flawless defensive performance with plenty of tackles and clearances. He didn't have any glaring lapses, though he was a step late on the play that led to his yellow card. Nothing to worry about.
Evan Ndicka. He had a very impressive game. He was the one who redirected the ball during that extremely dangerous moment on Orsolini's shot. Ndicka continues to look confident; he's a crucial player. Also, it looks like he packed some muscles, which makes him even more solid.
Wesley. I didn't like his performance at all. Yes, he runs like an express train, but I can recall maybe two correct decisions from him the entire match. Most of the time, he either shoots or crosses without looking. His play is riddled with errors; even on the goal, Wesley mishandled the ball on his first touch, but Lucumi decided to lay it off perfectly for the Brazilian. If it weren't for the goal, I'd call Wesley the worst player for Roma. Overall, a good debut game in terms of the result, but not the performance. He was the MVP of the game, and now I owe a fellow Redditor a punch in the face 😅
Bryan Cristante. A solid performance. Didn't inspire incredible excitement, but there's nothing to criticize either. He could have scored in the first half, but the post denied him. He contributed more to defending the goal than to attacking.
Manu Kone. Someone needs to teach him how to shoot from inside the box. It was frustrating last season when Kone was better at blasting it from long range than from clear-cut positions, and it hasn't gotten any better over the summer. Evan Ferguson delivered a masterful assist to Kone, and it's a shame it won't show up in the stats. Otherwise, no issues with Manu – he was and remains the key organizing player in midfield.
Angelino. A mixed performance. In the first half, he did a great job tormenting De Silvestri, but I don't remember anything from him in the second. He made a lot of mistakes, and a 66% pass accuracy is poor. His long passes weren't connecting at all; I don't know why he kept attempting them.
Matias Soule. Contradictory. On one hand, Matias drew important fouls and made key passes. On the other, he didn't beat a single player on the dribble and only took one of his signature shots, which was off-target. I won't criticize him, but it clearly wasn't Mati's best match.
Stephan El Shaarawy. He played for 10 minutes. He was on the pitch for 60, but he only played for 10. After that, Il Faraone disappeared, and I can't recall a single useful thing he did. The stats confirm it: 0/5 duels won, 0/2 accurate crosses, not a single dribble attempt. He was the weak link, and even the captain’s armband didn’t help.
Evan Ferguson. The best player in this match. I am thoroughly impressed by Ferguson's performance. Evan created two chances and has an excellent feel for the game. But what impressed me most wasn't even his classy runs or sharp shots, but his vision of the field: to spot Kone in the chaos of the penalty area and deliver a perfectly weighted pass to him – that's top-tier. A Ferguson like this has to be a starter.
Neil El Aynaoui. Came into the game when the main job was already done. He replaced El Shaarawy and played in the unfamiliar position of a left-sided midfielder. He looked better than Stephan but didn't earn any special ovations.
Paulo Dybala. There was one brilliant pass to Artem Dovbyk and one great shot that Skorupski managed to save. For the 20 minutes he was given, not bad.
Artem Dovbyk. Unimpressive. He used his body well and held up the play, but in his big moment, he couldn't handle the 1-on-1 situation. I wouldn't be too harsh, but compared to Ferguson's performance, it was mediocre.
Devyne Rensch. Came on to play on his unnatural flank but was very tenacious and confident. The impressions are mostly positive.
Transfer News
Can’t wait for the transfer window to close, counting days. I don’t know, maybe it’s my age, but each new mercato drains my energy more than the previous one did.
Fabrizio Romano reported that Roma has secured Jan Ziolkowski from Legia Warsaw, here we go! The footballer will move to Roma for €6.6 million plus a 10% sell-on clause. That percentage was the most interesting part, as it seemed to be the point of contention (at the last minute, the Polish club tried to increase it to 20%, which we didn't like), but this time, we didn't cave. That's a good sign. Ziolkowski is considered a very talented defender, my Polish friends on Twitter say he’s easily Huijsen 2.0, and he's 20 years old – a solid investment. Good luck, Pan Jan!
Suddenly, Spartak Moscow has shown interest in Anass Salah-Eddine and is reportedly ready to pay €8 million. If this is true, then this is some good news; he won’t get any playtime under Gasperini anyway.
Rumors are resurfacing that Roma wants to offload Tommaso Baldanzi. Most likely, the club would be willing to consider a loan with an option to buy. To be honest, this makes me a little sad: Tommaso is a very talented player, and at the beginning of last season, he delivered a disproportionately large amount of value in his limited minutes. I'm convinced someone will take him on loan with an option (or maybe even an obligation) to buy. But let's hope we don't end up biting our elbows over it later.
Regarding Mario Hermoso, the decision was made to keep him in Rome for the season. I think two factors came together here: first, Hermoso actually played quite well in the opening match. Second, no offers for him ever materialized. After Biafora's report on August 4th that Hermoso was for sale, Valencia and Real Sociedad showed interest, but his high salary scared them off. So, keeping Mario for another season seems like not only the best option but the only one available. Let’s all pray that his good performance against Bologna wasn't just a one-off flash of brilliance; after all, the player has one of the highest salaries at Roma.
The situation with Artem Dovbyk is unclear. Villarreal is obviously still interested. According to the highly questionable Belgian insider Sacha Tavolieri, they are offering a loan with an option to buy and full salary coverage. Matteo Moretto says that Roma would like to include an obligation to buy, which the Spanish club is not prepared to do. Furthermore, to let Artem Dovbyk go, Roma must find a replacement, preferably also on loan. Whether this is possible in the final week of the transfer window is hard to say.
For incoming transfers, there's talk of loaning Konstantinos Tsimikas from Liverpool. Kostas is a very good option, a quality backup from Liverpool who has accepted a substitute role for years while being well-disciplined and maintaining a high level of play. The only potential problem is the classic one: his salary. If he moves to Roma on terms similar to his Liverpool contract, the club would spend €4.6 million a year on his salary. That's a bit much for a backup, although it's possible Tsimikas is being considered not just as a backup, but as a genuine competitor for Angelino.
The situation with Sancho doesn't change (and it looks like it won't), so Roma goes after Tyrique George from Chelsea. However, we can expect competition from RB Leipzig and a number of other Bundesliga clubs here. George has an extremely low salary; his cost would only be around €400,000 a year. Not a bad option.
According to rumors, Gasperini has requested his old acquaintance Matteo Pessina for the midfield. The situation with Pessina is complex – Matteo was injured last November and then didn't play for almost a year. His loss was one of the blows that crippled Monza. Now, Pessina is back and looks confident in Serie B. Monza wants €10 million for him, which is a manageable sum, and his salary, with total costs around €1.5 million, isn't frightening, either. As an option for bench depth, it's quite reasonable.
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