The Gasperini Era officially starts in the Italian capital. Who will make up his first starting XI?
New Season. New Manager. New Tactics. New Starting Formation.
“We’ll find out if we’re better than last year. We had a way to measure last year’s team. This year we’re only just starting to play. It’s certainly a very different Roma team. Compared to the starting line-up in the last game against Torino, in May, three months later three of the starters are now longer here, as well as six or seven of the subs. Around ten players have left. Five outfield players have joined and one of them immediately got injured, so it’s different. It’s different numbers-wise too. Just look at the numbers. I hope this is a better Roma team but we’ll find out along the way.”
While Gian Piero Gasperini didn’t give many assurances about who would start today, he did give us some insight into some of the players and his tactical plans for the season.
“It’s not a choice regarding our players, it’s about adapting to the situation depending on our opponents and who they play with. Ideally I want our team to be able to play two different formations comfortably, and switch between the two during the match if needed, in a way that’s easy for the players. It takes a few games. The more you play, the more you assimilate the ideas and the easier it is for you to be flexible.”
We should expect a fairly fluid formation even though it will be listed as a 3-5-2-1. But just how many of the new signings make it to the starting XI is a bit unclear for this one, with Leon Bailey already ruled out.
“I don’t know if they can start as they need to have settled in but they can all play a part in the game. They’re players who Roma wanted to build the future around. They’re all young – the oldest is Neil, who’s 24. Ghilardi is 22, Wesley 21, Ferguson 20. They’re different players, all very young, with experience. They’re good players. I like working with them, with everyone, but they definitely have good prospects.”
In this one, we could actually see El Ayanoui starting further up the pitch due to Bailey and Lorenzo Pellegrini’s injury-related absences, plus Paulo Dybala’s not being back to full fitness.
“As for Dybala, he’s been back for ten days and he’s making progress. He made a good start to pre-season, then he had to sit out for ten days. Now he’s up and running again and is doing everything. I don’t think he can play 90 minutes. He’ll either start or come off the bench.”
Ghilardi should also start with Zeki Çelik suspended for this match, and Mario Hermoso’s situation is still unclear. However, Gasperini did have kind words for Hermoso, which seems to indicate he could stick around.
On the other hand, Wesley could start this one from the bench. That would mean a somewhat unexpected start for Devyne Rensch. Gasperini also spoke about his wing-backs when he was asked to compare them to his Atalanta wide men.
“I’ve had so many, all different to each other, and they didn’t all do the same things. [Andrea] Conti was different to [Leo] Spinazzola, Gosens different to Hateboer, [Joakim] Maehle different to [Timothy] Castagne, [Raoul] Bellanova different to [Davide] Zappacosta, and in the same way Angelino, Wesley and Rensch are different to all the others. We have to try and get the most out of them and the qualities they have.”
Lastly, it looks like Evan Ferguson has the edge on Artem Dovbyk, who keeps finding his name linked to exit rumors in the last days of the mercato. Gasperini spoke on both.
“I think they’re both instruments and depending on how you play them determines whether or not they have the right tempo. But they’re both fine instruments. Different, in different ways. Some find form sooner and some later. I think they’re both improving compared to the start of the season, in terms of their movement and fitness.”
He also seems excited to work with Ferguson.
“Ferguson is the classic example of a youngster who did really well two seasons ago, then had a bit of a lull, be it for injury or whatever. He hasn’t lived up to expectations but it’s the classic example of a player you can help get back up to the level he was at a few years ago.”
Roma (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Ghilardi, Mancini, Ndicka; Rensch, Koné, Cristante, Angeliño; El Aynaoui; Soulé, Ferguson.
Category: General Sports
