And So It Begins

By: Dhaw | November 17th, 2009

gamesbegin

29th July, 2009.

This is it! The start of my first season as AS ROMA manager. I met the press and discussed my first official game at home to FC Vojvodina with confidence.

Proudly I walked along the touchline and took my place in the dugout, there is no denying that the nerves started to kick in ! What happens if I’m not good enough to be a football manager ? Now was the time to find out. I had a squad, I had my backroom staff, now I needed the first result.

AS Roma vs FC Vojvodina – Europa League 3rd Qual. Rnd Leg 1

***********Artur**********
Motta – Mexes – Burdisso – Riise
Taddei- Pizzaro – De Rossi- Menez
***********Totti************
***********Vucinic**********

As you can notice with the lineup, I am taking Europa League seriously and want to go as far as possible and if I can win it then that’s going to be fantastic. It’s not only going to add a silverware in our cabinet but what it’s going to also do is bring in some money and that is something the club badly needs.

I went in with an attack minded approach, I told the boys that this is a game they have to win and if possible then try and kill the game in the first leg and that’s exactly what they did.

romavoj

Roma 5 – Vojvodina 0

Scorers: Vucinic(10,21) Menez(14,60,pen 64)
MOTM : Menez (9.4)

6th August, 2009

After the first leg in Rome we travel to Serbia for the 2nd leg , during the course of the week Manchester United came knocking on my door for Mirko Vucinic. I swiftly told them to go and fuck themselves & it was lovely to know that Mirko Vucinic shared the same sentiments. I love players like him , there is no place for mercenaries here.

FC Vojvodina vs AS Roma – Europa League 3rd Qual. Rnd Leg 2

***********Artur**********
Motta – Mexes – Andreolli – Riise
Taddei- Pizzaro – De Rossi- Guberti
***********Baptista**********
***********Vucinic**********

In the second leg I decided to give Guberti & Andreolli their respective debuts. The approach was similar to the one in the first leg and the boy’s did not disappoint.

romavoj

The only hiccup was Mirko Vucinic, those bastards at Manchester United seemed to have cursed him. He injured himself in the 10th minute and is going to be out for couple of weeks. No doubt that it’s a blow but I am glad it’s nothing serious and in his absense I am hoping that Julio Baptista wakes up that “Lion of Sevilla” inside him.

FC Vojvodina 0 – Roma 4

Scorers : Vucinic(4) Baptista(15) Mexes(22) Pizzaro(61)
MOTM: David Pizzaro (8.4)

All the players and staff enjoyed a good night in Novi Sad after the game. I just told them to keep things under control, I didn’t bother setting a curfew because I myself was looking forward to a late night-out.

11th August, 2009

daniele After Manchester United it was Chelsea who came knocking on my door for Daniele De Rossi with 40 million in their bags. Of all the people I expected atleast Carlo Ancelotti to know what Daniele De Rossi means to the city of Rome and AS Roma. De Rossi is “untouchable” and I am not selling him even if they give me 100 million. I cannot afford to lose Daniele.

Moments later Daniele De Rossi walked into my office & declared his undying love for Roma and confirmed that he has no intention of leaving the club.

“Boss, Every year around this time, the rumours start spreading around, I assure you I am very calm: I entrust my future to this shirt. I will not change my mind, I love this club, the city and the fans”.

13th August, 2009

Get into the office and turn on the TV to find out that our next opponent in Europa League 4th Qualifying Round is Debrecen, reigning Hungarian champions.

18th – 24th August, 2009

Serie A season begins on the 27th but before that we faced Debrecen for the 4th Qualifying Round. I expected my team to make it to the group stages and in both legs I went in with an attacking mindset and came out with flying colors.

Debrecen vs AS Roma – Europa League 4th Qual. Rnd Leg 1

***********Artur**********
Motta – Mexes – Burdisso – Riise
Taddei- Pizzaro – De Rossi- Menez
***********Totti************
***********Baptista**********

romavoj

Debrecen 0 – Roma 3

Scorers: Menez(35) Totti(50) Pizzaro(75)
MOTM : David Pizzaro (8.3)

AS Roma vs Debrecen – Europa League 4th Qual. Rnd Leg 2

***********Artur**********
Motta – Mexes – Burdisso – Riise
Taddei- Pizzaro – De Rossi- Menez
***********Totti************
***********Baptista**********

romavoj

Roma 5 – Debrecen 0

Scorers: Baptista(1) Totti(5) Taddei(54) Mexes(61) Brighi(70)
MOTM : Francesco Totti (8.2)

A month into the job now and I’ve been pretty pleased with the start, qualified for the group stages & now anxiously waiting for the season opener against Cagliari.

Injury Update:

-Doni is recovering way ahead of schedule and should be starting light training in the next 3-4 weeks.

- Simone Perrotta should be back in 12 days.

- Cicinho needs another 3 weeks

- Mirko Vucinic should be back in 2 weeks or so.

Serie A Transfer Update :

-Gaetano D’Agostino moves to Juventus for £7M. That’s a steal.

-Juan Roman Riquelme moves to AC Milan for £3.5.

- Giampaolo Pazzini moves to Chelsea after Sampdoria accept a £15.75M offer.

25th August, 2009

The draw for the group stages of the first edition of the Europa League was today.

There are some interesting clashes, which display the amount of work that will be needed to put in, in order to reach the next stage of the competition.

Group A – Genk, Stuttgart, Valencia, Genoa.
Group B – Roma, Athletic Bilbao, Toulouse Fc, Krylja Sovetov
Group C – Benfica, Anderlecht, Dinamo Bucharest, CSKA Sofia
Group D – PSV, Fulham, Lazio, Slovan Bratislava
Group E – At.Madrid, Fenerbahce, Gent, Levski
Group F – Everton, Villarreal, FC Twente, Tromso
Group G – SC Heerenveen, Steaua, Slavia Prague, Trabzonspor
Group H – Werder Bremen, Club Brugge, AEK, Wisla
Group I – Celtic, Zenit, PAOK, Sparta Prague
Group J – HSV, Aston Villa, Metalist, Dinamo
Group K – Panathinaikos, Braga, Cluj, Sivasspor
Group L – Galatasaray, Patizan, Dinamo Moscow, Lille Metropole