Two-sided match: in the first half an excellent Frosinone outclasses a remodeled Roma, while in the second half the Giallorossi are rampant.
De Rossi shuffles the cards on the table, with an eye also on the upcoming return match against Feyenoord. It features a 4-2-3-1 reminiscent of Spalletti, with Baldanzi replacing Dybala and Azmoun in the unprecedented role of attacking attacking midfielder, probably with the intention of providing a partner for Lukaku to exchange with in the strait. The moves don’t seem to pay off and the Iranian in particular wanders around the pitch without ever finding his position, providing a contribution to the team comparable to that of a fork for eating broth. However, it’s the whole team that isn’t moving: the Giallorossi suffer from Frosinone’s excellent pressing in the low build-up; with the ambitious 4-4-2 in the non-possession phase, they never manage to find the right exits. Just as in Salerno, in the first half they dominated in terms of ball possession, but in a totally sterile manner, so much so that the best opportunities were all for the Ciociari.
Frosinone put themselves in a mirror position, with Reiner as an attacking midfielder and all-rounder Gelli on the left acting as a balancer. Di Francesco’s band is trying to build salvation with an interesting football proposal and the desire to enhance the quality of the attacking players, and therefore the strong-willed approach to today’s match is not surprising. Matias Soulè immediately turns on the light with two flashes and only a super Svilar denies him the eleventh seal of the season; then the doubles make his life difficult and it is above all Reiner and Kaio Jorge – with his ability to not give references to the opponent’s scorer – who create the biggest problems for Roma. However, Juve’s number nine on loan reveals all his limitations in the finishing phase, which are punished in a cruel way when the one who scores (with a gem) is the man you don’t expect, that Dan Hujsen who had abandoned Frosinone on the altar.
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De Rossi’s choices today (read Azmoun attacking midfielder) can be archived under the heading “sin of youth”; if on the one hand it was perfectly understandable to want to preserve Pellegrini and especially Dybala, given his chronic difficulty in playing many consecutive matches, on the other thinning out the midfield against a team like Frosinone, which is very good in the half spaces, was a huge risk, which only had consequences due to the opponent’s lack of cynicism. The Cristante-Paredes tandem, deprived of a teammate with greater dynamism, predictably suffered from having to cover so much ground behind them, also losing clarity in managing the ball. During the interval the coach must have made himself heard and had the merit of correcting the situation, rebalancing the team, so much so that in the second half there was effectively no more match. In this first glimpse for De Rossi there are 4 victories in the first 5 matches, with a team that seems to have relaunched its ambitions for Champions League qualification: not bad for a rookie.
Fundamental to Roma’s excellent second half was the inclusion of captain Pellegrini in place of an apparently exhausted Lukaku, which led the Giallorossi to be much more rational in possession and organized without the ball, so much so that they no longer gave Frosinone clean chances. Azmoun, brought back closer to his comfort zone, also played a decidedly more convincing second half of the match, sealed with the 0-2 goal. In this two-sided match, there was however one positive constant and it is between the posts: with his own ready and a certainty in exits that hasn’t been seen in these latitudes for a long time, the ownership of Mile Svilar It should be a fixed point by now.
Huijsen’s triumphal ride was in any case the decisive moment of Frosinone-Roma, and Di Francesco’s disappointment is understandable. The coach, who found the past of him and his old friend De Rossi, can still take home several positive elements from the performance, but will have to work on defensive continuity to reach the goal of salvation. On the other hand, Roma had, in addition to what has already been highlighted, the merit of not disuniting in moments of difficulty. The team showed personality, in defiance of those who claimed otherwise, and confidence seems to grow game after game: the signs are positive, just think that tonight we even saw the missing Smalling again.