Last night Roma played the final match of 2019 as Italian football heads to the winter break. Roma went on the road to try to continue to obtain positive momentum throughout the rest of the season. Roma has been pretty close to perfect Since their loss to Parma. Paulo Fonseca has completely changed the outline and the trajectory of this team and what they are capable of. He truly has been one of the best managers in the League this season especially given the number of injuries he’s had to deal with. He has Roma back in the Champions League as they only continue to carry momentum. They went on the road to battle Florentina at the Stadio tardini. Florentina is a team Aroma played three times last season drawing twice and losing once. Both clubs are different now Roma has found their way into the title race meanwhile Florentina despite expectations have failed to deliver. Florentina in the early parts of the game did at points look dangerous but that would not last very long. In the early parts, the game Roma didn’t quite make it impact you would have thought. A lot of possession football creating limited chances. They grew into the game and they became mutually unstoppable. Following Pau Lopez denying Florentina twice, Rome emerged in the game. A beautifully constructed counter-attack got them in front Lorenzo Pellegrini displayed ridiculous passing skills. Sending a chipped cross into Nicolo Zaniolo on the side of the box the youngster shifted his body connecting with the ball as he fell to the ground delivering a pass to edin Dzeko who took one touch before sending the ball into the roof of the net to give Roma a 1-0 lead. The Bosnian Hitman continues to be a massive success this season as he approaches 100 goals for Roma. Just minutes later Florentina halted Roma on the counter-attack as the Roma was given a free-kick just outside the area. Alex Kolarov stepped up sending a dagger into the top left corner to give Roma a 2-0 lead. It would be it’s third a free-kick of the season which ranks in 2nd in Europe only trailing Leo Messi. Florentina did end up getting a go back near the end of the first half but it was largely due to Lucky circumstances. After two balls are ricocheted The Voila minimized the deficit to 2-1. In the second half Roma ran wild as we saw an offensive explosion from Paulo Fonseca’s team. An incredible display of passing and communication between Lorenzo Pellegrini and edin Dzeko led to another goal. Lorenzo Pellegrini sent a pass into the box to Edin Dzeko who delivered a back heel Back to Lorenzo Pellegrini who hit it on the first touch drilling it into the bottom corner to give Roma a 3-1 lead. Roma dominated the entire second half as Florentina provided next to nothing. Then just minutes before stoppage time Edin Dzeko delivered another assist as he found Nicolo zaniolo on the wing. The Young Italian drove the ball inside the box before calmly and collectively sliding a ball into the bottom corner to give Roma the 4-1 lead. As Nicolo zaniolo gets revenge on the team that got rid of him in 2016 with a magnificent goal. Roma goes to Florence and runs wild on Florentina In what was a nearly Flawless performance from Roma. They may have just squeeze their way into the title race as they end 2019 with a resounding victory.
Edin Dzeko masterclass
Edin Dzeko had an absolutely Sensational performance to end 2019. Without question or the single best performance, we saw over the weekend. He was responsible for three of the four goals. As he played an influential role in Roma’s 4-1 victory in Florence. He scored a beautifully orchestrated goal that went through Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolo Zaniolo that gave Roma the early lead. On top of that in the second half, he assisted on two Roma goals. He supplied an exceptional pass to Lorenzo Pellegrini who hit a strike from distance. Lorenzo Pellegrini and Edin Dzeko were on the same page throughout the entire sequence of the play. After receiving the ball he immediately gave a return pass to Lorenzo Pellegrini who had a fantastic look exceptional communication. Then Edin Dzeko supplied a very accurate through ball that allowed Nicolo Zaniolo to dribble the length of the pitch before putting it into the back of the net. He was special against Florentina he showed the ability abilities to score and facilitate for teammates. However, that isn’t what made his performance so spectacular. It’s some of the other things he did doing a lot of dirty work holding up the forward line and even causing real issues with Florentina’s attack as he took the ball away multiple times. Edin Dzeko is the most complete striker in Serie A. While he is not the best in the league he has a multitude of skills that he brings to a game he’s unlike anyone else. It’s more than goals and assist for it’s impacting the game through the Midfield acting as a physical presence that made things incredibly difficult on Friday night as he typically does. His intelligence and IQ is absolutely off the charts as he is having a tremendous season. It was a truly breathtaking display. He has really thrived under Paulo Fonseca as the new manager he is getting the best out of him. Edin Dzeko was a very disappointing season last year with only 14 goals there were opportunities for him to leave around this summer but he decided to stay. This has turned out to be such an important decision. Edin Dzeko has already 10 goals this season as he’s approaching 100 goals for Roma. The way he impacts the game on so many occasions he has developed that consistency that he seemed to lack last season. Edin Dzeko does not need to score goals to impact the game. Most of the other Strikers in this league do that’s what makes him different than everybody else. The Bosnian continues to thrive as he is at best under Paulo Fonseca this week is just another display of that this has become an expectation but against Florentina, he took it up a level. We won’t realize how historic Edin Dzeko has been with Rama until he’s gone there’s an argument to be made He’s one of the five best players in their history hopefully this season Roma will be able to justify that with a trophy.
The Real Problem with Florentina
Part of the problem with Florentina was unrealistic expectations are going into the season. Rocco Commisso became the majority owner in the summer and gave the fans and club hope and optimism. Despite this, he painted a picture that was unrealistic for his team to accomplish. That’s part of the problem most people thought they would be pushing for a European place. My stance on this has been the same their team is not good enough to fight for that. They have a lot of talent and some players have Progressed massively. They’re being judged harshly because they had expectations to be great right away. He’s done a fantastic job of building the club however people bought what he was selling and exaggerated what this team could actually be. This team has some really talented players with the potential to do something truly special in the years to come. However, this progression was not going to be seeing this year. It would be ultimately heartbreaking if this team got relegated they are too talented to be near the bottom Where they are the season isn’t all that surprising. They are lacking several components to having a legit possibility of challenging for Europe. Can they still accomplish this in the next few seasons of course but they have to prioritize surviving. Also, I think Florentina has to have an uncomfortable conversation but ultimately the right one. Florentina has to sell Federico Chiesa he is a player with world-class Talent and he ultimately should be playing at a bigger club. Florentina is not capable of turning this around so quickly. To truly build this team they need to sell their star. That may sound crazy but it’s what they need to do. Despite the optimism that took place they are never going to be able to live up to that if they get relegated this season they have to find a way either in January or in the summer to right this ship. The biggest problem was the unrealistic expectations they put pressure on themselves that they ultimately could not live up to and that’s the biggest issue at the moment.
Lorenzo Pellegrini is the best midfielder In Serie A
Lorenzo Pellegrini proved again last night that he is the best midfielder in Serie A this season. An argument can be made that he’s actually Roma’s best player the way he impacts the game and the value he has in this team is absolutely incredible. Last night was further proof of what he already is. He is the future of Roma even though Roma has a talented young nuclear Lorenzo Pellegrini is the one Roma are going to be building this team around. His vision and passing ability are in a league all by itself. His accuracy and location with his passes are just on another level. Lorenzo Pellegrini plays his role within this team so incredibly well. He is another player that is thriving in this new-look Roma with Paulo Fonseca. When he is in the lineup Roma operates at such a higher level. He has gone over some injury concerns last season and part of this season. He does get injured quite frequently but when he is healthy he is as good as any player in the entire league. The intelligence he displayed was incredibly special. On the opening goal of the game he supplied and unreal chip cross into Nicolo Zaniolo that lead to the opening goal. He didn’t get the assist but his ability to pick out a pass that did not seem to be there just shows how much he has developed since his return to the capital. He ended up scoring his first goal of the season after his goal last week was ruled out as an own goal. On a counter-attack Lorenzo Pellegrini and Edin Dzeko we’re on the same page as they communicated perfectly. A pass was exchanged between the two of them in good space that allowed Lorenzo Pellegrini to strike from distance to score a goal. He has facilitated so many opportunities for his teammates. The passes that he delivers got Roma on the counter-attack which may be their most dangerous part of their team. When Roma gets forward they are close to flawless and a lot of the times Lorenzo Pellegrini is the one who orchestrates everything. He is the Catalyst of the attack and the offense everything runs through him because of his brilliance in attack and his incredible passing ability he takes Rome up a level. Roma has a lot of talented players in this team in position to create problems regularly. There is not a more valuable player in Italian football when he’s not with Roma they don’t look the same and when he’s playing they are ruthless going forward and play collectively as a unit. He will be a captain of Roma someday soon beside the fact that he’s a world-class player he has incredible leadership abilities the performances we have seen from him this season doesn’t surprise anyone that he is operating on another level this season he justified that with his performance. With a combination of Edin Dzeko Nicolo Zaniolo Lorenzo Pellegrini and Justin kluivert this team can achieve anything but Lorenzo Pellegrini is what makes everything work this season there’s any midfielder that even comes close in terms of his impact and consistency he is in a league by himself.
Relegation for Florence?
Florentina is a team with talented players all over the place. There is no excuse for them being in the situation they are. Even though the bottom three has been especially weak this season they are on the verge of being dragged down there. The expectations ahead of the season may have been completely unrealistic but none the less they are far too talented to be playing this badly. Roma’s ability to rip through them so easily just highlights their problems even more so. Montella may not be the right coach for this team as he was sacked today but it’s not all on him it’s on the players and it’s on management. They have completely failed to live up to the hype. Even without Federico Chiesa, they should have done a lot better in this game. This is the same team that got a point against Inter Milan this should not be happening especially after that performance. If they are not careful they will be dragged down into the relegation battle. Last season they nearly were relegated they do not want to get in that situation again. In the last six months, they barely have any victories in Italian football and have lost five of their last six games. They need to use the January transfer window to the best of their ability. If their unable to bring someone in it’s hard to see a world in which they drastically improve on this team. They have talent all over the place and it is truly unacceptable that they’re in this situation they created next to nothing against Roma and that something they can’t do especially against the big teams because they’re struggling with the small ones enough as it is after their performance yesterday it highlights all the problems that they have. Relegation is not out of the question they need to fix this and fast.
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