After another disappointing offensive performance, Gian Piero Gasperini faces a major decision. Should he bench both traditional #9s and start Paulo Dybala again in a false 9 role?
Here were his comments
when he was asked about the forwards—Ferguson in particular—and the idea that Roma tends to play better with a target man.
“Ferguson has played in nine of our ten competitive fixtures this season. The only time he didn’t was against Fiorentina. The only thing that matters is what happens on the pitch. Beyond that people can say everything and nothing. On the pitch he’s always tried, although at the moment the result is not always good enough. If I have to be honest, for the first time this season yesterday I saw him train the right way. He’s 21 and he’s come here after a few not exceptional seasons when he didn’t play much, so we need to be patient with him. It’s a different league, a different country, a different dimension.
Youngsters his age can go through spells when they don’t perform very well. We have to be willing to have faith in him. If you’re asking me for an explanation, you can’t always explain everything. We have to wait, work and see the answers on the pitch.“As for playing with a target man, I don’t think your centre forward necessarily needs to be tall or big. You can play lots of different ways. What matters is you find a way to be effective. You don’t have to play with a big, strong striker. I think other things are important, like technique, pace, link-up play. Then if you have a player up front who can fix problems for you, it makes everything a lot easier.”
He was also asked about Dybala playing again after starting on Thursday.
“He could play. Physically he’s fine. He did well the other night. He’s got decent stamina from what I’ve seen. He’s got good endurance, like all top players. The only problem is he needs to stay fit. He too needs to be getting into the box, scoring goals, providing assists – those things are important because that’s what he needs to do as a striker. He doesn’t need to play in midfield. He can help the team breaking up the opposition’s play, but he’s essentially a striker. He’s a player who shows his worth when he shoots, sets up others and creates danger. He’s in good shape now, very good shape, and that gives me reason for optimism.”
Based on those comments, we’re thinking that Gasperini will likely come out with Dybala as a false 9 supported by Lorenzo Pellegrini and Matías Soulé.
We also expect Gasperini to go with his preferred midfield duo of Bryan Cristante and Manu Koné. Meanwhile, Wesley and Kostas Tsimikas are the likely starters at wing-back.
Gasperini also was asked about his defensive changes that didn’t pan out on Thursday—in particular, Jan Ziolkowski after he had a short lived first start for Roma.
“I don’t agree with that at all. There have been changes but we’ve had lots of games. Who played in the end? [Jan] Ziolkowski for half an hour the other night? [Zeki] Celik, [Mario] Hermoso, [Gianluca] Mancini and [Evan] Ndicka have always played but we’re playing a lot and sometimes other players come on. Wesley played very well on the left, so did Celik on the right. I don’t see all these changes. Wesley had two excellent games. The only thing that really matters, that you need to assess, is the performance. As I said, when you play so many games, it’s normal to change a few things around, but that’s the result of the five subs. We can’t be too inflexible. One player comes off and another comes on in his place.”
In this one, it’s expected that Gianluca Mancini, Zeki Çelik, and Evan Ndicka will be charged with protecting Mile Svilar’s goal.
Probable Formation
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Çelik, Mancini, Ndicka; Wesley, Koné, Cristante, Tsimikas; Soulé, Pellegrini; Dybala.
