Roma’s missing piece
The case for some Roman firepower
Following Sunday’s 0-0 result vs Lazio, Roma coach Rudi Garcia lamented the chances his team had missed during the game. Not for the first time this season the Roma midfield and wingbacks managed to get the ball into dangerous areas in the opposition box only for no Roma players to be on the end of them. Roma currently only have one out and out striker in their squad, Mattia Destro. If Roma are to kick on in the following seasons then a recognised goalscorer is needed.
This summer should be a very busy one for Roma, Miralem Pjanic will be entering the last year of his contract and rumours persist that he will secure a big money move away from the Italian capital. Aside from the possible sale of Pjanic we can fully expect to see the continued wheeling and dealing of sporting director Walter Sabatini. In January alone Sabatini agreed deals for youngsters such as Leandro Paredes, Tonny Sanabria and Petar Golubovic. Yet no real moves were made towards replacing the departed Marco Borriello or adding any first team strength upfront.
On the surface of things, to suggest Roma need a striker seems rather superfluous, after 23 games they are the third highest scorers in Serie A with 45 goals (Juventus have 56 and Napoli have 47). Scratch away at the surface however and things take a worrying turn, Roma’s top scorer has five goals. In fact Roma have six players who have scored five goals; Mehdi Benatia, Kevin Strootman, Alessandro Florenzi, Gervinho, Adem Ljajic and Francesco Totti. In comparison Juventus’ Carlos Tevez has 11 goals to his name and Fernando Llorente has 9 goals. Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain has 12 goals.
More often than not this season Roma have lined up with an attack consisting of Florenzi — Totti — Gervinho and Adem Ljajic coming off the bench to fill any one of the three attacking roles. Totti is still an immaculate player but he does have a tendency to drop deep and drift wide in order to conduct play, this isn’t a bad thing as long as the wingers can come central and offer a presence in the box. However Roma’s wide players struggle to consistently get themselves into the central position vacated by Totti. By far the player who offers the biggest central presence is Mattia Destro.
So far this season Destro has started four league games and come on as a substitute in a further four. He is a player searching for form, confidence and fitness. Since joining Roma, Destro has only featured in 29 out of a possible 60 league games, that’s less than half. Roma entered this season with Marco Borriello back on their books after a 12 goal loan spell at Genoa, however in January he was loaned out to West Ham after only 1 league goal in 11 outings. Destro is undoubtedly a player of great promise, we’ve seen flashes of brilliance throughout his Roma spell and during his time with Siena. Even if he were to find fitness and form Roma would still only have one available striker, at the very least this summer Roma need to add one or two more options upfront.
In each of his seasons at Lille, Rudi Garcia deployed an out and out striker. Most successfully with Moussa Sow in their 2010-2011 title winning season. Sow scored 25 goals and wingers Eden Hazard and Gervinho chipped in with a further 22. Time and time again this season we’ve seen Roma get balls into the box only for them to be cleared by the opposition or run out of play. Again this was a feature vs Lazio where Michel Bastos, after coming on in the 64th minute, delivered some very dangerous balls into the Lazio box only for Roma to take no real advantage of them.
There are many striking comparisons between Rudi Garcia’s title winning Lille side and his current Roma team, even though we are barely seven months into Garcia’s tenure. The roaming fullbacks, the ball possession orientated midfield, the direct wingers. What is missing is a Moussa Sow, a striker capable of leading the line, getting in behind and getting on the end of crosses and through balls. A number nine can offer a constant goalscoring threat, this could be especially useful for when teams sit back against Roma’s possession style. Of Roma’s 45 league goals this season 18 have come from set pieces and penalties, that’s the highest figure in the league. When you take set pieces and own goals out of the equation Roma are joint sixth top scorers in the league. There needs to be more of a presence and threat coming from Roma’s attackers. The Roma team consists of a lot of creators but not many finishers.
If Roma are to challenge Juventus next season and beyond then the need for a real number nine is evident. The Roma defence is by far the tightest in the league and only Juventus can boast a stronger midfield. If a striker can be secured to lead the line and finish the chances set up by the likes of Totti, Florenzi, Maicon and co then Roma could take that next step from title challengers to title winners. Furthermore with European football in the equation Roma can’t afford to enter next season with only one striker on their books or even the two they started this season with. There is a real need to add some true firepower to their lineup if they are to remain in the mix at the top of Serie A and eventually in Europe.
