Soccer: Roma are perfect in more ways than one
(By Paul Virgo) (ANSA) – Rome, November 1 – AS Roma have made the most successful start ever to a Serie A campaign after extending their winning run to 10 games from 10 by beating Chievo Verona 1-0 on Thursday.
But the unblemished record is only one thing about Rudi Garcia’s side that is perfect at the moment, so much so that many pundits are wondering who will be able to stop the winning run.
At first Roma’s outstanding early-season form was put down to them having easy fixtures in their opening games.
But since then they have notched wins over city rivals Lazio and fellow title contenders Napoli and Inter Milan, to prove they can cut it against the big guns as well as the minnows.
Along with Inter, they have the best attack in Serie A, having scored 24 goals.
But even more impressive is the defensive solidity of a team that has only conceded one goal so far in the top flight this season. “People are saying there are magicians that help us win? I have all the magicians right here, from the keeper to the captain,” Frenchman Garcia said after a second-half Marco Borriello goal enabled Roma to beat the record of nine wins Juventus set at the start of the 2005-06 season.
“I have a magical squad, and today as well we saw the strength of this team. “Everyone here wants to win and play well on the field.
That’s the real magic”.
Garcia, reportedly the club’s third-choice option after being appointed in the closed season, took over a side demoralised by several seasons of disappointment.
Last term was particularly painful, as they failed to qualify for European competition and lost to Lazio in the Italian Cup final.
Garcia did not grumble about several good players being sold in the summer, including Italy forward Pablo Osvaldo and Brazilian defender Marquinhos.
Instead he worked to revitalise players such as Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi, who was frequently criticised by former coach Zdenek Zeman last season and looked on the verge of leaving his home club, and Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic, who Zeman often left on the bench. He has also shown he can adapt to setbacks and the last two wins came despite Rome being without inspirational captain Francesco Totti and another forward who made a big contribution to their stunning start, Ivorian forward Gervinho.
“We didn’t have the right depth to our game tonight because we were missing Gervinho and the captain, who does an excellent job putting his team-mates in the best situations,” Garcia said after the Chievo win.
“But my team is intelligent and knows how to adapt to these things.
Furthermore, under Garcia new signings Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman and Moroccan defender Mehdi Benatia have flourished to become consistently excellent performers.
Indeed, Roma are so good at the moment that it is surprising that Napoli and champions Juventus are only lagging five points behind. “What Roma are doing is extraordinary,” Juve boss Antonio Conte said Friday.
“It isn’t easy for anyone to achieve 10 consecutive wins.
Other great teams of the past were stopped before.
“This is a great stimulant to us. We’ve been forced to follow the leaders. It’s a situation that must make us tougher, give us more courage and desire”.