What's wrong with AS Roma?

These are complicated days for AS Roma supporters. A series of performances disappointing at last, followed closely by the statements without escape of Kolarov ("the fans do not understand anything about football") and yet another emotional hangover at the edge of bulimia caused by the induction of Francesco Totti in the Hall Of Fame of the team. And on Sunday there is Inter of former manager Luciano Spalletti at the Olimpico.

So let's start with Aleksander Kolarov. The statements of the Serbian left-back are perfectly in line with those released by him, as well as in his pragmatic and aggressive approach in the field. Summing up: the supporters support us and we know this, they have every right to express their dissent at the stadium but they must not talk about tactics or express themselves on the quality of the game of the team, because they do not understand anything about the technical aspect of the game. Let's start from the end: nothing more true. The average Italian fan in at least nine out of ten cases, opens his mouth and gives him breath, as they say in Rome, without having any knowledge of the facts. Just slip into the first bar that is on the street to hear speeches on the edge of the delusional, between accusations launched at random to management, technicians and players and fanciful technical disama and totally the result of the mind of the fanta-coach on duty. Kolarov explained it well:

"I am passionate about tennis. I can be a fan, but to let myself talk about how Djokovic must play because he is Serbian I would never allow myself. I can just cheer. "

Nothing more just and logically unassailable. Given, therefore, to assure this point, on which I think there is little to discuss, the statements of Kolarov, however, remain quite strange.

Last season, Roma finished third, after the usual devastating Juventus and behind one of the strongest Napoli in history, just before an Inter revitalized by the great competence and electric personality of Luciano Spalletti. The principles of Di Francesco's game, by the same admission as the technician, at the beginning had struggled to take hold but once geared and won the confidence of the senators in the locker room, the team ended the season in a positive way, especially thanks the unexpected and almost incredible path in the Champions League. The answer to how a team one step away from the final of the most important European competition is now unable to win (sometimes even not to lose), against modest opponents such as Spal, Udinese, Chievo, Atalanta or Bologna, is certainly complex and Kolarov is right, the fans do not have the competence to dissect the problem in its entirety.

But there are some things that anyone who observes the games with a minimum of attention can identify: the systematic inability to score in front of a deployed defense, the lack of defensive reliability, the many technical errors in the setting, the lack of that creative spark , of the "last passage" and, at the same time, of the coldblood in front of the golkeaper; then there is the biggest one of all: the lack of concentration, the psychological weakness that makes them not react to the goal immediately (especially in these last games) and that in general you do everything but burn the grass on the field, with an often slow and cumbersome approach. Some of these problems (such as the attack on the defenses deployed) date back to last year, but they became worse, others are new, such as defensive unreliability.

There is a fundamental juncture: at this year's Rome, unlike Kolarov's statements, the game is not contested at all, and if it is done it is still a small part, passing the latter definitely in second place compared to the mental aspect, the approach of the players to the race, to a systematic and discouraging compliance.

Only a few are an exception in this sense, and certainly Kolarov is the first on the list: his competitive malice, his experience and class are always at the service of the cause, even in the days when he’s extremely tired. It is therefore disarming to note how the statements of the “giallorossi” player become out of place if viewed from this angle. First because it denotes the inability to realize what is happening around him, or, perhaps worse, the desire to hide behind a finger blaming the environment, the fans, the radios, whoever. Same thing for Di Francesco, whose statements before and after the match, not least those after the defeat against Real, are terrifing. The technician candidly admits his inability to enter the head of the players, declaring without problems that their is a mental problem, that they can not stand ninety minutes, detach before the end, are unable to react to goals taken and often they do not put into practice the tactical indications. Therefore, analyzing the difficult Roman period is the most complicated and frightening aspect, especially for the fans. No one seems to have the answers, all are limited to note the situation in an almost depressed way.

The responsibilities of all of this mess are also to be found in the most talked-about man in Rome, Monchi. When the team is missing Manolas, De Rossi, Kolarov or Dzeko (the backbone of last year) the light is off, there is no balance, there is no verve. Virtually all purchases made during the summer (with the exception of Olsen) proved inadequate either technically or tactically - see Cristante set the action hurts the eyes - or worse, they are injured since forever ( Perotti) or still out of condition (Pastor). The team is based on the senators, whom when they fail send the whole system into crisis, charging the excessive responsibility of the good young people who, with the exception of perhaps an amazing Nicolò Zaniolo, are morally incapable to have the right reaction when things go wrong. The lack of two personalities like Nainggolan and above all Strootman can not fail to affect this.

Having analyzed the problem both in the players and in the management, we finally arrive at the one who is more suitable to pay for everyone. In the moment in which there is a lack of personality, concentration and little attention to the respect of the indications, a coach should be the one who saves a little 'shack, perhaps imposing himself, whether it was with "the strength" that with the good manners. By his own admission, Di Francesco is not succeeding, he can not communicate with the players he has available and every day he also finds an unavailable extra one. Against Inter he’ll must give up, at the same time, to Pellegrini (the only element that worked at a tactical level, one of the few to put even a lot of personality and quantity as well as quality), El Sharaawy (who had found continuity and is, strange but true, the team's top scorer) and Dzeko.

Seen through the eyes of the Roman supporters, it is a situation that seems truly worrying in which problems emerge at every level, starting from the choices of the company, passing through the players and arriving to the coach: all responsible in more or less equal parts and all momentarily without answers, at least in appearance. From the challenge (touching the company) against Liverpool in the Champions semi-final, last May, we moved to seventh place in the league, even behind Parma, a newcomer.

In the meantime the qualification in the Champions League has arrived, despite the defeat against Real who interrupted the positive streak at home, even if the performance was not to be thrown away, especially in the first half when several times the Giallorossi went close to unlock the races in their favor. For now this is the only reason to smile, waiting to understand how and when the Rome will also be resolved in the league and will return to be competitive. That Sunday against Inter, already nine points away, is perhaps the last chance not to waste to try to get back in the running.