Thank goodness, the international break is nearly over. I’ve missed watching Roma matches, and while I appreciated the respective drama both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo brought to the past few weeks, with Roma in such good form, I’m incredibly eager to get back to business. Unfortunately, Roma have a rather inconvenient way of getting back into the swing of things: a trip to Lake Como for one of the most intriguing matches on the Serie A calendar.
The Giallorossi enter the weekend tied for first with Inter, and with Serie A looking like a three-horse race between them, Inter, and Como, this weekend’s match could have just as major implications as Roma’s pre-break tie with Inter. Suffice to say that the match at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia is a chance for Roma to make a major statement, but unlike the Inter match, this one comes with a rather significant complication: Champions League duties that are on the horizon.
Roma’s match against Real Madrid on Wednesday is the exact thing that the Giallorossi have spent nearly a decade waiting for, and normally, a match against one of Europe’s biggest clubs (and José Mourinho, of course) would be the sort of occasion Romanisti spend weeks anticipating. Unfortunately, the points on offer against Como count just as much as the ones on offer against Real Madrid, if not more, and Como are not the kind of opponent Roma can rotate heavily against and still get the three points.
Como are the 2020s’ version of Sassuolo and Atalanta: their owners have invested heavily in their project, they play ambitious, beautiful football under Cesc Fàbregas, and they’ve made no secret of their desire to quickly cement themselves as a part of the Italian and European elite. Their sporting director Carlalberto Ludi framed this weekend’s matchup as an opportunity to demonstrate that Como belong at Roma’s level. Gian Piero Gasperini has to come into this one expecting the very best from a Scudetto contender, and Real Madrid be damned, a win in Como is arguably more necessary.
It’s the classic responsibility every manager fighting across multiple competitions has to face: putting out a side capable of winning a difficult away match while keeping his squad fresh enough to take on a club like Madrid. The good news is that Roma have some interesting options to consider as rotational options. The question is whether Gasperini will use them to manage the minutes of his established starters or simply trust his emerging talents to help Roma collect three crucial points.
Can Santiago Castro Show That He Can Spell Donyell Malen When Necessary?
The most important question Roma is facing at this point in a very successful season is how the attack will function when Donyell Malen needs to take a break. Malen is arguably the key figure in Gasperini’s tactics; more than that, I’d say he’s been the best player in Serie A so far this season.His partnership with Paulo Dybala gives Roma one of the best attacks in Europe, but even the most productive forwards can’t play every single match. When the fixture list begins to look like a “be careful what you wish for” prank from the higher-ups at UEFA who heard Romanisti complaining about missing out on Champions League football for too long, players like Malen need to be taken care of. You want them to maintain their form, but you don’t want them to lose fitness due to overwork.
If Roma wants an answer to the question of how their attack survives without Malen, Santiago Castro’s development into a true alternative to the Dutchman has to be central to any response. This weekend’s match is a serious opportunity for the Argentine to show himself to be a reliable vice-Malen during one of Roma’s most intense stretches of the season. Castro’s ambitions to become just as valuable a player for Roma as Malen are hardly a secret. Speaking to TNT Sports during the international break, Castro explained that he needs to perform for Roma if he wants to continue earning opportunities with Argentina. Of course, that’s a major goal for the youngster, and an understandable one at that. Castro is at the part of his career where he will either become a star in his own right or another also-ran, and while Malen is a worthy permanent member of the starting eleven, Roma’s investment in Castro implies they view him as someone who will fill that role in the long term too.
All of this is to say that Gasperini has every incentive to consider Castro up front this weekend, even from the first minute. At a minimum, if Roma can establish control early enough to manage Malen’s workload, expect to see Roma’s number nine on the pitch. Whether Castro starts or comes off the bench, his ability to make an impact against a serious opponent could determine how much confidence the manager has in rotating his attack over the coming weeks.
Como aren’t the easiest opponent for a youngster to prove himself against, but in some sense, that should be the point. Fàbregas wants his team to dominate possession and occupy the attacking third, which could leave Roma and Castro with significant opportunities to exploit space when possession changes hands. There shouldn’t be any expectation that Castro is set to become Malen Jr. overnight. However, Gasperini has to know that the attack will not fall apart when Malen is not on the pitch. That’s a more manageable goal for the moment; if Castro can achieve it, the Giallorossi may just have the squad necessary to fight on multiple fronts for the long term.
Just as Santiago Castro could be handed a golden opportunity to shine this weekend against Como, Rodrigo Mora is in line for a chance to cement himself as a key player in Roma’s creative play—particularly if, as reported, Matías Soulé is rested ahead of the Real Madrid match. Mora has generated a huge amount of excitement since arriving in Rome, and Gasperini appears willing to trust him. His performances for Portugal’s Under-21 side this international break certainly caught the eye; you don’t see spectacular bicycle kicks like this every day.
The timing of this opportunity for Mora makes a lot of sense. Whenever he’s played, Mora has given Gasperini an intriguing profile that complements Roma’s other creative players amazingly. There’s a little of young Paulo Dybala in the way Mora turns the final third of the pitch into a big chance on goal out of nowhere. Mora has the speed and technical quality to exploit the space behind Como’s midfield, provided he can make the right decisions when the opportunity comes.
Again, just as we shouldn’t crucify Castro if he’s not Malen overnight, nobody should expect Mora to take over Roma’s attack when he’s given the reins for the first time. Still, if Mora can give Dybala a breather and show that he can handle the demands of a match like this one, he’ll have done his job and proven his worth. If Mora can give Gasperini another reliable option in attack, Roma will be all the better for it. Cross your fingers.
Source: www.chiesaditotti.com
