Francesco Totti - Il Gladiatore di Roma

Jordan Rhodes has struggled to make any sort of an impact at AS Roma after joining for €8 million in the summer and has now reportedly handed in a transfer request to the club.

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When Jordan Rhodes made the €8 million move from Blackburn in the Sky Bet Championship in England to the Scudetto winners AS Roma in Italy, quite a few questions were asked. Many people doubted that the Scottish international could make such a big jump from the English second division to the Italian first division, and now it seems that doubt has come to fruition.

Rhodes had scored 8 goals in preseason and Roma's equalizer in the Supercoppa Italiana against AC Milan, perhaps starting to prove his doubters wrong. Since then, the train has utterly fallen off the tracks; Rhodes has made only 6 Serie A appearances thus far, 4 of which were from the bench, and has failed to score a single goal.

Part of this comes down to the good form of Adem Ljajic and Alvaro Morata, who have combined for 12 goals thus far this season. However, Sebastian Giovinco has also seen relatively small amounts of playing time, and he has not been complaining to social media as Jordan Rhodes did just this morning.


Taking to Twitter, Rhodes left a cryptic message for his fans, saying that he solely wants to return to playing games and scoring; something he certainly has not effectively been able to do at the Stadio Olimpico.

Rumors of a rift between the Scotsman and legendary manager Francesco Totti have also spread like wildfire from the red heart of Rome. The 39 year old striker evidently no longer sees enough in his new signing to warrant a place in the starting eleven, and Rhodes has by no means taken to this news happily.

Having just joined a few months ago and struggling for game time, it will be interesting to see if any teams will be willing to buy Rhodes off of Roma in the coming January window. He has historically been very prolific in the Sky Bet Championship, but if another side willing to pay Roma's valuation of the player is another question entirely.

Neither Francesco Totti nor the player himself has yet been drawn out into commenting on the matter at hand, but one thing is certain; there is discontent with Jordan Rhodes in the Giallorossi camp.

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Damn it Jordan. I guess Rome doesn't serve any decent haggis...

MCox93: Without it, how could I expect him to score at all?!

Rhodes could use a loan spell!

Griffo: Agreed, but if someone is willing to pay a good fee I might just sell...

Andrea Bertolacci finally opened his account for AS Roma with the winning goal against Schalke before enjoying a very strong November in multiple midfield positions.

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SCHALKE 0-1 AS ROMA (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Andrea Bertolacci
Andrea Bertolacci

AC MILAN 3-1 AS ROMA (SERIE A)
Alvaro Morata
None

AS ROMA 3-1 JUVENTUS (SERIE A)
Clement Grenier, Samuel Umtiti, Ricardo Rodriguez
Ricardo Rodriguez

AS ROMA 4-2 VALENCIA (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Alvaro Morata (x2), Andrea Pirlo, Tin Jedvaj
Alvaro Morata

FIORENTINA 1-2 AS ROMA (SERIE A)
Clement Grenier, Sebastien Corchia
Sebastien Corchia

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November was bound to be one of AS Roma's toughest months in 2015 of this season. Schalke, AC Milan, Juventus, Valencia, and Fiorentina; every single game was going to be a big challenge against very high-caliber opposition, and the Giallorossi would have to be in great form to continue to win games. In the end, they didn't do too shabbily.

The first month of the game, on the road to Schalke 04, was a bit of a grudge match. Having blown a 2-0 lead in ten minutes back at the Stadio Olimpico against Die Konigsblauen, the Romans really wanted to win this game. Thanks to a second half, 25 yard strike from Andrea Bertolacci and an otherwise stellar midfield performance, they did just that, starting the month on the right foot.

The match against AC Milan, however, was certainly one to forget. The San Siro roared on their team at every turn as the Rossoneri utterly dominated their opponents, getting two times as many total shots and easily thrashing the league leaders thanks to Mario Balotelli. However, any questions that were raised in this game were immediately quashed in the next one.

Hosting Juventus not long after this crushing loss was a major test for Roma; another loss could be massively detrimental to their title charge, but a strong showing could put them right back on track. An early goal from Clement Grenier gave the Giallorossi a boost, but Arturo Vidal's equalizer nearly knocked them right back. Late goals from defenders Umtiti and Rodriguez saved three points for Francesco Totti's men, though, and momentum was restored.

The final two matches of the month were also big tests, but Roma handled them far easier than the early matches. Defensively, Umtiti and Jedvaj struggled to contain opposition defenses, conceding three goals, but the attack was rampant; the four goal showing against Valencia was one of the best attacking displays of the tournament so far this season.

Perhaps worryingly, Roma did lose another two defenders to injury. Matteo Darmian was ruled out for a month with a groin strain after the Valencia CF game, meaning that Corchia will take the starting role full-time. Left back Dodo, who has already missed a month this season, will miss another 5 weeks after pulling a hamstring, meaning new signing Ricardo Rodriguez will continue to deputize.

Despite the stumble against AC Milan, AS Roma continue to fly high atop the league table, six points clear of surprise package Cagliari in second. In the UEFA Champions League, the Giallorossi have sealed the top spot in their group and can relax in their final match against BATE Borisov. The standings in both competitions look as follows:


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milan? srsly?

Looking strong after 14 games in the league! Also kicking ass in the UEFA! Loving this story.

Quality stuff as always mate. Hats off to Cagliari mind! Good to see BATE hanging in there too...

Pauker: I'm a little ashamed but what can I do? They outplayed us on the day...At least we smashed Juventus

squirmy420: Thanks bud, we are storming every competition right now

MCox93: Cheers mate, and yeah Cagliari have done shockingly well...BATE, not so much

Unlucky about the Milan loss, always disappointing to lose a game, but still a great month!
You're going strong, so hopefully you can keep this up!
I know you will

pompeyblue: Losses are always tough to take but we bounced back extremely well! And yes, of course I will keep it up

AS Roma has risen to unprecedented heights with Francesco Totti in charge over the last two seasons; the Giallorossi legend has now confirmed his loyalty with a 5 year contract.

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When you walk the red streets of Rome and hear the name 'Francesco Totti', the worlds 'legend' and 'captain' are almost always sure to follow. The 38 year old striker has scored 243 goals in 584 appearances for his hometown club, both of which are AS Roma records, and has become utterly synonymous with the team.

In the last two years with Totti in charge of the Giallorossi as player / manager / captain, things have looked rosy. Two straight Scudetti, a Coppa Italia, and two Supercoppa Italiana have finished years of coming in 2nd place for the Romans. Along with this, the team has played extremely attractive, attacking football.

Nobody really expected Totti to ever leave AS Roma, and he's dispelled the few doubters that remain with his latest announcement. The club hero has signed a new 5 year contract worth €50k per week and expiring in the summer of 2020.

"I'm absolutely ecstatic," Totti told reporters during the press release about the new deal. "Obviously Roma is the only club in my heart, and I want to stay here for a very, very long time. I would rather leave football than be with a different club."

This new contract was confirmed by James Pallotta after a lightning start to the season has left AS Roma six points clear in the Serie A title race as well as already sealing first place in their UEFA Champions League place group with an extra match in hand. With the reinforcements of the summer and the boost from this new contract, the Totti's men will hope to continue their domestic dominance and perhaps add a European crown.

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King Totti! Good stuff mate, 5 years means that you'll keep running this Serie A story so i'm happy!

Absolute legend!
Awesome to see you signing on for another 5 years, long live King Totti