Santiago Cañizares - A Managerial Journey

December 2015

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Fixtures:


Review:
Roma finally had a bit of an easier match at the start of December, after three very hard matches in November: the team played Udinese, who were 15th in the league. Roma started off well and Totti gave the club the lead after 4 minutes, but after that, Udinese woke up and Roma found themselves trailing 2-1 at half-time. It took until quite late in the second half for Roma, but then Brice Dja Djédjé decided to volley the ball from well out – about 30 yards – and smashed it in via the crossbar. In the last minute, Robben got the Olimpico fans ecstatic as he scored an epic last minute winner. Final score: 3-2 to Roma.

Next up was an away match against Sassuolo, a team that got promoted last season under manager Serse Cosmi. In the 35th minute, Robben – who has been in great form since joining from Bayern – scored the 1-0 for Roma. This is how the match ended, and Cañizares was happy with his 3 points. These points saw them move closer to Napoli and Juventus, the only 2 teams above Roma in the league.

The last game of Mattia Destro for Roma was a home match against Cagliari, who were just above the relegation zone. Roma started disciplined, and after 10 minutes they were 2-0 in front from two set pieces: Schär headed home a corner in the 5th minute, 5 minutes later he got a chance to double Roma’s lead from the spot, and he did. Roma dominated, but from a quick counter Zaza got one back for Cagliari in the 28th minute, but Roma stayed in control and the match finished 2-1.

Player of the Month(s):
After a rough start to his career at AS Roma, Fabian Schär has started to pick up form for the Romans. Due to his solid defensive work, Roma have finally fixed their leaky defence from the first few matches.

Serie A table:

First Half of January 2016

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Fixtures:


Review:
After their first unbeaten month this season, Roma had to continue this good form in the busy month of January. Cañizares’ team started with a tricky away match against Bologna. But after 30 minutes, Pjanic scored what could be goal of the season: the Bosnian playmaker curled the ball into the top corner from about 30 yards out. Early in the second half, Saponara doubled Roma’s lead with a perfect header. But Roma got complacent after their goal and after 80 minutes Mauro Dos Santos scored the 2-1. Il Giallorossi kept their 1-goal-lead, and the match finished in a narrow 2-1 victory for the team.

Next was a match against last year’s shock promoted team: Avellino. Roma started with Gervinho playing at striker, and after 20 minutes the Ivorian winger scored. Roma quietly played out the match, and they didn’t have any big chances since the 20th minute, but after 83 minutes Florian Thauvin scored the 2-0 with his first goal for Roma: 2-0, the final score of Roma-Avellino.

In the next match Roma finally kicked off their Italian Cup campaign against Serie C1 team Bari, at the Olimpico. An easy victory was expected, but Riccardo Saponara slid the ball into De Sanctis’s net: 0-1. Roma quickly got back their focus, and Nainggolan equalised 10 minutes after the own goal by Saponara. Just before half-time, Il Capitano scored two very nice goals to give Roma a 3-1 lead, and Roma didn’t look like giving away their advantage. After half-time, Pjanic scored a great free kick to make the score 4-1, and youth player Petar Golubovic scored the last goal of the game, making the final score 5-1.

After their good victory over former Serie A team Bari, Roma faced the overachieving Catania – Cavasin’s team were in a very respectable 5th place. It didn’t take long for Roma to find the net: after a great cross from Dja Djédjé, Totti smashed the ball into the net, and Roma were 1-0 ahead after 18 minutes. But about 10 minutes later, Bergessio equalised for Catania. Although Roma dominated the match, they didn’t manage to score and the match ended in a very disappointing stalemate for the title-challenging AS Roma.

Player of the Month(s):
Ivorian winger hasn’t been Roma’s main man on the right wing since Robben joined, but last month he featured in all matches. In those 4 matches (of which the most were substitutions), Gervinho score 1 goal and assisted 2.

Serie A table:

Second Half of January 2016

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Fixtures:


Review:
In the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, Roma played arch-rivals Lazio in an away game. After 35 minutes, Biglia pushed over Gervinho in the 18-yeard-box, and the referee had no other choice than to give a penalty to AS Roma. Schär stepped up confidently and calmly shot the ball into the bottom left corner: 0-1. This turned out to be the only goal of the match, and Roma were through to the semi-finals of La Coppa. In those semi’s they played Inter, first in an away fixture, after that at home.

After that, they played Hellas Verona in the Serie A, at the Marcantonio Bentegodi Stadium. Mutti’s team were 17th in Serie A, and a defeat could see them going into the relegation zone. But Verona didn’t let Roma take the 3 points easily, and after 7 minutes Rabusic even put the team in front. Just before an hour passed in the game, Gervinho scored the equaliser after several big chances for Cañizares’ side. Roma now had to score one more goal, but after 77 minutes Lustig got sent off, and this made Roma’s task a lot harder than it already was. Roma eventually didn’t manage to win, and the match ended in another disappointing draw after a draw against Catania.

Next was another hard away match, against the Sampdoria of ex-Roma manager Zdenek Zeman. Roma didn’t play a good match at all, but after 65 minutes, Joel Campbell got off the mark for his new club with what could be a very important goal in their title race. After this goal, the team suddenly started to play much better and Pjanic put the Romans 2-0 up only 2 minutes after Campbell’s goal. But 2 minutes after that, Gastaldello got one back for Sampdoria from a corner: 2-1. Roma kept onto their slender one-goal lead, and they won 2-1.

The last match in January was against Torino, at the Olimpico. Torino were rooted to the bottom of Serie A under Zidane, who joined Torino from Evian. Torino took a surprise lead in the 32nd minute, when Juan Iturbe slotted the ball into an empty net. However, Roma quickly regained focus as 5 minutes after the 0-1, Gervinho scored the equaliser. Gervinho scored again in the 75th minute to give Roma a 2-1 lead. Just when they thought they had the victory, Krhin equalised for Torino, and Roma only had a couple of minutes to win the match. Eventually, the score stayed 2-2 and Cañizares was very unhappy with his team. Interesting fact is, that since Robben has been injured – before the match against Catania – Roma have only won one of their three Serie A matches.

Player of the Month(s):
Gervinho has impressed since Robben got injured, and in the last four matches, he scored three and assisted another.

Serie A table:

First Half of February 2016

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Fixtures:


Review:
Roma started off February with three matches against Inter: 2 in the Coppa, one in the Serie A. The first one was a home match in the Tim Cup. After 18 minutes Nainggolan whipped a free kick just behind Inter’s defence, and Tello profited from the consternation following this unusual free kick: 1-0 for Roma. Just when Roma fans were starting to get confident of a win, Palacio equalised after the goal kick by Bardi flew over every player on the pitch. And although Roma dominated – they had 61% possession and 16 shots, Inter had 6 – they didn’t win this match, meaning they had to win the match at San Siro. A 0-0 draw would mean Inter would go to the final, a 1-1 draw would mean extra time, and 2-2 or more would mean Roma would progress.

Serving as kind of a warm-up match for both teams in the run-up to the 2nd leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, was the match between Inter and Roma in the Serie A. Although Inter were 11th in the league, they still weren’t pushovers. Great news for Roma fans was the return of Dutch winger Arjen Robben after an injury. But after 7 minutes, Zozulya played through former Juventus player Eljero Elia with a great pass, and Inter took the lead. Very early in the second half, Roma hit back at Inter: Robben played through Cristian Tello with a great pass, and the Spaniard rounded off the attack with a good shot: 1-1. In the 70th minute, Totti played an exquisite ball over the defence for Tello, who volleyed the ball into the net to put Roma in front for the first time in this game. Roma held onto their lead, and in Robben’s first match back from injury, Roma won this very important match.

The last match against Inter in the 2015/2016 season, was a match at the San Siro for a place in the Coppa Italia final. Roma went into the match knowing that if they didn’t score a goal, they would be out of the cup. But Roma didn’t manage to test Handanovic in the first half, and after 65 minutes, Manual Fernandes put Inter in front with a great longshot. This turned out to be the last goal of the match, and AS Roma were out of the Coppa Italia in the semi-finals.

Player of the Month(s):
Tello has put in three good shifts against Inter, scoring three goals in total.

Serie A table: