Santiago Cañizares - A Managerial Journey

Second Half of February 2016

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Fixtures:


Review:
After three matches against Inter, Roma faced Fiorentina, who were in 7th. The teams played a quiet first half, but in the second half Roma started to play better, and in the 53th minute, Dja Djédjé swung in a perfect cross for Totti, who volleyed home the first goal of the match: 1-0. This early second-half goal was the only goal in the game, meaning Roma won the match 1-0.

Roma then played a very important match away against Napoli, who had the same amount of points as them. A win would also see Roma move up to the first place, no matter what Juventus did in their match. After 20 minutes, Roma got given a dubious penalty after Robben tumbled over following a light challenge, but the referee decided to award Roma the penalty: Fabian Schär stepped up and smashed the penalty into the net, to make the score 0-1. One minute after Napoli kicked off the second half, Javier Hernández equalised for Napoli after Callejón crossed the ball. 5 minutes later, Rakitic played in a great corner, and Higuaín put Napoli in front. Zapata then made sure that Roma didn’t get any points from them by scoring the 3-1 in the 80th minute.

To cap off the slightly disappointed February, Roma played Pescara at the Olimpico. Under the tenure of Zaccherini, Pescara were in a very impressive 8th place, and they were challenging for a Europa League spot. Roma started off great, and Tello gave them the lead after only 15 minutes. Roma looked in control, until in the 65th minute, Pjanic fouled a player in the box and Pescara equalised from the spot. The team then complete gave the match out of their hands and Pescara eventually ashamed Roma by winning 2-1 at the Olimpico.

Player of the Month(s):
Nobody, Roma were abysmal all through this month.

Serie A table:

March 2016

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Fixtures:


Review:
After the horrible month of February, Roma now had to pick up every possible point to stay in the title race. This race had to start in an away game against Atalanta. Roma started no better than in their last couple of games, and Bonaventura put Atalanta 1-0 up in the 20th minute. Saber Khalifa then put the team 2-0 up after 32 minutes, but 2 minutes later Robben got one back for Roma. Campbell then equalised in the 67th minute, and Roma started to play very attacking to get themselves a late winner in this match. But they didn’t manage to score, and again, Roma slipped further away from the top-two and they were now 10 points behind numbers one Napoli.

Next was a match against Palermo at the Olimpico. In the away tie, Roma lost 4-0, so the fans were hoping for a much better result in the home match. Roma played with a very unusual strikerless formation, with Pjanic as shadow striker. Cañizares’ new tactic seemed to work as Roma took the lead after 19 minutes when Schneiderlin scored. 10 minutes later, Tello rounded off a great team move. Just after half-time, Morganella slid in on Robben, and the referee awarded a penalty to Roma. Pjanic stepped up, and slotted it in: 3-0. There were no goals in the remainder of the match, and Roma won their first match with new tactics and formation impressively with 3-0.

Roma then had to prove that their regained form wasn’t of short time by winning an away match against Chievo Verona. Cañizares’ team started off very well, and Balzaretti gave the team the lead after only 2 minutes. Robben scored the 2-0 in the 71st minute from a Saponara free kick, this was the last goal of the match and Roma finally seemed to have their form back.

The last match Roma played in March was a home match against Lazio, Roma’s biggest rivals. After Roma’s recent improvement in form, a win was also expected in this match. But after only 1 minute, Lulic gave Lazio the lead after Zieler failed to claim Éderson’s free kick. After exactly half an hour, Robben smashed home his 10th goal of the season and the 1-1 against Lazio, which later went down as an own goal by Ciani. And although Roma dominated the match, Lazio managed to hold onto the 1-1 score.

Player of the Month(s):
Big signing of the summer Morgan Schneiderlin has been in good form in March, with one goal and four assists.

Serie A table: