AS Roma vs. Torino: Key Issues and Decisions That Will Shape Serie A Game
It's time to put the disappointment of last weekend's loss to Napoli behind them as Roma host Torino at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Giallorossi are still second in the league and cannot afford to cede more ground to leaders Juventus—who welcome struggling Parma to Turin—in the title race.
The visitors, meanwhile, look a shadow of their former selves this season, and nothing other than a victory will do for Rudi Garcia's side.
Roma's Starting Midfield
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Roma's Champions League exertions have exposed some problems with balance in the squad, so it will be interesting to see which XI Rudi Garcia chooses to go with at the Olimpico.
Combining Daniele De Rossi with Seydou Keita provided some defensive steel against Bayern Munich, but leaving Miralem Pjanic on the bench robbed the Giallorossi of arguably their most important player, creatively-speaking, and without him they struggle in attack.
Such a robust midfield won't be needed against Torino and the 24-year-old should return to the starting line-up, but Garcia will need to figure out a plan B quickly before fatigue or injury forces him to play without the Bosnian.
Kevin Strootman's impending return will give the Lupi manager more options, but the fact that there's still only one option in the crucial playmaker role behind the front trident is a concern. Either a deputy needs to be found in January, or Garcia has to come up with a different formation that works without Pjanic.
It might be time to experiment, and a game at home to a struggling side is the perfect opportunity to do it.
Who Will Play at Full-Back?
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Neither Ashley Cole nor Jose Holebas have been overly impressive at left-back, and letting go of Dodo—who has been one of the few positives for Inter so far this season—now looks like a mistake.
Cole, in particular, has been disappointing because he came to Serie A with a huge reputation and a wealth of title-winning experience in the Premier League. The Englishman can still come good at Roma, but he needs to settle soon and string together a consistent run of top form if he's not to be written off and replaced.
Meanwhile, on the opposite flank, injury issues have denied Maicon a lengthy spell in the starting XI and Vasilis Torosidis, ostensibly the Brazilian's deputy, has now played more minutes.
Like his fellow Greek international, Holebas, Torosidis is a fine squad player who can be depended on to work hard and do a reasonable job. He is not, however, at the same level of Maicon and, for all his effort, he stands out as one of the Giallorossi's obvious weak links when he plays because the forwards desperately miss the service and support that a top-level full-back can provide.
Last season was all about rebuilding for Garcia and Roma, but they no longer have the luxury of time. Results are now expected and anything short of a serious battle for the Scudetto will be considered a failure. They can't afford to continue juggling a roster of struggling full-backs.
It wouldn't be surprising if Roma's transfer guru Walter Sabatini had one eye on Torino's Matteo Darmian in this game.
Too Many Options Up Front?
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In terms of talent, there's little to fault in Roma's front line. Most managers could only dream of being able to choose between Francesco Totti, Mattia Destro, Juan Iturbe, Gervinho, Alessandro Florenzi and Adem Ljajic. But, like the midfield, there is an issue with balance.
Totti continues to be the fulcrum around which the entire attack pivots, and like Pjanic, when he's not on the pitch the Giallorossi suffer creatively. But at 38, "Er Pupone" can't play every game and Garcia needs to figure out what works best when the mercurial No. 10 isn't available.
Torino could be an opportunity to continue with the trident that faced Bayern and to see if Iturbe, Destro and Florenzi can click. The latter's work rate and crossing ability would seem a perfect fit for Destro's direct style, and Iturbe needs regular game time if he's to regain the form that grabbed everyone's attention last year while he was at Hellas Verona.
The Opposition
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Worryingly for Giampiero Ventura, only Fabio Quagliarella has scored more than once for Toro this season. Amauri has played well at times, but the much-maligned striker has yet to find the net in the league and has just one goal to his name in Europe.
The loss of last term's goal machines, Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile, was a huge blow, and the Turin side has yet to recover.
On top of the goal drought, they have yet to keep a clean sheet away from home, and with just one win in their last six games, it seems unlikely that the renaissance will begin this weekend in Rome.
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