Can AS Roma Disturb Inter Milan's Title Aspirations?

At the beginning of the season, there were few who believed that AS Roma would be able to pose any kind of threat to Inter Milan’s title aspirations. Instead, teams such as Juventus and AC Milan were thought to be the reigning champion’s toughest competition.

Despite getting off to a brilliant start, Juventus has disappointed greatly during the last couple of months and currently lies in seventh place. While Milan experienced quite a revival after a rather poor start to the season, the Rossoneri are third in the standings at the moment—two points shy of Roma.

Roma started off the season in terrible fashion, with back to back defeats which saw them in the rock bottom of the table two rounds into the new campaign. Even more surprising was Luciano Spalletti’s shock decision to resign after four years on the job. On Sept. 2, the former Chelsea and Juventus tactician, Claudio Ranieri, was appointed head coach.

The capital club went on to win 2-1 to Siena on Ranieri’s debut. Since his takeover, they have only succumbed to three defeats, the last of which came on Oct. 28 against Udinese. In other words, the Giallorossi has gone undefeated in all competition for well over three months.

The capital club currently resides in second place—nine points off the pace from league leaders Inter. Ranieri has built a solid and well-balanced foundation during his time at Roma, and the team nowadays plays with the kind of confidence and enthusiasm that had been lacking for most of last season. On top of that, their unity, team spirit, mental strength, and focus are only second to the current champions at the moment.

Ranieri has always been believed to be a coach better suited for less high-profile teams, rather than clubs such as Juventus where the pressure of winning and performing well is always present. Many believe that is the reason behind the “Tinkerman’s” success in the Eternal City.

Ranieri plays with something of a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-1-2 and is not afraid to make tactical changes during the course of a game. The Roma-born tactician knows how to get the best out his players, who now even manage to collect the points independent of their performances.

Ranieri’s introduction of Julio Sergio between the sticks has been a stroke of brilliance,  considering the phenomenal form the “world’s best third-choice goalkeeper” has showcased this season after having spent some three years in obscurity.

On top of that, the back four have been showcasing consistent performances with little to no rotation as Marco Cassetti, Juan, Nicolas Burdisso, and John Arne Riise can be found in a very consistent and solid defense—as well as getting on the score sheet every once in a while.

In the midfield, there are players such as the Roman warrior Daniele De Rossi, who does nothing to diminish his status of becoming the club’s next bandiera. The squad possesses pure quality in the offence with players such as Francesco Totti and Mirko Vucinic. The  acquisition of Luca Toni from Bayern Munich was excellent, considering that the center tank can provide some crucial goals and add more depth and range to the squad.

The Giallorossi has played 13 league games since their defeat to Udinese and has scored 22 goals and conceded only 13. Although the chances of lifting the Scudetto in May may seem slim at this point in the season, nothing is yet decided.

Just like Inter, Roma is battling on three fronts this season; whereas, the Nerazzurri have the pressure of performing well in the Champions League, the Giallorossi’s main priorities lay in the domestic titles.

Ranieri is absolutely right in saying that the title is for Inter to lose, but as long as the injuries don’t pile up or the team showcases a sudden drop in form, the capital club can capitalize every time José Mourinho’s men slip up.

In the season of 2007-2008, the Giallorossi managed to close in a massive gap of 11 points to Inter and were only 30 minutes away from lifting their fourth Scudetto had Zlatan Ibrahimovic not scored a brace to send the Nerazzurri to yet another title.

There are 16 games left to go and let’s face it—anything is possible in Calcio.