AS Roma 2010/11 Preview

Roma Roma Roma. Three words says it all. What a city, what a team. As you can tell I'm a bit of a fan. But with that in mind, I'll try to keep my preview as objective as possible.
Coming off a spectacular season in which they were neck and neck with Inter for the Scudetto thorough the last game, Roma enter the new campaign with heightened expectations. Led by the usual Gladiators Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi, the Giallorossi are hoping that this will finally be the year they break through and claim the top prize. Being a supporter of Roma myself, I hope they are right, but I just don't see it happening, especially when one considers the tremendous run they had last season, and the lack of big transfer moves this summer.
The majority of Roma's team has been intact for the past couple seasons, which has no doubt aided in their notably impressive team chemistry. Yet as always, there have been some comings and goings in la citta eterna. Lets take a look.
Departures:
Marco Motta-Juventus: The young and talented right back has a very promising future, making his departure a puzzling one. Apparently Roma are satisfied with the efforts of Marco Cassetti at the position, thus making Motta surplus to requirement. However, it should have been clear that Cassetti is not a long-term solution, and that he was often the team's weakest link last season.

Luca Toni-Genoa: I will miss the goofy hand to ear celebrations of the Italian oaf, but not miss his affect on the teams play. While he did score some very important goals late in the season, he also managed to miss a smorgasbord of chances while disrupting the flow of Roma's excellent passing. With Toni in the squad, the giallorossi somehow thought they were suddenly supposed to change tactics and dump long balls into an out of shape Toni, despite the fact that slick passing to the feet of Mirko Vucinic and Jeremy Menez was usually more than enough to dismantle any weak Serie A defense. Needless to say, I'm glad his loan deal ended and he was not re-signed.

Arrivals:
Nicolas Burdisso-Inter: Just signed today, Burdisso is a huge coup for Roma. The Argentine international defender was perhaps the biggest reason for Roma's success last season, as his versatility in defense was crucial to a back line that regularly has either Juan or Mexes missing with injuries. The player was desperate to move back to Rome once his loan deal ended, and he was finally signed at a good value with a four year deal and a 8 million euro transfer fee.

Adriano-Flamengo: The troubled yet talented striker returns to Italy, where he found great success with Inter several seasons ago, yet subsequently failed to ever reproduce on the same level. Problems with alcohol, weight, and Brazilian drug lords (seriously) have plagued him throughout his career, so needless to say I'm not optimistic about the move. His troubles continued recently when a recent practice saw coach Claudio Ranieri screaming at him to get moving and stop being so lackadaisical in his approach. There is a small chance he finds a way to put his troubles behind him and become a great striker again, but I just can't see how this would ever happen, other than the uber-intense De Rossi locking him in a room and threatening to cut his balls off with a machete if he doesn't shape up.

As you can see, Roma has done much less in the market than other squads so as Juventus. This will likely leave them at a disadvantage for the upcoming season, as Roma seem content with themselves while every other major squad have improved, at least on paper. Perhaps the continuity in Roma's team can lead them to glory at the Stadio Olimpico this year, but it's more likely that Roma will see a dip in the standings, as I'm predicting a fourth place finish for the Romans. The only way for this to be avoided is for Totti to stay healthy for an entire season, and Adriano to not be so lazy, but there's probably a better chance that De Rossi actually will kill Adriano. On that random note, I'll once again leave you with a great video featuring El Capitano; the master of the flowing hair, the free kick, the volley, and most importantly, the chip: Francesco Totti.