Roma 3-2 Torino: What we learned

Eusebio Di Francesco must improve and quick
Despite the victory, Roma’s tactician was severely out-managed by compatriot Walter Mazzarri, especially in the second half. The former Watford boss opted for a more direct approach and Di Francesco was too late to react and saw his side waste a two-goal lead.

Roma were helped by Di Francesco’s substitutions, especially with the introduction of Patrik Schick, however, he left the Giallorossi far too vulnerable in defence and has to learn to alter things more quickly.

Nicolo Zaniolo is a budding star
If you were able to time travel back to last summer, you would have found that the majority of Roma supporters were livid with sporting director Monchi’s decision to sell Radja Nainggolan to Inter in exchange for Davide Santon, Nicolo Zaniolo and €24 million.

Fast forward to today, and that operation looks like a grand heist of epic proportions for the Giallorossi. While Santon has played a bit-part role, Zaniolo has transformed himself into Roma’s most important figures. The 19 year old displays more personality on the pitch than those twice his age. With immense technical ability and awareness, the Giallorossi may have found their much-needed heir in the trequartista role.

Roma have to act on the transfer market
While Roma’s attacking display was certainly impressive, the same couldn’t be said for their defensive performance. The Giallorossi back-line really struggled with Torino’s movement thru the channels and committed far too many individual mistakes. While goalkeeper Robin Olsen certainly should have done better on both goals, Federico Fazio had another evening to forget and was arguably the worst on the pitch for Roma.

Monchi absolutely has to find an alternative to the Argentine international because it’s a massive risk to continue forward with Fazio as a first choice player. With Juan Jesus injured, expect the links to Atalanta defender Gianluca Mancini to intensify in the coming days.

Lorenzo Pellegrini shines in mediano role
With both Steven Nzonzi and Daniele De Rossi unavailable due to injury, Eusebio Di Francesco was forced to play attacking midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini, who admitted just days earlier that his preference is playing in the trequartista role, as a mediano in his 4-2-3-1 formation. While Pellegrini certainly lacks the physical and defensive attributes that you’d prefer a player in that role to possess, he still had a strong performance against the Granata.

The time for Schick has arrived
Patrik Schick has been a bit of enigma ever since arriving in Rome last summer. There is no doubting the Czech’s abundance of talent, however, the former Samp attacker has often had trouble expressing his best qualities in-match. The past month, though, has been Schick’s best period ever since arriving. Schick bagged a crucial goal and an assist in Roma’s 3-1 victory over Sassuolo last month and had a brilliant two goal and one assist performance in the Giallorossi’s recent 4-0 hammering of Virtus Entella in the Coppa Italia.

Compare this to Edin Dzeko, who has struggled all season and displayed an incredibly poor attitude in recent clashes — it’s clear that Di Francesco should hand Schick a consistent opportunity to start.

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