GIALLOROSSI YORKSHIRE BLOG
Every Friday on Giallorossi Yorkshire, a Roma fan selects their all-time dream five-a-side team made up of players from the club's history. Today's team has been chosen by Luis.
Name: Luis Nunez Location: Indianapolis, USA Team: Francesco Antonioli - No explanations needed. He won the big one. Radja Nainggolan - Never will I forgive Monchi for selling him. He was the soul of our team. Kostas Manolas - How can you not have him in your five-a-side: the flopping, the crying, the winner against Barça!!!! Antonio Cassano - No words can explain the level of talent this guy possessed. He made the people happy. Gabriel Batistuta - Give him the ball and he will drill it in the net. Do you want to be featured on Five-a-Side Friday in an upcoming edition? Submit your choices by filling out this form.
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Today's dream Roma five-a-side team has been chosen by Menno, who picks a strong team with five of the best players Roma have had this century.
Name: Menno van Koppen Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Team: Like the force, a team needs to be in balance. For my five-a-side I therefore choose a goalkeeper, a defender, a defensive midfielder, an attacking midfielder and a striker. GK: Alisson Ramses Becker - This one is an easy pick: Alisson is by far the best goalkeeper Roma has ever had. Fantastic reflexes, great at coming off his goal line, skilled with his feet like a true Brazilian, dominant in the box and the exposure of a winner. I loved Alisson. Once following Roma you get used to seeing the best and most special players leave, but this one did particularly hurt. DF: Kostas Manolas - This was the hardest choice of the team. Roma has had so many great defenders over the years. Cafu, Aldair, Samuel, Marquinhos, Rüdiger, Castán and Mexès, a personal favourite of mine, to name only a few. Still I choose Manolas as an ode to the team that made us feel like champions for once after eliminating Barcelona last year. I had the privilege to be in the Olimpico that magical evening. That evening and my wedding were the happiest moments of my life: I was ecstatic and out of myself with joy, seeing the footage still gives me goosebumps all over my body. Grazie mille, Kostas, grazie mille. DM: Daniele De Rossi - Dani is indispensable for any Roma team. A natural born leader with a great tackle, excellent passing, fierce shot and not afraid to do the dirty work. A strong personality that reads the game excellent and guides the team. He is the skeleton in the body that is AS Roma. It makes me very sad Dani will probably end his career without a Scudetto: he deserves one. I hope he feels the World Cup title makes up for that loss. As you probably know, Dani has left his World Cup medal in the coffin of former national team kitman Pietro Lombardi to be buried with his body after he died. Let that affect you for a moment. What a beautiful personality. AM: Francesco Totti - I don’t see how anybody could afford to leave Totti out of the team: a thousand words are not enough to describe what he has meant and still means for AS Roma. For me personally he is the sole reason why I started following Roma in the first place and I am sure that accounts for a lot more people. His legacy is a part of Roma and Roma would not have been the same club today without him. The images of Totti in the stands that are shown several times every match nowadays, evoke strong feelings of melancholy and pride. SC: Gabriel Omar Batistuta - Pairing the brilliant insight and passing of Totti with an absolute world class striker was the stepping stone for our last Scudetto. What a finisher Batistuta was: a guarantee for goals. Signing Batistuta was the best answer Sensi could have given to the Scudetto Lazio won the season before, granting us the city bragging rights until this day. Want to submit your own Five-a-Side Friday team? Fill in the form on this link. Five-a-Side Friday travels across the pond this week, as a Texas-based Roma fan talks us through his all-time dream five-a-side team made up of Roma players.
Name: Alan Wright Location: Dallas, Texas, USA Team: Alisson Becker - The MVP in almost every game he played. And that leg work... Agostino "Ago, Ago!" Di Bartolomei - Loyal. Incredible passing skills and receives unfair criticism IMHO. Giacomo Losi - The "before my time vote". Again, loyal player. He is one of the faces of AS Roma. I add him to the list for mere grit. Conti - Like Totti so good you don't have to use his full name. Infectious personality. Great on the international stage. Daniele De Rossi - In his prime, toughest player on the field. Loyal to a fault, perhaps. Tackling and vision skills. Five-a-Side Friday is back, with a contribution from a fellow Yorkshire-based Roma fan.
Name: Karl Reid Location: Bradford, England Team: Obviously Francesco Totti would normally be the first name on any team sheet, but I tried to give others else a chance in my team. GK - Alisson Becker: Although not at Roma for a long time, I believe that he is the best keeper I have seen at the club. After biding his time as back up, he proved himself one of the best in the world when given the chance. A great, sometimes spectacular shot stopper, great ball player and organiser that I think we are missing right now. DEF - Cafu: A player who has a genuine claim to be the greatest in his position. He is the template for the modern right back. While he is rightly known as an attacking full back, he was a fantastic defender who could also play centre back. Unbelievable stamina and ability on the ball. DEF - Aldair: In a team with Cafu at the back, you would need the solid, world class defender Aldair. He could have played for any club in the world but showed loyalty to Roma. Strong, good reader of the game and a leader. The club rightly retired the number 6 for this legend, which should still be the case. MID - Daniele De Rossi: For the first non-Brazilian, with no Totti in my team, I needed a Roman legend in there. I was tempted with Bruno Conti but decided on De Rossi due to having actually seen him over the years, plus I love an aggressive midfielder. Although the aggression can sometimes boil over, that can be forgiven for what Roma means to him. He has the ability to do everything. Tackling, shooting and controlling the game means he has been crucial at both ends of the pitch over the years. FW - Abel Balbo: No Totti left a decision for me between Batistuta and Balbo, but Abel Balbo wins out as he was the main man in my early years watching calcio. As my interest in Roma grew, he always seemed to be top scorer. He could score the odd wonder goal, but specialised in getting the ball in the goal any way with many of them tap ins. A true goal poacher. Want to submit your own team for an upcoming edition of Five-a-Side Friday? Simply fill out this form. Every Friday since January on Giallorossi Yorkshire, Roma fans have been choosing their dream five-a-side teams made up of players from the club's history. Which five Roma players, from any era, would be your preferred choices in a game of five-a-side football? Legends from the past, more recent Roma players, or a mix of both? For those of you interested in being featured in future editions of Five-a-Side Friday, there is now an easy way to submit your team. Simply fill out the form below with your five choices (one goalkeeper and four outfield players), outlining why you have chosen them in a couple of sentences. Italian speakers are also welcome to submit their teams - you can write in Italian and Giallorossi Yorkshire will translate for you, if that is easier. Please also include your location and Twitter handle (if applicable). You will be notified during the coming weeks to inform you when your team is going to be featured. Thanks to everyone who takes part! Five-a-Side Friday takes a break from regular action this week, so let's take a look back at past teams to reveal the best players only to have been chosen once.
Every Friday on Giallorossi Yorkshire, a Roma fan picks their dream all-time five-a-side team, and whilst legends such as Francesco Totti, Cafu and Gabriel Batistuta have often been selected, some big names have only been picked once. Here's a lineup made of the best one pick wonders. GK: Franco Tancredi Goalkeeper for Roma's 1982-83 Scudetto triumph, Tancredi is one of the most decorated players in Roma history, having played a part in five of the club's 16 honours. However, he has only made one Five-a-Side Friday lineup, chosen by Franco Ficetola. DF: Juan In his prime, Juan was a rock at the heart of the Roma defence. He played for Roma in a five-year spell, contributing to one Coppa Italia win and a Supercoppa the previous year. However, he only featured in Dec Campbell's lineup. MF: Attilio Ferraris Another player chosen only by Franco Ficetola, Ferraris was one of Roma's early greats. A World Cup winner, Ferraris played for the club from their 1927 formation until 1934, making just shy of 200 league appearances. FW: Mohamed Salah Salah was excellent in his two years with Roma, so it's perhaps a surprise that he has only made it into one selection - Anton Petrov Gaydarov's. He is one of the best players to have played for the club in recent years, and although he didn't stick around long, he still made a big enough impact. FW: Vincenzo Montella One of Roma's best ever strikers, Montella lit up Serie A in a decade-long spell with Roma. However, with a wealth of options up front, he has found it hard to make it into Five-a-Side Friday lineups. Only John Rovere has picked the Italian forward. Every Friday on Giallorossi Yorkshire, a Roma fan names their all-time dream Roma five-a-side team. Today's has been chosen by Laura, and sees one current Roma defender picked for the first time in this series.
Name: Laura Gibbs Location: Bedford, England Team: Tempted as I am to choose such legends as Giannini and Montella, perhaps foolishly, I feel I can't having not witnessed them in action. My baptism into to the Romanisti and indeed football itself, didn't come until April 2011 in the stands of the curva. So. Francesco Totti - How can he not be my striker? No other player could turn a match around from certain defeat to victory in a mere 4 minutes! As well as his obvious goal scoring talent he has the ability to read and control the game. The phrase "game changer" was invented for him. The only forward I need in my heavily defensive team. Daniele De Rossi - Who doesn't need a talented Roman defensive midfielder with a side order of an elbow in the face? Passionate, occasionally hot headed, severely underrated outside of Rome. Seeing the entire Italian defence fall apart when he was subbed off in the Euros is all the evidence I need. Aleksandar Kolarov - Easily the best signing of last summer. Steady, dependable with a touch of psycho simmering beneath the surface. The added bonus is that he's hated by Lazio fans! Lucas Digne - Two words... Come back! I was sorely disappointed Roma didn't sign him permanently. He was eager, always pushing forward but without letting his true position suffer, never seemed to put a foot wrong defensively and fitted perfectly with the team. Alisson Becker - Despite my soft spot for De Sanctis, it has to be Alisson after last season's performance. I doubt we'd have reached the Champions League without him. Also endearing is seeing the way he celebrates each goal, a real team player and a hugest loss to Roma. Every Friday on Giallorossi Yorkshire, a supporter chooses their dream five-a-side team made up of Roma players from across the years. Today's team has been selected by Stephen.
Name: Stephen Sweeney Location: Falkirk, Scotland Team: Goalkeeper: Morgan De Sanctis - Even when he wasn’t playing in his last years at the club, his energy and enthusiasm were fantastic – if there’s a goal celebration, you know he’s run 50 yards from the bench to pile on top. Defence: Walter Samuel - You need a master of the dark arts to defend your goal – Walter had all that and more. If you wanted to get past him, you had to be prepared to suffer! I considered Panucci, but I still haven’t forgiven him for scoring against Scotland in 2007… Midfield: David Pizarro - Did you ever see anyone dispossess him? The ball was stuck like glue to his feet, until he unleashed the killer pass. He would be absolute murder to play against in a 5-a-side. Forward: Antonio Cassano - It still feels like “What if…?” with Fantantonio – the combination with Totti was so good and so exciting, if he had stuck around, who knows what might have happened. The mighty 4-0 thrashing of Juve back in the day seems like a dream now. Also, he scored on my first ever visit to the Stadio Olimpico in 2002, as did... Forward: Francesco Totti - It might provide more variety if we were banned from picking him in this side! There were times in his final playing years when just his presence in the stadium could lift the team, so just having him on the bench would be an advantage. But how could you pass up the chance to see him play one more time? The flicks, the back-heels, the no-look passes, the sheer overwhelming joy that comes from seeing him score. He’s in the team for sure! Today's team on Five-a-Side Friday, where supporters choose their all-time dream Roma five-a-side team, has been chosen by a fellow Leeds-based fan.
Name: Kevin McDougall Location: Leeds, England Team: GK: Alisson Becker - As tempting as it is to go with someone with more service to the club, this comes down to Alisson genuinely being the best keeper Roma have had. Stops everything, and sweeps up too. DF: Aldair - "Pluto" stood out in my earliest memories of Football Italia in the 90s - amongst all the superstar strikers - for how elegantly he could defend and distribute the ball, and I imagine he could still fit in most teams now. A club legend, who tempted me to follow Roma rather than the more glamorous (at the time) clubs in the North. MF: Daniele De Rossi - First name on the sheet. Sure, he can defend, pass and shoot as well as anyone, but his sense of positional play, organisation and leadership are second to none. I could talk for hours about DDR but I'll stop here. Everybody knows the big man's value. MF: Damiano Tommasi - The minimum wage year and charity work add credence to his place as an all-round great guy, but there's more to him: tough but fair, ran for miles, intelligent, looked amazing... you'd want him on your team. A difficult (props to Perrotta, Conti, Pjanic) and partly sentimental choice, as he symbolises some amazing times at the Olimpico, but definitely a great player. FW: Francesco Totti - Nobody can seriously leave Totti out, right? Batistuta would probably be the best finisher that I can remember, but the memories of Spalletti's 4-6-0/false-nine campaign shine bright for me and push il capitano infinito into the forward role. Prime Totti given the freedom to go where he liked and score some ridiculous goals! Every Friday on Giallorossi Yorkshire, a Roma fan selects their all-time dream five-a-side team made up of Roma players. See who made today's team here.
Name: Mark Briggs Location: York, England Team: Alisson - His sweeping ability vital to a 5-a-side. Aldair - All round defensive ability at its purest. Cafu - Attacking/defensive flair, energy and stamina. Daniele De Rossi - Consummate midfielder, defensive nous & playmaker's vision. Gabriel Batistuta - pace, height, energy, hold up man, incredible shooting ability (almost went for Voeller but...) (Sub: Francesco Totti - The very name says it all.) |
samuel bannister
Founder and editor of Giallorossi Yorkshire, who is also a columnist for Roma's official website about the women's team. Categories
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