Sergey Shevchenko - about the activity of the sports director of Roma.
"I told them enough, because we do not want to participate in the auction" - Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo, who is also Monchi, sports director of Roma, categorically explained why the Roman club was out of the struggle for midfielder Bordeaux Malcom. This story turned out to be scandalous. Ugly behaved French side, which misinformed the leadership of Roma for the sake of increasing its own profit. The player has already kissed the emblem of Barcelona, ??and Roma is forced to look for a new candidate to strengthen the right flank.
Let's talk about a man who so does not like auctions. Monchi - in some way a legend. He finds players who are then able to resell profitable. Dani Alves, Carlos Bakca, Julio Baptista, many other examples. Sevilla has established itself as a forge of talents, and Monchi has brought this club so much benefit that the fans said goodbye to him with tears in their eyes.
In Italian football, however, Monci has not received such rave reviews so far. On the contrary, he is criticized, especially the fans of Roma - the team that is changing before our eyes. The Spaniard came to Italian football last summer, and during the year of his work a whole layer of transfers accumulated. Let's analyze the basic laws.
Care of leaders The main claim to the transfer policy of the Romans. Of course, to sell the leader of the team can even Real Madrid or Barcelona, ??but Roma put it on the flow. Salah, Nainggolan, Alisson, last winter, nearly left Jack. The club does not cling to the leading players, but immediately starts negotiating about the price. Unusual approach for Roma, whose symbols for many years were the same players: Totti, De Rossi, to a lesser extent Nainggolan or even Dzeko.
Note that claims to Monchi are not always justified. So, it is believed that the sale of Salah to Liverpool for only 42 million euros was a gross mistake. Let's disagree. Firstly, a year ago the Egyptian was not considered an aspirant for the "Golden Ball". He was undoubtedly good in Roma (15 + 13 in Serie A matches of the season-2016/17), but hardly cost much more than the amount paid. Secondly, the Romans had to hastily sell the player until a certain date (June 30) because of the financial fair play - otherwise the team risked even losing access to the Champions League.
The sale of Nainggolan to Inter looks ambiguous. This, of course, the loss of quality in the center of the field, and the price tag of 38 million by today's standards is not impressive at all. In addition, the Belgian strengthens Roma's competitors in the struggle for the Champions League. On the other hand, Raja was not as good this season as he was used to, he is not young (30 years old) and has a difficult character - remembered as an exception to the Belgian national team (which eventually achieved historical success at the World Cup), and the New Year's story, when "Ninja" drank beer, smoked and swore on the air of his instagram. It seems that Roma deliberately got rid of "hooligans", because the team also left a lover of drunken driving Bruno Perez.
Alisson's departure is a huge loss, and this fact is hard to cover with a record amount paid for the goalkeeper (62.5 million plus another 10 million bonuses, two years ago Alisson was acquired from the International for 7.5 million). Too important was the Brazilian goalkeeper, who sometimes pulled out matches alone. Nine saves in the home game with Atletico, 11 in the guest from Napoli, a brilliant rescue in Kharkov after Tyson's impact - such examples are the mass. The Brazilian also plays leglessly with confidence. The new goalkeeper is intended to become Swede Robin Olsen, who vexed the Italian team in the playoff selection for the World Cup, but it is hardly possible to talk about an equivalent replacement.
Bonus: rate how Roma introduced the Swedish beginner on Twitter. Reply from IKEA in the first comment to the record.
Bet on the amount In the transfers of Roma it's easy to get confused. They are many, and not always they properly affect the game of the team. Some of them "shoot" - for example, acquired for only 5 million Kolars, which fit as organically as if running after Roma for a decade and never played for Lazio.
Negative examples more. Okay, still Defler, now almost gone to Sampdoria. This nomination is not Monchi, and Di Francesco, whose Frenchman played in Sassuolo, but did not get accustomed to Roma. After all, there were others. Centrbek Hector Moreno, who spent only five matches and already in winter went to Real Sociedad. Ex-captain Lyon Maxim Gonalon, and did not live up to expectations. Defender Rick Karsdorp, plainly not played because of serious injuries. Finally, while Monci's main failure in Italy is the doroguschy Patrick Schick, completely out of keeping with the 4-3-3 scheme that Di Francesco usually uses. Will he play at least one day?.
This summer, the Romans behave in the market in a similar way. A lot of players are subscribed with the hope that at least some of them will be revealed. This approach is good because the coach for each position has at least two players. Rotation makes life easier when you schedule two matches a week. On the other hand, part of the transfers looks doubtful. Okay, the Pastor who has returned to Italy, but does Roma really need Santon, who turned from the main talent of Inter to the most criticized player? While the percentage of successful transfers of Monchi in Rome is not impressive.
Everything for the stadium This policy of Roma is due to the chosen development strategy. The management of "jallorossi" understands that it is hopeless to tackle the current Juventus for trophies, arranging an "arms race". The club must first grow stronger. Now everything revolves around the new stadium. Its construction has not started yet because of bureaucratic delays, but this is the main goal of Roma for the next 4-5 years. Examples are far from going far: Juventus before the opening of the new arena was very modest in the market, but then for seven years it was accelerated before the transfer to Ronaldo.
To do this, we need Monchi, a man who, judging from the Malcolm story, wants even less to spend than James Pallotta himself, the president of the club. While the stadium is not built, transfers must bring a stable profit. For the sake of earning, the club considers the sales of leading players acceptable and the sifting of candidates for talent search. They are periodically located, both in Italy (Pellegrini, recently signed by Kristant) and abroad (Under, another newcomer to Kluivert). This strategy fits perfectly and Di Francesco - a coach who knows how to work with young people.
This approach has several risks. First - missed in the Champions League. Four vouchers from Italy seemed to almost guarantee one of them to Rome, but the team weakened compared to last season, which can not be said about competitors. For now, for example, Inter takes players who have to start playing here and now, Roma plays "in the long". Even in the past, the successful season had nuances: Under opened after a half-year adaptation, and Schick did not open at all. Now, without Nainggolan and Alisson, it will be more difficult. The chance for Milan to take the place of the Romans in the Champions League.
The second risk is the attitude of the fans. Roma for many years attracted the image of the "people's" team with traditions, but now it turns into a "supermarket". Whose t-shirts now need to buy supporters of "jallorossi"? And where is the guarantee that the new idol of the fans will not leave next summer? We are not talking about the uncertain situation with Florence - the club's pupil, who is not sure that he will hold a new season in Rome. Something appears in the spirit of Seville or Porto. Obviously not about this dream tifozi from the capital of Italy. Roma did not win trophies in recent years, but she at least fought for them. The actual refusal to fight for the next few years is a blow to the fanly ambitions.
Conclusion "Fans deserve that we talk less and act more" - said Monchi in a recent interview. Spaniard just do not blame for inactivity. He most actively implements the strategy chosen by the president of Roma.
To really appreciate the work of Monchi, we can only in a few years.
Then it will be clear how successful a person in Italy who so does not like auctions. Perhaps it will be a story about a "functionary of one club" (Sevilla) who has not subscribed to the local market, perhaps a new legend about a visionary manager who is mistaken only because of the tremendous amount of work done. Either way, Monci's activity animates the transfer market of Serie A and ultimately makes the championship more enthralling.
Author: Sergey Shevchenko.