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“The manager should be a very good actor”- Rudi Garcia
There is an air of calmness and exuberance around the Capital. Things are looking, for the first time in many years, bright, un-complicated and optimistic.
And the man behind the upheaval, Rudi Garcia, is likely to not get carried away with the terrific and unanimously imposing start his club have had to the season. The double-winning French coach from Lille has brought along with him ample desire, motivation and much needed tactical and technical virtues to make A.S.Roma both recognised and respected among its foes. Here, we analyse why Rudi Garcia is the perfect man to shoot the Giallorossi skywards and how they have adapted under him.
The Double at Lille
Garcia literally ended Lille’s 56 year trophy drought by winning both, the Ligue 1 and the Coup de France in the 2010-2011 season. That season in the league Lille scored a massive 68 goals, lost just 4 times and thereby finishing a convincing 8 points in front of Marseille to lift the trophy. Lille’s
Moussa Sow finished top scorer with 25 goals and the dynamic Eden Hazard with 9 assists to his credit was voted Player of the year. Garcia won the best manager and as much as 4 players from his team were voted in the team of the year. The season could not get better for Garcia and his team. They were in the business of devastation, ripping teams apart as they strode to success. Moreover, during his five-year stint at the French club, he landed a top 4 finish 3 times along-with a modest budget and the departures of many of his top quality men (most notably Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle and Eden Hazard to Chelsea). For example, when Hazard left for Chelsea, Lille signed a player who goes by the moniker Martin as his replacement (unknown commodity) and still finished 4th the next season.
All these chronicles depict the main picture that Rudi Garcia did not achieve things by fluke or blatant luck. Rather, he built a solid team season after season that could compete on all fronts, both continentally and domestically.
The trouble at Roma
As this French manager was enjoying the success and stability, in parallel things at Roma were gloomy and obscure. Luis Enrique and Zdenek Zeman, the two foreign coaches appointed and sacked in two consecutive seasons could contribute nothing but tactical fragility, baseless cherubic attack-minded approach and no sort of whatsoever motivation and revival. In the 3 years between 2010 and 2013, the Romans shipped in a staggering 162 goals and had 5 different managers at the dug-out (right from Ranieri to the recently sacked Andreazzoli). So when Roma further lost its footing ensuing a 1-0 defeat to Lazio in the Coppa Italia finals this year, there was every reason to believe that anarchy was dominant and the team had foundered.
Indubitably, the squad was rich in talent and skill. It had versatile players, players with a vast repertoire, players who could perform profoundly, but the one man who could arrange and sync these pieces of an exciting puzzle together was missing. In stepped Rudi Garcia.
The Summer Overhaul
The first battle Garcia won as the coach of Roma was making or should I say asking Chelsea-bound Daniele de Rossi to stay, by instilling in him the credibility of his project. Then came a big blow as Erik Lamela, Daniel Osvaldo and Marquinhos departed to Spurs, Southampton and PSG respectively. All three had had terrific seasons on a personal level the previous year and many fans and journalists envisaged that the future was going to be built around them. But as things didn’t turn out as expected, Garcia soon purchased Gervinho, Llajic and Benatia from Arsenal, Fiorentina and Udinese respectively as their direct replacements. None of them were big money, much-hyped-about signings and would cost just around 27 million pounds put together. Next on the manager’s list was letting “butter-fingers” Stekelenburg leave and signing the more no-nonsense-type Morgan de Sanctis. Even the washed-away-from-memories Maicon was added to the team with the belief that he would rediscover his form (which he has done in some style).
But the denouement didn’t arrive until the Giallorossi produced an upstage and finalised a deal for the versatile and atypical Kevin Strootman. In plain words, this was one big major coup as the Dutch national ready to be eaten alive with high-end advertisement contracts and much more universal recognition at many other top clubs in Europe. Therefore, working in unison with myriad departures and a tight budget, Rudi Garcia had manipulated the transfer window to his advantage.
Rudi Garcia Unchained
The former Lille manager is a great believer and an even better and perfect executor of the 4-3-3 system. He played it all throughout his time at France and has shifted it with ease to Italy. His approach towards football is explained via his teams playing solid, mobile, purposeful free-flowing football. That also demands his players to be stamina-wise impeccable and technically unshakeable. There is a lot of short passing and it involves more of running both on and off the ball. Also, Garcia gives surfeit freedom to his fullbacks to move forward and attack.
Here are a few things he has implemented at his new club.
1. At Lille, his midfield triumvirate comprised of Rio Mavuba (the sitter), Florent Balmount (the workhorse) and Yohan Cabaye (the creative force). And it is gaping to see that he has found a similar trio at Roma pretty quickly, Daniele De Rossi (the sitter), Kevin Strootman (the workhorse) and Marilem Pjanic (the creative force). Together, they have been vital for the Giallorossi, dictating play, playing one-touch football, tracking back when needed and sending out long balls every now and then.
2. Another impressive detail he has added is to make Roma play without a recognized striker. Though Totti is assigned a forward central role he floats throughout the park, dictating play and making the decisive passes. Now, as the full backs charge forward, the left or right wingman can cut in and take up that central role. This is not exactly a “false nine” as such a system cannot be perfected in limited time. No wonder Roma have 9 different scorers in this new campaign.
3. The consistent centre back pairing of Leandro Castan and Mehdi Benatia has been the most vital component for instant success in my view. They have started all 6 games on a row and have conceded just one goal in the league.Particularly Benatia has been phenomenal this season. He has acclimatized to new surroundings in no time and is already being considering a fan-favourite. Along with them, Balzaretti and Maicon have also stepped up their quality and work rate, going forward as well as tracking back and putting in a solid shift in defence. Therefore, Rudi Garcia has made it sure that the big money PSG signing, former-Roma man Marquinhos is never going to be missed.
4. A bit eccentric it may seem but our French guy has a “Conseil Des Sages” [council of wise men] made of 5 or 6 players who he consults on team issues. The theory is simple. The council reports to the coach on a regular basis to discuss the well-being of the team and any other issues. And the players in the council are chosen on the basis of respect and experience (yes, Totti is in it) Using this technique, Garcia feels he will be able to “take the temperature of the group” and chances are that the players would feel like leaders of the project. It also helps in the day-to-day functioning of the team and would be a better way of solving minor squabbles.
Now with 6 games gone and at top of the league life can’t get any more meaningful and pleasure-filled for the Romans. It has been their best start to a season since 2005 and the performances on pitch are reciprocated by the players’ confidence and dressing room harmony.
However, not always all that starts well ends well. Roma and Garcia still have lots of work to do. The Serie A is a huge ocean filled with boisterous sharks ready to pounce and take expedient advantage if there is one. Juventus, Inter, Napoli, Fiorentina and even AC Milan (to some extent) have a say in the title race.But as of now, the celebrations are still on-going at the Capital. Many already call it a resurrection. Many hail it a renaissance. But I predicate this to be the inception of it all.
