Following the chaos created within Roma’s team after Daniele De Rossi was sacked very early this season, Roma’s management opted for Ivan Jurić.
Even after the change of the coaching staff, the team’s performances are still not convincing enough.
The quick change of head coach created issues in the relationship between management and the supporters, as they did not grasp the decision to sack Daniele De Rossi so early in the season.
Therefore, Ivan Jurić’s appointment was not really supported by the fans, which is making things more complicated for the head coach, who has just started a complex journey with I Giallorossi.
Until now, Jurić has won three games, had two draws and lost twice (against IF Elfsborg in the UEFA Europa League and against Inter Milan in Serie A).
Although these results can be considered positive overall, a lot of work is still needed to avoid losing games like those against Elfsborg and be more dangerous against Italy’s big teams, with the aim of getting some points against them, too.
It will also be very important to know how to win complicated games against teams like Monza, Genoa, and other mid-table Serie A teams that often create problems for Roma.
Roma are actually in 10th place in Serie A, with 10 points, two wins, four draws, and two losses so far.
This means that the team’s defensive performances are good enough and deserve reinforcement only.
In contrast, the team’s playmaking and attacking aspects need real progress in order to become more decisive in front of goal and create more goalscoring opportunities per game.
In the UEFA Europa League, Roma still have the chance to qualify for the knockout round among the top clubs in the standings if they avoid losing more points in this group stage.
With four points, they are currently positioned with the teams who will go through the playoffs.
That’s why it will be very important for them to avoid dropping points, which will avoid more complications in their match schedule and allow them to pass directly to the knockout phase.
Roma’s next opponents will be Union SG, Tottenham, Braga, AZ Alkmaar and Eintracht Frankfurt.
On the other hand, Dynamo Kyiv is in second place in the Ukrainian Premier League with eight wins, one draw, and no losses—an excellent run of form.
On a European level, the team’s situation is catastrophic.
They hold the 35th spot with zero points, having failed to win points against RB Salzburg, Hoffenheim, and Roma.
In order to qualify for the playoffs, Dynamo Kyiv will have to fix their errors and improve their performances quickly to win valuable points against Ferencváros, Viktoria Plzeň, Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, and RFS.
In this tactical analysis of the game between AS Roma and Dynamo Kyiv, we will be exploring what is improving within Roma’s tactics and how they can become more decisive upfront.
The analysis will also examine Dynamo Kyiv’s errors and study what led to their loss in this match.
It will also point out what they need to fix to start winning points in the UEFA Europa League.
AS Roma Vs Dynamo Kyiv Lineups
Jurić opted for the 3-4-3 formation in this game with Mile Svilar as a goalkeeper, Mehmet Zeki Çelik, Evan Ndicka and Mario Hermoso as the three centre-backs, Manu Koné and Enzo Le Fée as central midfielders, Nicola Zalewski and Angeliño as wing-backs with both attacking and defensive duties, Tommaso Baldanzi and Niccolò Pisilli as proper wingers; Artem Dovbyk was the team’s striker.
It should be said that Jurić preferred to start some critical players from the bench, namely Paulo Dybala, Eldor Shomurodov, Lorenzo Pellegrini, and Bryan Cristante, knowing that most of them played against Inter Milan and needed some rest.
On the other hand, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi started the match according to the 5-3-2 defensive formation: Ruslan Neshcheret as a goalkeeper, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Kristian Bilovar, Denys Popov, Taras Mykhavko, and Kostyantyn Vivcharenko in defence, Oleksandr Andriyevskyi, Valentyn Rubchynskyi, and Mykola Mykhaylenko as central midfielders, and Eduardo Guerrero and Nazar Voloshyn as the attacking duo.
Roma’s Performance
With 15 shots — five on target and eight coming from positional attacks — we can argue that Roma were good enough attacking-wise in this match even though they did not start with their ‘best’ players.
Nevertheless, Baldanzi made a difference and showed that he could replace Dybala effectively.
He was very agile on the right wing and created a lot of issues for Dynamo Kyiv’s defence.
Also, both Koné and Le Fée were excellent at keeping Roma’s build-up quick enough by playing with one or two touches most of the time and helping with key passes and passing combinations upfront.
They were usually the ones getting first to second balls and, therefore, kept the ball in the opponent’s half for so long.
Suppose we add this to Baldanzi’s excellent touches in tight spaces inside the final third and Dovbyk’s physical disturbance of Dynamo’s defenders.
In that case, we know that this can indeed create dangerous opportunities for Roma.
The Giallorossi’s most dangerous opportunity came in the 21st minute.
Koné collected a second ball that could have created a counterattack, passed it to Pisilli, and the latter immediately gave it to Baldanzi, who had some space to create something.
Baldanzi, therefore, dribbled past his direct marker quickly and was about to look for a shooting trajectory or a passing possibility before getting pulled from the back and winning a precious penalty that Dovbyk scored.
Soon after Roma’s goal, Baldanzi was once again crucial and central to Roma’s attacks.
He did some excellent pressing work to intercept the ball from Dynamo’s players and start his run on the right wing.
Although he was surrounded by two, then three, and then four opponents, he was still able to dribble past them, find a way to cut inside, and, more importantly, curve the ball towards the far post, coming very close to scoring one of his best goals.
But unfortunately for him, the ball went out just a few inches from the goal.
Giving Baldanzi extra confidence and playing him from the start paid off in this match, especially when he was used in a position that fit his abilities well and not as a midfielder like he used to play at times.
Therefore, it will be essential to build on what was positive in this game and reinforce it, whether concerning the midfield duo or Baldanzi, who needs more playing time in the upcoming games, as he showed that he is in good form.
That being said, Roma missed a few other opportunities and should have scored more goals as the goal difference will probably be decisive in the standings.
A lot of work is still needed regarding the attacking aspect.
Some chemistry needs to be developed between the wingers and Dobvyk to create more fluid attacks and surprise defenders.
Also, Dobvyk can become more crucial with time and needs to work on becoming a bit quicker to give himself the opportunity to create danger more often and create space for his teammates.
At the same time, Roma’s midfielders and defenders need to pay extra attention to the passes they make in their own half, as Le Fée could have cost his team a goal following a wrong pass to the opposition.
Roma must become a bit more mature in terms of passing and avoid dangerous mistakes that cost the team counterattacks if they are to avoid conceding unnecessary goals and win more points, whether in the UEFA Europa League or in Serie A.
Dynamo Kyiv’s Mistakes & Needed Improvements
Dynamo Kyiv came to Rome with a defensive mindset and a reliance on counterattacks to create danger when possible.
However, their extra defensive formation was insufficient to help them avoid conceding goals.
Their counterattacking plan was not successful simply because Roma were attentive in defence and did not play with a very strong defensive block.
Creating zero counterattacks and failing to disturb Svilar’s goal confirm that Dynamo Kyiv’s ideas failed to surprise Roma.
Playing with five defenders at the back created a numerical inferiority for the team when they tried to attack, as Roma’s players defended with numbers, too.
Although Dynamo Kyiv shot six times with only two shots on target, they were still able to create a few dangerous opportunities but failed to exploit them and convert them into goals.
The following example shows one of those few chances that Dynamo Kyiv should have exploited.
Voloshyn intercepted a wrong pass and ran with the ball before passing it to Guerrero, who crossed it to the right-back Tymchyk, who was coming from behind.
Although Tymchyk controlled the ball well, he could not coordinate his body perfectly to orient the ball accurately, which resulted in missing a golden scoring opportunity.
The explanation for this makes us return to the previous argument: Since there was a lack of attacking players in this formation, Dynamo were obliged to attack with full-backs at times, and these full-backs are naturally not as talented as wingers or forwards in terms of finishing.
In other words, if Dynamo Kyiv had played with wingers, this action could have been completed by a winger who could have dealt with the ball more decisively.
From a defensive perspective, Dynamo Kyiv made the mistake of offering Roma a penalty early in the game, which made things difficult for the team afterwards.
The foul that resulted in a penalty highlights Dynamo Kyiv’s difficulty in keeping up with Roma’s wingers and full-backs. Angeliño was very impactful in this game and created a lot of danger from the left wing.
At the same time, Dynamo’s defenders were often slow compared to Roma’s wingers, and even with numerical superiority, they failed to prevent them from shooting.
Apart from Baldanzi’s curved shot mentioned above, Shomurodov was also very close to scoring when he curved the ball after cutting inside in the box despite the efforts of the defenders to close the trajectory.
Dynamo Kyiv still needs to do a lot of work, both on the attacking and defensive aspects, to keep up with quick forwards’ speed and stop their dangerous attacks.
More importantly, finding suitable alternatives to the 5-3-2 formation will be needed, as this match confirmed that it does not help Dynamo concede less; it creates numerical superiority for them attacking-wise.
Conclusion
Roma’s win against Dynamo Kyiv is vital in terms of confidence and in terms of starting a winning streak with players who used to get less playing time.
Having most of the squad players ready and having good match sharpness will be very important for Roma in the long run.
They will need all their players to be ready, as games are played almost every three days.
Moreover, solving the club’s internal issues and having a calm dressing room will be crucial for Roma to achieve positive results in the upcoming period.
Dynamo Kyiv will need to bounce back in their upcoming UEFA Europa League encounters.
They are actually doing well in the league and only have to start getting positive results on a European level by fixing their errors and finding a more suitable formation in the upcoming games.
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