Paulo Fonseca’s Roma revolution continued this weekend with a late winner at a very strong Bologna. Roma have started the Serie A season really well under their new coach but this win was extra impressive against a side that has looked extremely strong thus far this season. This tactical analysis will look at the tactics of both sides in their clash on Sunday.
Lineups
Bologna have found a settled shape and team in the opening games, so there was no surprise with their team selection. Riccardo Orsolini started on the right again after a stunning start to the campaign, while Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu continued in his hybrid right-back/centre-back role.
It seems like Paulo Fonseca has found his preferred XI too as he named an unchanged team from the win against Sassuolo, meaning we saw Lorenzo Pellegrini continue as the number 10 while Henrikh Mkhitaryan stayed off the left in Roma’s attacking midfield trio.
Tactical analysis: Roma’s attacking ideas
We can already notice a change in Roma’s attacking structure compared to pre-season. In the summer, Fonseca deployed all three attacking midfielders in central positions behind the striker and had both full-backs playing high up the field. Now, he pushed Aleksandar Kolarov high on the left while Alessandro Florenzi performed a deeper, narrow function on the right to balance the wide positioning of right-winger Justin Kluivert. Kluivert’s wide position meant Pellegrini and Mkhitaryan (both yellow) were deployed centrally behind Džeko with the duo looking to play out of either half-space. These movements created the attacking structure highlighted below.
To read the full tactical analysis of this game – click here
Artwork by @chapulana
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