Daniele De Rossi - The most complete central midfielder in Europe

I'll have you know that Javier Mascherano is the worlds most complete midfielder.


In history.



The scousers say so.

hargreaves >de rossi

Don't be silly pure, Hargreaves is good but he's no De Rossi. Infact he was probably a second option to De Rossi as we couldn't get him.

He's a real big game player, De Rossi. He was even half decent at Old Trafford. But whenever I see Roma play the top sides in Italy, he always seems to show up; always one of their best players. It is hard to find many weaknesses in his game. I have to be honest, when he first broke through he reminded me a little of a young Gerrard because he was all over the place, delivering great cross-field passes and supporting the attack, but perhaps a little over enthusiastic. Since then he's gone on to become a far more complete player and last night he showed his ability to be very impressive/effective in a more subtle way.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

He's a real big game player, De Rossi. He was even half decent at Old Trafford.

Scored a great goal last season. Just a shame (for him!) that his team mates managed to concede seven

Originally Posted by The Watcher

Scored a great goal last season. Just a shame (for him!) that his team mates managed to concede seven

Funnily enough, I actually thought that was the best goal of the night! technically a real difficult one to pull off. Might not have felt so blase if it'd been the only goal of the night, mind.

Originally Posted by Rhodzy

Don't be silly pure, Hargreaves is good but he's no De Rossi. Infact he was probably a second option to De Rossi as we couldn't get him.

id have hargo above anyone

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

It is hard to find many weaknesses in his game.

I think his biggest weakness is his temperament. He shows a severe lack of discipline at times. He's also prone to having the odd match of a very low standard, where he'll start poorly and never get going at all.

Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

Funnily enough, I actually thought that was the best goal of the night! technically a real difficult one to pull off. Might not have felt so blase if it'd been the only goal of the night, mind.

Great individual goal - but Carricks first was just as good. I was right behind the flight of the ball, it was perfectly hit.

The build up play for Smiths goal was sublime - Rooneys too. And a wonderful solo effort from Ronaldo.

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

I think his biggest weakness is his temperament. He shows a severe lack of discipline at times. He's also prone to having the odd match of a very low standard, where he'll start poorly and never get going at all.

Sure. Learning not to crack someone's head in the oppening match of a World Cup is something he'll need to work on.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Sure. Learning not to crack someone's head in the oppening match of a World Cup is something he'll need to work on.

Do you think he'll be at Roma for life?

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Do you think he'll be at Roma for life?

I don't know, to be honest. I've heard from a pretty good source that he was available for the right money last summer. In this case, the right money being a ridiculously large sum.

My understanding is that he was actually Barca's first choice. They enquired about him when negotiating for Chivu, but were put off by the amount that Roma wanted and decided to go with Yaya Toure instead.

On the other hand, I've also heard that Milan made a move for him, but were told categorically that he was not for sale at any price.

You have to feel that a sale within Italy is out of the question.

Can't help thinking his altercation with Eric Abidal will have put Fergie off.

Originally Posted by puressence

id have hargo above anyone

.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

You have to feel that a sale within Italy is out of the question.

Yep. Even if Roma were willing to sell him to another Italian club, I doubt very much that De Rossi would agree to such a move.

As a local boy, it seems like he has quite an affinity with Roma. Didn't his father play for them as well?

As long as Roma are doing well, I'd imagine he'd stay. Not sure other Italian teams have the money to throw at him in the way Juve did with Fiorentina over Baggio: would he want to play against his family team?

I could see an overseas sale, if and when the time came, suiting all parties.

It's only right to point out that his missus is decent too.

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

Thought he put on an absolute master class against Madrid yesterday. Was strong in the tackle; passed the ball quickly and accurately over short and long distances; always picked the right moment to pressure the ball during the defensive phase and did so in textbook fashion; supported his team-mates in defensive actions and plugged the holes they left behind when they pushed forward; transitioned quickly in defence-attack and attack-defence; took up excellent positions between the centre-backs when required to do so; picked up both the strikers when they dropped off in front of the defence and second line runs from midfielders; made tactical fouls when they were needed; and contested aerial balls extremely capably.

Sounds just like a certain..... Errrmmm

Michael Carrick actually.

(If you substitute the tackling part with brilliant interceptions.)

Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

Every time I see Heinze these days I smile at the idea that Madrid paid that much for him.

Definitely. I still don't understand that deal. They weren't even interested in him earlier in the summer. Very strange

Carrick is an exception but in England we only seem to produce attacking midfielders who score but have little discipline for a team game ie Gerrard, Lampard, Platt, Gazza.

Actually, I think there are a lot of similarities between Gerrard and De Rossi. If Gerrard had received his footballing education in Rome rather than Merseyside, he could well have ended up as something like a facsimile of De Rossi. Possibly