A.S. Roma - Style of play, philosophy, weaknesses, strong points

[A THREAD]

To begin, we have to point out that the way Roma set up took a slight change this season. Opposed to the 4-2-3-1 that Paulo Fonseca implemented in 19/20, the team now plays in a 3-man in defence formation. Mainly a 3-4-2-1(3-4-3).

The style of play that Paulo Fonseca wants is very clear and rarely ever changes. They prefer short passing, building up slowly from the back and finding spaces between the opposition's lines. That can be different against good oppositions, who would press Roma high up the pitch.

Called by some "the entertainers" of the league, Roma's philosophy is to attack and win games by outscoring the opposition, rather than playing on the counter attack. Some people often mention Atalanta and Roma in the same sentence, as the proper attacking sides in Italy.

The focal points of this team, are the ball playing centre backs and the main forward - Edin Dzeko. He uses his strength and understated passing abillity to hold up the ball and then lay it off, or play through for runners deep.

Roma tend to focus their attacking efforts centrally, looking to overload in that area. The midfield options they've got are mainly - Jordan Veretout and Lorrenzo Pellegrini, with the first reaching double figures goals in his career for the first time.

Defensively Roma press in a situational way - the triggers include passes backwards, the opponent carrying a ball, to a certain height on the pitch and passes from the CBs to the FBs in slightly higher positions. Roma don't counter press that much and prefer to keep their shape.

In the previous round of the UEL to counter Ajax's style of play, they had to set up in a different way, playing much deeper and more direct. That strategic was completely justified and it got them a place in the semi-final. Same approach shouldn't be expected against Man United.

One of Roma's biggest weaknesses is that they are known for switching off in periods - this season especially in big games, they've tended to lose focus and teams easily create 4-5 chances in the space of less than 10 minutes. This proved to be a problem in many league games.

HOW SHOULD UNITED APPROACH THIS - For United these 2 games can be very similar to the quarter-final in the FA Cup against Leicester they deservedly lost 3-1, if they are not at the top of their game. United should carefully balance between high press and defending from deep.(1/2)

With the first leg being played at Old Trafford, United can easily go for the "safer" option and play more deeper, but they have to try and exploit every weak point in this Roma side. They can't allow their press to be non-existent like at the King Power stadium in March.(2/2)

CONCLUSION - Quality prevails in football and with that being on the Red Devils side, this tie will be decided on what sort of Manchester United performances we see. Roma are a danger that shouldn't be underestimated, but if United play to their best, they will go through.

Thank you everyone that read this, have a lovely day.