How Ranieri Plans to Line Up Roma in Next Few Fixtures

The first versions of Roma with Claudio Ranieri on the bench might not differ a lot from Ivan Juric’s schematically, but they will conceptually. The veteran gaffer is likely to stick with a three-man defense early on. However, he will do away with a man-to-man marking all over the pitch, Corriere della Sera informs.

The returning boss is working on the team’s solidity first and foremost. The Giallorossi have conceded an average of 2.4 goals per game in the past five tilts. The team’s center of gravity will be lower, and there’ll be less distance between the backline and the midfield.

Ranieri is ready to give Mats Hummels a chance as the linchpin of the rearguard, with Evan N’Dicka returning to the left-hand side, and Angelino featuring almost exclusively on the wing.

The manager intends to lean heavily on his most experienced players to snap out of their funk. The Giallorossi will have three difficult fixtures in a row versus Napoli, Tottenham, and Atalanta. The gaffer will have carte blanche about Paulo Dybala’s minutes, but he’s currently nursing a muscular injury. He’d like to find a way to use him and Matias Soulé together, but it might not happen immediately.

Our Take on Roma and Ranieri

The schedule is tough, but there’s a chance for an immediate bounce as they had quite clearly quit in the final matches under Juric. They’ll have to learn how to walk before running, and 3-5-2 is a sound starting point, but they have limited depth in the back. The endpoint could be a 4-2-3-1, as they have some attackers with great work rate to help pull it off.