Serie A 2018/19: Roma vs Torino

Roma hosted Torino at the Olimpico as Serie A finally restarted after their three-week break. Unfortunately, neither side was able to showcase their best form and looked sluggish. As always though, the clash brought some interesting tactical trends. Romas use of the ball proved vital in their 3-2 win. This tactical analysis aims to highlight why the game looked as it did.

Teams

Eusebio Di Francesco went for his talented Italian midfield trio with Lorenzo Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante behind Nicolo Zaniolo. Roma were dealt an early blow as Cengiz Under went off injured after five minutes with Stephan El Shaarawy, who would score the winner, replacing him. Torino went for an unconventional line-up with full-back Cristian Ansaldi playing in central midfield.

Tactical analysis: How both teams pressed

The main take-away from the game, which had a huge influence, was how both teams pressed. Lets take a closer look.

Romas press

There was nothing revolutionary about Romas press at all. In fact, they just used simple man-orientations and pressed the closest man and forced the ball back to Sirigu. The goalkeeper is one of the worst in Serie A with his feet and repeatedly gave the ball away. The below image is one example. If he had moved quickly he could have given the ball to Lyanco with El Shaarawy quite far away. But it was safety first and he went long where Fazio and Manolas dominated.

Below is an example of how Roma forced the ball back to Sirigu. Zaniolo starts the press and forces Torino to play the ball backwards thanks to the support-pressing of his teammates who move up. The ball goes to Sirigu and then Roma soon had it back again.

Roma did press well,