The Argentine has already scored a brace in Cagliari. Baldanzi favored over Dybala as false 9
Immediately after the first defeat of the season in the league, the home defeat against Torino on 14 September, he himself took care of it – Matias Soulé – to solve things. With that nice assist for Lorenzo Pellegrini which gave Roma the victory in the derby against Lazio. Well, the one born that day seemed almost like an improvised couple, for some destined to be sporadic, almost a necessity with no future. And instead Soulé and Pellegrini gradually took over Roma (today without Wesley, stopped by a muscle problem) and are now to all intents and purposes the most effective offensive players at Gasperini’s disposal. That once again, in Cagliari, he will rely above all on the two of them to win and cancel the defeat against Napoli, the fourth of this championship. With them Gasp will re-propose the fantasy formula, also including the Baldanzi spinning topsomeone who had already been sold (on loan) to Verona on 31 August and who today finds himself almost indispensable. Baldanzi, in fact, is in ballot with Dybala for a starting shirtbut on the plane that left late yesterday afternoon for Cagliari he got on as the favorite to start from the start.
The wait
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It is clear that Gasperini today expects an important response from Soulé himself, who appeared opaque against Napoli and who instead can be decisive in trying to restart the momentum of a Roma team that also hopes – with a victory – to be able to find itself in the lead again, considering the difficult commitments of Milan (in Turin) and Napoli (at home against Juventus). Soulé, among other things, scored his only double of his career in Cagliarion 29 October 2023, when he was in Frosinone. Furthermore, today Matias is also hunting for his tenth goal in Serie A with Roma, with which to aim for a sweet record: in the Giallorossi, in fact, only two foreign players have scored more than Soulé in Serie A before reaching the age of 23 (which will happen to the Argentine on 15 April): Erik Lamela (19) and Cengiz Under (13). Then, by scoring, Soulé (who so far is also the player who has recovered the most balls in the final third of the pitch, 15) would equal his score in Serie A last season (5 goals), but with 13 fewer games (14 against 27).
The surprise
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Obviously, in the fantasy formula Soulé is the diamond, but a certain Lorenzo Pellegrini has also been shining around him for a while. Who also received other compliments from Gian Piero Gasperini yesterday. “Pellegrini, he is extraordinary, just like Soulé – said the Roma coach – Lorenzo is a strong player, very solid, always present, who trains very well. And he is an excellent boy, he is part of that whole group of captains who are very attached to the team, to the season, to the team’s performance”. To the pleasant surprise also of those who thought that Lorenzo had pulled the plug and was only thinking about finding another team, considering the contract expires next June. It is still too early to say what will happen, it is also possible that Roma will propose a renewal – at much lower prices than the current ones – to Pellegrini. And that he thinks about it is absolutely not in question…
The formula
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In the meantime, however, today we need to return to victory and one of Baldanzi or Dybala will play alongside Matias and Lorenzo. With the trottolino favourites, also because Dybala was weakened by an annoying fever during the week (which he had already carried with him since the match against Napoli). With the three of them, Roma will clearly be different from when they can field a center forward. “Dybala wasn’t well this week, he needs to find consistency again – concludes Gasp – Baldanzi did well in Cremona and also with Napoli he created the most dangerous opportunity. He’s a boy who gives good responses, even in what isn’t his role. To play with him as a centre-forward you have to do it in a certain way. You have to look for speed, technique, triangles and the ball on the ground.” Exactly, the fantasy formula. With this Roma returns to chasing victories. And, who knows, maybe even at the top…
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