Four things we learned from Roma's win over Udinese

Following Roma’s third win in seven days - a 3-1 victory at home to Udinese, Edward Stratmann picks out four key talking points...

Momentum growing

Roma's comprehensive 3-1 win over Udinese saw them once again gain vital momentum as they continue to adaptat to Eusebio Di Francesco's new methods. In a match where Roma played some really slick, beautiful football, Di Francesco was justifiably delighted with his team's performance. “The win is good for confidence but the football we played in both halves today is what pleased me most. I saw lots of really nice football," he announced after the game. "We need to keep doing what we're doing. The lads are taking my ideas on board and becoming more and more confident."

Dzeko and El Shaarawy linking well

The dynamics of Edin Dzeko and Stephan El Shaarawy's relationship were a key element of Roma's game plan. Whenever Dzeko would drop deep or make a run into the left channel, El Shaarawy would immediately recognise this and duly make infield movements to make sure the centre forward slot was occupied. The tactic works particularly well for El Shaarawy, who looks comfortable as a striker allowing him to use his instinctive skillset closer to goal.

Roma's second goal provided a perfect example of how effective the pair's dovetailing can be. Here, when Dzeko pulled wide, this gave El Shaarawy his cue to move infield. As the play unfolded, Dzeko would eventually receive possession on the left and play a tidy cutback right into the path of El Shaarawy, who was in an ideal central position to finish cleverly past a hapless Albano Bizzarri.

Di Francesco's comments about El Shaarawy demonstrate how highly he rates the Italian international, especially in and around goal. “I consider him a first-choice player,” stated the Roma coach. “Everyone is important in this team. Stephan had a bit of an injury problem in the summer but he's one of the best we've got at playing off the shoulder. The way I play the game, I want him getting into the box.”

Width vital in bypassing strong Udinese central coverage

Seeing as Udinese were organised into a cross between a 4-4-2, 4-1-4-1 and a 4-5-1 in their defensive phases, this usually meant they covered the centre of the pitch pretty well. So to get around this, Roma did a good job of exploiting the inherent space out wide initially before bringing the ball back inside as they got closer to goal.

The width provided by the full backs and wingers was certainly key, but the role of Roma's two most advanced central midfielders, Radja Nainggolan and Kevin Strootman, was equally important, as they provided overloads on their respective sides to outplay and progress in the wide areas.

Strootman and Nainggolan's penetrating runs

Another way the Giallorossi broke through the Little Zebras' stopping structure came via penetrative forward runs from Nainggolan and Strootman. To ensure one of the aforementioned duo had a viable platform to do so, the below image illustrates the mechanics behind their success here.

With winger Diego Perotti dropping deep and Nainggolan also coming towards the ball, this drew the attention of two of Udinese's central midfielders. Crucially, however, it ensured Udinese's defensive midfielder, Valon Behrami, pushed up and subsequently flattened their structure. Strootman duly took advantage of the huge space now created in between the opposing defensive and midfield lines to create a goalscoring opportunity for Dzeko.