Four Things We Learned: Confidence restored with Frosinone thrashing

Timely triumph

Having not recorded a victory in six games going into the Frosinone game, Roma desperately needed to take home three points to ease the tension. Emphatically brushing aside Moreno Longo's men 4-0 was the perfect way to relieve some of the pressure and restore some confidence ahead of the hotly anticipated derby with Lazio.

Defending resolutely to earn a clean sheet and attacking with purpose, Eusebio Di Francesco's side controlled proceedings comfortably.

Di Francesco, who stills knows more improvement is required, cut a reasonably content figure when delivering his post-match comments.

"The important thing was to start well, with the right mentality and the desire to do what we know we can, showing intensity and the commitment we saw tonight," he explained.

"It was important for us to get three points, see some of the play that we’ve been missing, score goals and get confidence back into many of the players. This will allow us to approach the derby in the best way possible.”

Pastore the key link man

Deployed in his favoured trequartista role for this clash within Roma's 4-2-3-1, Javier Pastore was unquestionably an integral component towards the victory. While his second majestic back heel strike of the season was the obvious highlight, Pastore's intelligence both with, and without, possession was just as crucial.

Afforded plenty of freedom to support the Giallorossi's attacking phases, his crafty movement saw him constantly able to connect, construct and animate so many dangerous moves. Forever scanning his environment, the Argentine frequently took up positions to give his team numerical and positional superiority to bypass Frosinone's stopping structure.

Whether popping up between the lines, in the half spaces, dropping deep into midfield or running in behind, he was a real asset to Roma throughout.

Then once in possession, his creative passing duly manufactured many promising openings for the home side, in a display that showcased why his unique quality is so important in advanced areas.

“I feel good [in the No. 10 role], both Daniele [De Rossi] and [Steven] Nzonzi played really well and that gave me a lot of opportunity to take the ball between the lines," stated Pastore.

"We did well, played well, but we need to continue to improve and get to know each other better. I’m also happy in that role because I’ve got three strong attackers ahead of me."

Left wing catered to nicely

Facing Frosinone's 5-3-2 defensive shape, Roma did a fine job of exploiting the inherently available spaces in wide areas, and especially down the left. With Roma's two holding midfielders, De Rossi and Steven Nzonzi, often pushing over to right of centre locations, this successfully overloaded this flank and consequently caused their opposition to shift over too.

Once in a position to switch the play, one of Roma's midfielders would then take advantage of the now open left side, where Aleksandar Kolarov and, at times, Stephan El Shaarawy could then receive in ideal isolation scenarios and drive at Frosinone.

Kolarov was particularly dangerous here, as his superbly timed runs stretched the away side, horizontally and vertically, to ensure central spaces to cross into could open up.

Pressing pays dividends

Whenever Frosinone attempted to build out from the back, Roma's man oriented pressing proved a very effective weapon in disrupting their adversaries' capacity to pass out from the back.

Mixing 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 4-2-1-3 and 4-4-2 pressing structures, Roma were positioned shrewdly to block passing routes upfield and to have strong access to their nearby opponent.

A wonderful example of their aptitude in this regard arose in the lead up to the Wolves' third goal, where Cengiz Under's pressure forced Marco Capuano into a sloppily hit pass that went straight to Patrik Schick.

This then meant Roma recovered position in a 3v2 supremacy to set the wheels in motion for Roma to attack a disorganised Frosinone defence, as El Shaarawy subsequently tapped in Cengiz's cross.