Opinion: What Zappacosta will offer in Rome

AS Roma's signing of Davide Zappacosta represents another shrewd piece of business by sporting director Gianluca Petrachi.

Knowing him from well from his time at Torino, where he snapped him up from Atalanta back in 2015, Petrachi's capture of Zappacosta on loan brings in some defensive reinforcements.

Having struggled to truly establish himself at Chelsea, he returns to Italy better for the experience, for not only did he learn plenty working under Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri, he also won the FA Cup and the Europa League.

Capable of playing as a right back or a right wing back, the experienced 27-year-old will be a real asset to Roma, similarly to Leonardo Spinazzola on the opposite flank.

At the peak of his powers and ready to be a first-team regular after starting only 34 matches during his two seasons in London, Zappacosta should be ready to hit the ground running.

Full of intensity, energy and physicality in his defensive output, Zappacosta looks to make life as difficult as possible for his adversaries. A fierce presser who responds well to triggers like when an opponent drops deep with their back to goal or a pass is played near his man sideways, backwards or towards the touchline, his anticipation is key.

Pouncing with conviction, he arrives so his opponent can't enjoy any time or space on the ball to execute their actions coherently. This inherently forces many rushed decisions, which ultimately leads to turnovers. By angling his pressing diagonally, this means he can use his cover shadow to block passing lanes behind him, something that further stifles the ball holder by limiting their options.

Once possession is lost, he's shown what an effective counterpresser he can be, which will be a key tenet of Paulo Fonseca's philosophy, as he moves swiftly to win back possession. In doing so, this allows him to win back the ball against disorganised units who were preparing for a transition of their own.

If not pressing with vigour, Zappacosta does a largely sound job when settling into a low or deep block. Recognising when to step up, drop off, shift laterally, help a teammate or track a runner, his awareness of his opposition and own defensive line is at a good level.

Being quick and athletic, this holds him in good stead to provide covering support to colleagues and when monitoring opposition runs in behind that originate from his designated zone of operation.

His strength, aerial prowess and physicality accompanies this wonderfully, thus enabling him to unbalance his markers and rise above them to win headers. Standing at 182 cm, he usually enjoys a size advantage over most wingers, meaning he can get the better off them in battles in the air.

This aspect of his game also comes in handy when he's defending set pieces and needs to cover for a central defender if they get drawn out, for he can compete manfully to deal with these situations.

Applying his tackles with force and conviction, he certainly makes his presence felt when not positioning himself in his defensive shape too.

While a solid contributor on the defensive end, his most eye-catching work definitely comes on the offensive side. Always keen to get forward at every available opportunity, the Italy international's movement forms the foundation for his attacking success.

Timing his runs beautifully to join attacks, he does a brilliant job of providing width and depth to his team's attacks on his way to stretching opposition backlines both vertically and horizontally.

Picking his moments when to burst upfield, Zappacosta's always an option for a switch of play or a cross into the box, as he's such a threat on the dribble and at attacking balls into the box.

By angling and directing his runs smartly, he's so proficient at exploiting the blindside of his marker so he can enjoy a dynamic advantage over his more awkwardly oriented marker.

His quality movement subsequently puts him in ideal locations to be isolated 1v1 with his marker, fire in crosses and cutbacks and be in excellent goal scoring locations when the chance arises.

The fact his direct opponent, usually the other team's winger, struggles to contain his relentless running power, this places stress on his opposition, for the fullback has to then track him which creates a disconnect in the backline for a teammate to exploit. The graphic below aptly illustrates this, as Willian takes advantage of the fullback being occupied by Zappacosta.

Other ways he impacts proceedings with his aptitude in this regard comes from how he performs rotations with his nearby winger or central midfielder, embarks on underlapping runs and helps generate overoads out wide to help progress attacks.

Once in possession, he's quite the handful too. Relishing every chance he gets to drive at his adversaries with the ball at his feet, he's great at beating his man or gaining separation to hit his crosses and passes.

Capable of outfoxing his man with feints, shoulder drops, stepovers or by just knocking it beyond them and running onto the ball, he's a tricky customer to combat.

Maintaining good ball control and balance when surging upfield at pace, the way he fends off trackers with his arms while keeping the ball is another highlight. Being so dangerous in this area, a key byproduct is that he regularly provokes one or more pressers, which often manufactures space ahead for a teammate to use.

Zappacosta's ability to hit incisive cutbacks and crosses is another string to his bow. Whether it be driven low efforts, well weighted passes into paths of attackers, chipped balls or curled efforts, he's pretty effective finding teammates in the box. The way he regularly clears the first defender with his crosses warrants mention too.

Usually neat and tidy with his ground passing, he serves his team well when recycling possession, playing progressive vertical or diagonal passes into the feet of attackers or by launching crisp through balls in behind or into the channel.

While he can be prone to the odd turnover when being overambitious with his dribbling or passing and get caught out due to his advanced position, the positives attached to his output outweigh any negatives.

By the numbers from the last four seasons, his 1.70 accurate crosses per game, 1.73 successful dribbles pg, 1.68 progressive runs pg, 1.5 touches inside the box pg, 0.98 shot assists pg, 2.96 completed passes into the final third pg, 3.96 interceptions pg, three ball recoveries pg, 1.4 tackles pg and one won aerial duel pg demonstrates his two-way value.

Having spoken to Fonseca, who loves pushing his fullbacks high, Zappacosta can't wait to get started and believes his coach's style will suit him nicely.

"Yes, I think it (Fonseca's tactics) will suit me well if we play with high full-backs but defending is still an important part of the role, especially in a back four. It could be good for me, though, because I’m used to getting forward. It’s something that will allow me to show the best of my game."

With the Euros coming up next summer and him eager for regular minutes this campaign, Zappacosta's move to Roma looks like a perfect fit - not only for him but also the club.