Four Things We Learned: Patience and precision unlocks Samp defence

Roma start 2021 on the right foot

Roma started 2021 just as they finished 2020, registering a vital win at the Stadio Olimpico.

With the rain coming down and the pitch becoming increasingly heavy, Roma couldn't get their passing game flowing as crisply as usual. Their cause wasn't helped by how compact and organised Sampdoria were defensively, but Roma never gave up and kept to the task, as they were eventually rewarded when Edin Dzeko secured a second half winner.

Controlling proceedings throughout, they fact they outshone Claudio Ranieri's men in shots (21 to five), possession (65.5% to 34.5%), pass success rate (85% to 69%), dribbles (12 to six) and aerials won (22 to 12) illustrated their dominance.

Speaking after the match, Paulo Fonseca was pleased with his team's determination to overcome Samp.

“Sampdoria are hard to play against, they are a very well-organised side and they defend really well. But the boys always believed they would find a winner," he said.

"We kept things really solid at the back. When you do that, you always have the chance to win – because we were creating chances as well. It was tough to play out there because of the weather, but I have to say that the staff did a brilliant job to drain it.

"Today we controlled the game throughout and we deserved to win."

Smalling shuts down Quagliarella

Stopping Samp's star striker, Fabio Quagliarella, is typically never a straightforward assignment, as the 37-year-old, who's scored seven goals in the league, is a wily.operator But Chris Smalling nullified the Italian brilliantly.

Using a combination of his athleticism, physicality and reading of the play, Smalling hardly gave his adversary a sniff, in what was a rare off night for Quagliarella.

Awake to his runs in behind, surges into the box and when he dropped deep towards the ball, the Englishman's speed and anticipation ensured his marker hardly impacted the game via these methods.

In addition, his superiority in the air was decisive too, for Smalling's terrific leap and judgement meant he won the majority of their aerial duels.

Getting touchtight so his opponent couldn't gain much separation not only allowed him to make life uncomfortable for his foe, but also meant he chimed in with some clean interventions.

The fact Quagliarella only won four of his 15 duels, lost all three of his aerial duels, had zero shots on target, completed just one touch inside the box and turned the ball over 11 times evidenced his struggles.

Comprehensively winning his battle with one of Serie A's most respected marksmen, Smalling yet again proved what an asset he is for the Giallorossi.

Dropping mids key in build up

An interesting component of Roma's build up was the movement of central midfielders Jordan Veretout and Gonzalo Villar. Whenever Roma were passing out from the back, one of the two men would drop back alongside Smalling, which was the trigger for the ball near outside centre back, either Roger Ibanez or Gianluca Mancini, to push wide into a fullback position.

This strategy helped Roma dictate proceedings and cause confusion within Samp's pressing setup on who to press in what zone. As a result, Roma were able to lure out their opponents while creating overloads, which saw them often able to beat the press.

Seeing as one of Samp's mids would jump to Veretout or Villar, which Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Lorenzo Pellegrini would be awake to, this crucially allowed Roma's dual 10s to exploit the openings that arose in midfield.

Effectively stretching their opposition's first wave of pressure and causing decisional dilemmas, this smartly devised tactic certainly helped Roma gain a foothold in the match.

Dzeko's spatial awareness and intelligence

Dzeko's experience and expertise was constantly on display during this win, as his spatial awareness and intelligence were especially joy joyous to watch.

Quick to identify gaps within the Samp rearguard, plus if a defender was preoccupied or ball watching, Dzeko made his move. This saw him drop deep to link play, embark on some sweet runs in behind and push into the box cleverly.

Indeed, his goal owed plenty to his instincts, where his cunningly angled run meant he was ideally placed to apply his wicked finish.

Meanwhile, when it came to making space for others, he was equally impressive. Persistently dragging, occupying and pinning opponents, the Bosnian powerhouse was able to manufacture gaps for the likes of Mkhitaryan and Pellegrini to exploit.

Factor in how he used opposite movements and rotated with his fellow attackers, and this amplified Roma's capacity to manipulate Samp's defensive line.

While this aspect of his game can sometimes get overlooked, his accomplished performance certainly brought this part of his armoury into sharp focus.