For the second season in a row, there was plenty of "ROMAnticism" surrounding the Giallorossi. Last year's experiment of bringing in Luis Enrique to transform the club into "Barca-Roma" clearly failed but that didn't stop the fans from being optimistic over the return of "Zemanlandia". Zdenek Zeman was back in charge after swashbuckling success in promoting an exciting Pescara side to the top flight. "Attack, attack, attack" wasn't just something football fans chanted for Zeman, it was a philosophy on how to play the game. In the opening weeks of the season, it garnered many plaudits for the thrilling matches his team were involved in. The 3-0 destruction of Inter at the San Siro even gave the fans hope that there was substance behind the style. However, it wasn't long before the wheels started to fall off and teams started to figure out what looked a rather dated, simplistic style of play. For all their flair going forward, Roma remained very susceptible at the back despite the emergence of young defender Marquinhos, who had a fine debut season. Nevertheless, the negatives of Zemanlandia started to severely outweigh the positives in the early part of 2013 with poor results and a huge number of goals conceded leading to the Czech coach's departure. Aurelio Andreazzoli was promoted from within and he appeared to steady the ship initially but the performances of the team weren't nearly as easy on the eye. After a while, the results also started to wane again and Roma finished outside the European places in the league. There was the scant consolation of finishing above arch-rivals Lazio, but even that minor victory was undermined as they lost to the Biancocelesti in the all-Rome Coppa Italia Final which means no European football again next season. Who will be in charge is the biggest question as it seems Andreazzoli lost any support he had with the cup final defeat. He also fell out with the notoriously volatile Pablo Osvaldo, after leaving him out of that game. The striker looks to be heading out of the club whilst Daniele De Rossi's influence has also been compromised this season. The one remaining constant is the evergreen Francesco Totti, who enjoyed something of an "Indian summer" in his career as he became Serie A's second highest goalscorer in history after rolling back the years with several fine performances. The one certainty is that he will stay on as the skipper and talisman next season but everything else looks in place for another summer of change for Roma.
