From the outside looking in, a second consecutive 2nd place finish behind a dominant Juventus side might appear to have been an example of consistency from Rudi Garcia's Roma but, upon further inspection, this season has been a letdown in comparison to the last. It started in similar fashion, with the Giallorossi able to string off a run of wins to keep pace with Juve early on. They were also going well in the Champions League after a long absence from the competition - a draw away at Manchester City being a particular early highlight. However, the wheels soon began to come off and it was perhaps in Europe's premier club competition where it started to happen as they were utterly humiliated 7-1 away from home by Bayern Munich and eventually exited the tournament after losing at home to City in a decider at Stadio Olimpico. They were demoted to the Europa League but were also sent crashing out at the last sixteen stage by Fiorentina. Despite that, Roma remained within touching distance of Juventus at the start of 2015 but then completely collapsed with a plethora of unexpected draws which meant they slipped further and further away from a winning Juve side. By April time, they were behind bitter rivals Lazio in the table and only barely managed to scrape 2nd place in the end. It was hardly the same as last season when the club achieved a record points total under Garcia. So what changed? Well the departure of key defender Medhi Benatia in the summer certainly didn't help whilst his partner at the back for most of last season, Leandro Castan, was injured for most of this campaign. Francesco Totti still shows flashes of brilliance but Garcia seemed to rely on him far too often and didn't have much in the form of back-up having also eventually sold Mattia Destro. Seydou Doumbia arrived in January but made hardly any impact as an alternative up-front. The midfield remained the best part of the side with the likes of Alessandro Florenzi and Radja Nainggolan providing the energy and bite to compliment Miralem Pjanic's consistent flair. However, with not enough in attack for them to service, Roma became pretty predictable to play against. This summer could be pivotal for Garcia who needs to recruit well in order to mount a challenge to Juventus' dominance. A striker with pace, the ability to run in behind and finish is certainly required unless Doumbia suddenly comes good. Garcia will also have to show versatility in his tactics and less naivety in the Champions League in order to make progress.
