There is no fear under the pressure! The home game against Bode Shine is of extraordinary significance to Roma, as the only seedling in the European competition in Serie A, advancing to the final four of the European Union league not only represents the honor of the team, but also concerns the face of the Serie A team. Faced with an opponent who has not been able to win three times in a row this season, the Red Wolves will win a big victory without bloodshed, and it is Zaniolo, known as the "New Wolf King", who leads the team to conquer the fortress.
Niccolò Zagnolo was born in July 1999 in Massa, Italy, a small town in Tuscany where the sun makes olive trees flourish and Zaniolo thrives. His father, Igor Zaniolo, is a professional player who has been in Serie B for 21 years, and perhaps under the influence of his father, Zaniolo has also chosen to go down the road to greenery.
As a child, Zaniolo's physical qualities were very different from what he is now, and the enlightenment stage of his football career can be described as bumpy, whether in Genoa or the Fiorentina academy, he was never a sparkling player, and even had the idea of giving up playing. In the summer of 2016, at the suggestion of his father, he joined Serie B side Entrera, and Zaniolo seemed to wake up like a dream.
March 11, 2017, was an extraordinary day for Zaniolo, who was 17 at the time. In Entrera's away appearance in Serie B against Benevento, he made his professional league debut as a substitute for Caputo. Zaniolo's confidence was boosted, and finally when he came to Trapani that season, he successfully replaced Katerani and gradually sat in the starting forward. As a result, Zaniolo became a supernova who attracted much attention in Serie B that season, and he was also favored by Inter Milan.
At the end of the season, the Nerazzurri threw an olive branch to Zaniolo and the club spent 2 million euros to take him to the Meazza Stadium. Zaniolo quickly adapted to his new environment and stood out among the many young talents, contributing a dazzling stat of 14 goals and 9 assists throughout the season to win the Serie A Youth League title. At the end of the season, Zaniolo was selected for the Italian U19 European Youth Championship, he scored in the first game in Finland, and then gave an assist in the knockout round, leading the team to eliminate the U19 France team with the highest call for the championship, and finally only lost to Portugal in extra time to get the runner-up, he and Xiao Keane and Tonari became shining supernovaes that summer.
Also that summer, Roma midfielder Nainggolan was picked up by Inter. In this transfer, the Nerazzurri planned to use Pinamonti or Emers as the head, but the discerning Munch named non-Zagnolo, although the club was unwilling to give up the potential of the new star, but Spalletti was eager to "renew the frontier" with Nainggolan, so Zaniolo came to Rome as a head, which became a painful lesson for Inter.
At this time, Zaniolo has opened the second vein of Ren Dou, he not only has excellent physical fitness and extremely fast speed, but also shows a good combination of human ball ability and ball quotient. In addition, when dealing with some five-and-five balls, he usually handles it properly, and can continue to threaten the opponent after taking the ball, and the in-cut technique is his best play. So much so that before he appeared in Serie A, he was favored by the eager national team coach Mancini. In September 2018, Mancini announced the new national team roster, zaniolo's name is prominent, he became the fourth player in history to be selected for the Italian national team without playing in Serie A.
As he gradually integrated into the team's culture, Zaniolo began to prove step by step that he was not a waste of time. Half a month after being selected for the national team, he made his first start for Roma. In the group stage of the Champions League away to Real Madrid, Zaniolo started 54 minutes, and he was not timid in the spotlight of the Bernabeu, and the two wonderful passes were quite a big general. As the season progressed, Zaniolo showed his versatility in multiple positions as a centre-forward, forward-back and winger, and with the injuries of Pastore and Yundale, he had plenty of playing opportunities and became the team's starter.
The following year, in the Champions League 1/8 knockout home game Leclic Porto, only 19-year-old Zaniolo opened the bow around, and the first Champions League goal was scored twice, setting a new record for the youngest Italian player to score two goals in a single European match. Suddenly, he became the hottest player in Italian football, even starting to compare him to Totti in his youth, and looked forward to him becoming Roma's "new wolf king".
However, the impermanence of the world is the norm in life. Just as Roma fans saw Zaniolo as the future club totem leader, a sudden injury "invaded" his career. In early 2020, in a home match against Juventus, Zaniolo fell to the ground after a high-speed breakthrough, and was diagnosed with a torn cruciate ligament + meniscus damage to his right knee after the game, which directly led to his 142-day absence. Just two months after his comeback, Zaniolo tore another cruciate ligament in his left knee in the UEFA Nations League. Having experienced two major injuries in just nine months, not only has it hit the supernova's confidence, but also a big question mark about whether the long-term absence can get back to its former state.
After a long period of recuperation, Zaniolo finally made his comeback before the start of the season. For the former genius, the love of Mourinho is very important, and the first warm-up game after his comeback not only let Zaniolo take the penalty, but also let him wear the captain's armband in the second half. Maybe it's the shadow of injury, a lot of one-half of the balls, he doesn't dare to make a big move. At the beginning of the season, Mourinho used the 4-2-3-1 formation on which he was famous, and Zaniolo did not have the same hard work as before in the right winger position, and the way of playing seemed to become "Buddhist".
(It's not hard to see from the shining heat map with Bode that the right is the main position of Zagnolo's attack, and his range of motion is far less than before the big injury, and his way of playing is gradually changing.) ）
After the Europa League home and away consecutive home and away games can not win The Bode Shine, Mourinho had to consider changing tactics, he tailored according to the Configuration of Roma, the formation began to switch from 3-4-2-1 and 3-4-1-2, on the one hand, to stabilize the midfield, on the other hand, can also bring changes to the offensive end, Zagnolo is the key factor in determining the change.
Although the physical confrontation has decreased a lot, Zaniolo's speed advantage is still obvious. In tough battles, Mourinho usually had Abraham come forward, with Pellegrini and Mkhitaryan forming dual commanders behind him. While playing more counter-attacks, Zaniolo and Tammy Abraham formed a double striker, using the latter's range of motion to pull horizontally, and Zaniolo had to go vertically forward. In this way, while giving the Roman offensive end a vitality, it also played to the advantages of Zaniolo.
(In the face of the first two goals scored by Bode Shining, Zaniolo used the high-speed forward insertion to form a single knife to break the goal, effectively avoiding direct confrontation at the same time, maximizing his strengths and avoiding weaknesses.) ）
Zaniolo Hao did not hide Mourinho's help to himself, and in his evaluation of Mourinho, he once said: "He really gave me a lot of encouragement, both me and the whole team. He's an amazing manager who has helped us build a winning mentality, never give up and make sure we all do our best. Seeing Mourinho on the sidelines when you're facing a tough situation can give you extra help. ”
In this campaign, in the face of Bod shining to complete the hat-trick, Zaniolo used the re-enactment of the pre-insertion to lead the team through the level, not only rewarding Mourinho's trust, but also announcing the complete return of the once talented new star. After going from Cassano to Balotelli, the Italian front line has been caught in a talent shortage for many years, and as long as Zaniolo, who regains his confidence, stays healthy, the road to revival of the Blues will surely leave his footprints!