Mourinho once said that if you don't have a hound when hunting, you can only take a cat with you, so there is the famous "Benzer cat". In the future, when Benzer T-Rex dominates the Champions League, I don't know if he will thank Mourinho for his past inspiration.
After taking charge of Roma, Mourinho had his own "dog". At least this time, Bovi enjoyed the name and repaid his mentor with his goals.
01. It was Jose Mourinho's insistence: let Bovi stay in Rome
a. Join the Roma Academy at less than 10 years old: full of DNA
The story of Bovi's football originated at a football school in the north of Rome. He grew up there until 2012, when Bovi, who was not yet 10 years old, received an olive branch from Rome.
Without much hesitation, he chose to come to the Trigolia training base, which is also the cradle of the growth and success of countless Roman children.
Trigoria, on the outskirts of Rome, is quiet and airy. It has everything Roma has to offer, and even in 2019, there is a private international school for youth players.
Both the members of the first team and the young people will grow here and become an integral part of this team.
b. It was Jose Mourinho's insistence: keeping Bovey in the team
Born in 2003, Bovi was promoted to the first team by Jose Mourinho last season.
In Jose Mourinho's words, Bovi could only play five minutes last season, and a year later, he went from being competent for 20 or 30 minutes to becoming a qualified starter. Always keep improving, which is what Bovey likes.
According to Osdini, a veteran reporter for the Times of Rome, the team's goal in the winter window is to sign midfielder Flatsi.
Because Sassuolo's price tag is as high as 35 million euros (Roma's youth training, which can deduct 30% of secondary transfers), Roma have prepared an offer of 15 million euros + Bovi.
However, the deal did not go through because Mourinho decided to keep Bovey. He expects more from the youngster, and at the same time, after the winter window, he also gives Bovey more opportunities.
Especially when Smalling, Kumbra and Llorente are all suffering from injuries at the back, and Christante in midfield needs to play as a guest centre-back, Bovey's chances of appearing in midfield are increasing.
02. After Benze the cat, Mourinho had the Bovi
a. Many young people used: Jose Mourinho won a thank you
After Jose Mourinho became Roma manager, he promoted a lot of players from the youth team.
In addition to the well-known Zalevski, Gian, Bovey and Volpato, there are also Fatikandi in midfield, Shilovic in the striker, and defender Trippi.
Midfielder Fatticanti came on at the age of 18 wearing Roma's number 73 shirt. His father made a special thank you to Mourinho in an interview after the game.
"For Giacomo [Fatikandi], this game is just the beginning. We need to take our time, there's a lot of work to be done, and we can't get too excited.
Mourinho is a very charismatic coach with a strong personality that allows him to convey exactly what he wants to convey to the players without even using words. ”
b. After Benze the cat, Mourinho had the Bovey
Mourinho once compared Higuain to a hunting dog and Benze the cat as a cat, which led the Frenchman to go to his office and have a good fight.
In contrast, Mourinho used the word "wounded dog" when talking about Bovey, but won his own praise. Bovey didn't think it was an insult: "As you know, I laughed when I heard it. It's a good thing, Jose Mourinho brings us a different mentality, he always keeps the players hungry and helps you mentally well. ”
Bovi's physical fitness is more average, and he was nicknamed "sick dog" by Mourinho because he worked very hard in the game.
Willing to run wildly on the field, up and down, and even keep going to the wing. Although he is not so good at one-on-one scrambles, and his technical characteristics are not an all-round midfielder, he can continue to contribute to the team with solid basic skills and a good attitude to the game.
03. Make-up Shot Expert & Not Defensive Actions
a. Make-up specialists
When it comes to Bovey's characteristics, the most conspicuous is the make-up shot. Strictly speaking, it is the awareness of forward insertion and the keen sense of smell in search of shooting opportunities.
At the age of 20, he is 179 centimeters tall, but overall he still appears to have short legs, which limits his efficiency in key rounds and his ability to defend and move.
Bovey's first Serie A goal of the season came from a make-up shot. Belotti's header created the opponent's handball and Roma got a penalty.
Christante's shot didn't score, but Bovey kept up in time to score and help Roma break the deadlock.
Figure 13
Take this goal in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final, for example, after Bovi won the first point of the header after Tammy Abraham, he keenly anticipated the second point, which was the key to the start of this attack.
When the second shot came up, it was Belotti who was further ahead, but Bovey was sharper than a striker, and that's what makes him shine.
One of the traditional characteristics of the Italian midfielder is that he has solid basic skills and strong running ability. Under high-intensity running, it is rare to be able to continue to complete technical movements.
Bovey is not a core midfielder who launches his own attack, but he can surprise when used as a back-up attacking point. After passing straight through Tammy Abraham, followed by a forward interpolation to score, this wave of attack is the collection of all his characteristics.
In the same game, this time Belotti cut inside with the ball on the wing, and it was Bovi who shot in front of goal. I have to say that he really is an expert in make-up shots.
b. After the attack and defense pause: the ability to do movements is average
Bovi's confrontation efficiency in Serie A is still good, with a success rate of 61% against one-on-one high-ball and a low one-on-one success rate at the feet, but still 45%. Because he has a good confrontational temperament and quick prediction, he can often get the ball in place in advance.
But Bovi will still be afraid of the relatively dexterous and fast attacker, especially the overall height of the Roman central axis, a little bulky, 179 cm tall Bovi should be the one to make up for the defects, but he is relatively short legs, and the accuracy of his feet is not high.
The Europa League semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen was evident at the start. The opponent had 2 good scoring chances in 5 minutes.
This time Bovey turned around, and teammates Mancini and Nemanja Matic in front of him stuck their way to Würtz, which should have relied on him to break the ball. As a result, Wiltz deftly dodged, leaving Bovey's kick without any gain.
It can be clearly seen from the camera that after Bo Wei saw the opponent's horizontal pass, the speed of the front top and the second turn in time was quite fast.
There is no problem with his enthusiasm, but the efficiency of this kick is not up, so he can't really sit on the lead for the time being. Otherwise, with his technical characteristics, it is still quite valuable for Rome when switching offensive and defensive.
Conclusion:
A long season will be very demanding on the team's personnel reserve. Especially for multi-line teams, if there is a lack of sufficient funding, then the coach needs to better dig internal potential.
Bovey's rise is another success for Mourinho. Whether or not the Portuguese madman will continue to stay in Rome next season, the growth of the fifth generation of Rome's "Bovi Dog" will be branded by the boss.