Could Ucan could be the answer to Roma's midfield woes?
Yet things have turned out differently. If Kevin Strootman’s injury is no longer a surprise – the Dutch international was operated once again in mid-September – Seydou Keita’s is.
With the Malian quickly earning coach Garcia’s confidence, news of his five-week layoff has hit Trigoria hard.
That said, Roma have a history of making virtue of necessity, with Luciano Spalletti’s famous “Christmas tree” 4-2-3-1 formation being prompted by his extensive sick list. Roma used Totti as a false striker in 2006-2007, and were very entertaining to say the least. They pushed champions Inter Milan right down to the wire the following season.
Garcia, for his part, experimented with a midfield two with Pjanic alongside Nainggolan and moving Alessandro Florenzi back up into midfield in last weekend's 4-2 rout of Palermo.
The Bosnian international took the keys to the Porsche and drove it with aplomb, scoring once, having a goal disallowed and nearly assisting Florenzi.
Roma’s problems aren’t just limited to the midfield, with Antonio Rudiger out through injury and Leandro Castan still not 100%, though Garcia seems to trust Daniele De Rossi as a centre-back.
Without De Rossi in midfield, however, the French coach has had to use William Vainqueur in the middle. This seemed to work against Carpi, though the BATE Borisov game saw the former Nantes product be subbed off at the half.
With Vainqueur’s poor performance still on his mind, Garcia was able to strike gold by turning to Salih Ucan. Despite showing a lot of promise, Ucan struggled to find space at the Olimpico last season.
Only with Leandro Paredes’ loan to Empoli was the Turkish player moved up the team’s pecking order, rewarding coach Garcia with a convincing showing against Palermo. The –year-old is on loan from Fenerbahce on a two year, 11 million deal, with Roma increasinly liked to excercise their option to buy on the midfielder, who can work well in both a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1.
Could he become a feature in Roma's midfield? With a reputation for grooming young stars like Eden Hazard and Alessandro Florenzi, coach Garcia may just have another surprise in store for Serie A fans.
