Rick Karsdorp will be Roma’s number-one right-back against the unbeatable Leverkusen

Remember when 22-year-old Rick Karsdorp signed for AS Roma and immediately suffered two consecutive knee injuries, ruining his debut season? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

June 2017. It seems like ages ago. Sometimes, I forget Rick has been a member of Roma for so long now. He’s one of the senior members of the squad, joining the Giallorossi before Gianluca Mancini, Bryan Cristante, Chris Smalling, or Leonardo Spinazzola. Yet, most of us look at Karsdorp differently than those players. He’s not one of the ‘pillars’ of the team for various reasons.

With injuries, a loan back to Feyenoord in 2019, new coaches, and the same transfer rumors every summer, Karsdorp has survived quite a bit during his stay in Rome. But Leverkusen might actually be one of his, if not THE, most important matches since 2017. Zeki Celik is suspended, and Rasmus Kristensen is not eligible to play in the Europa League. That only leaves Rick as right-back in Daniele’s 4-3-3 (or 3-5-2, depending on how he’ll counter Xabi Alonso’s team).

How nice it would be to finally see Karsdorp perform on the biggest stage: a European semifinal against an unbeaten team, perhaps the most informed squad in Europe right now, with a master tactician at the helm and a knack for scoring last-minute goals.

One of Leverkusen’s many dangers is their wingbacks. Grimaldo, Tella, Frimpong, and Wirtz are all having a massive season, which can cause many problems for any team. Roma has been desperately trying to find a decent solution at right-back ever since Maicon left. Yeah, it sounds like trouble to me.

Enter Rick Karsdorp—the man to take the fight to (probably) Grimaldo on the right. I’m sure many Roma fans are having nightmares of this duel. Rick is one of those hot ‘n cold players. Either he drowns together with the squad, or he’ll easily contain the likes of Grimaldo, Messi, Ronaldo, and Theo Hernandez. There’s no middle way.

The problem is that we’ve seen far too few matches in which Karsdorp excels. Where he shows us exactly how talented he is/was and why he was one of the hottest young right-backs at the time back in 2017. A truly marauding, menacing, pacy right-back who would walk right into Leverkusen’s XI. Instead, we’ve seen Karsdorp struggle vs the likes of Verona, Slavia Prague, Lecce, Sassuolo, and Udinese.

This season hasn’t changed a thing. Celik, Kristensen, and Karsdorp couldn’t make that right-back position their own. Mou preferred Kristensen while he burned bridges with Karsdorp. De Rossi seems to use Celik more. And Karsdorp? Well, he’s there too. Somewhere. He’s doing mediocre things if he’s not on the bench.

Against Leverkusen, there’s simply no other choice: Karsdorp has to play. And preferably, play out of his mind and cancel all danger from Leverkusen’s left wing. It is a tough task, but who can you trust from all our personnel? Daniele rested Rick during the Napoli game, so at least he’s 100% fit and ready to go. It may be his final chance this season to redeem himself, earn Daniele’s faith, and secure his spot on the team for next season. Otherwise, one of those transfer rumors will turn into reality very soon.