Milan: AS Roma coach Claudio Ranieri is ready to risk further dissent within his squad by tinkering again with his attacking lineup as he seeks to challenge the Serie A leaders.
In recent weeks Ranieri has juggled his five leading strikers — Francesco Totti, Mirko Vucinic, Adriano, Jeremy Menez and Marco Borriello — and Roma has won five of its last six matches.
However, Totti and Vucinic have complained about not being guaranteed a starting place, with reports in Italy linking Totti to a move to the United States and Vucinic to Inter Milan.
Roma hosts Cagliari in Serie A on Saturday and will aim to close the six-point gap on league leader AC Milan.
"Everyone wants to do their best," Ranieri said, "but (the players) have to understand what the coach needs from the team. I have to think about what is good for the whole team and not just one person."
Asked about Totti's and Vucinic's unrest, he said: "I understand. They are both used to being first-choice players, but this is the first time I have had so much choice in attack. We have to learn to live together."
Menez has become Ranieri's preferred option behind the front two strikers and has started the past five league games.
He came off the bench at halftime against Lazio in the Italian Cup on Wednesday, and his direct running inspired Roma to a 2-1 victory.
"After the break I put Vucinic and Menez on because I wanted to win the match," Ranieri said. "The Frenchman caused massive problems for Lazio's defense."
Defending champion Inter Milan faces a fierce test away to Udinese on Sunday.
Since Leonardo took over as coach in December, Inter has won five successive matches, while striker Samuel Eto'o has taken his Inter goal tally to 24.
However, Udinese has hit 10 goals in its last three Serie A games.
"It is not easy to always be brilliant," Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin said, "but if we stay together and not get carried away we can continue to do well.
"Not even Barcelona scores eight goals in two away games. We know we can beat anyone, but we can't always expect so many goals."
AC Milan is unbeaten in 2011, but signs of nerves have crept into its game in recent weeks, with draws against Lecce and Udinese.
Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Nesta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have all won Sere A titles, and coach Massimo Allegri is confident that Milan can overcome its minor slump.
"We will see the best of Milan when everyone is fit again," Allegri said. "We need to relax more and we shouldn't be nervous.
"If you had said to us at the start of the season that we would be first in January, with this many points, I would have taken the offer."
Also, it is: Bari vs. Napoli; Bologna vs. Lazio; Chievo Verona vs. Genoa; Fiorentina vs. Lecce; Sampdoria vs. Juventus; Palermo vs. Brescia; and Parma vs. Catania.
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