++ [ originally posted by Dominic
] ++
Sorry, I won't bother to read through all the pages.
As many know I was in the arena to watch the game and it was excellent. Everything, from the warm-up to the end of the game. EXCELLENT night. EVerything Is so different from watching it in on the TV.
I also bough me an Emerson shirt, Which i'm wearing at the moment.
Here are my grades, which could be surprising:
Buffon 6.5: Ajax never really penetrated our defence properly but Buffon really seemed on top of his game or maybe I just enjoyed his warm-up
.
Birindelli 5.5 : Didn't make any mistakes but didn't play outstanding as well. Didn't look threatening at ALL. Never thought I'd say this but I can't wait to see Zebina again!
Zambrotta: 7- : Solid at the back, Great runs and combinations with DP and Nedved. Always looking for the run and the 1-2. Rambo was a bit unlucky with his crosses, but that'll come good again. Which impressed me the most though (which you are able to see especially in a stadium) was his positioning both offensively (he was always available to get the ball) and defensively (always covering his man or on time for the off-side trap, Sonck must've been offside for about 40 times yesterday).
Cannavaro: 6.5. Looked Solid. Really good leadership in defence, good game and never let his man go.
Thuram: 8.5 !: Oh my God! Has he ever been this good!? This guy was amazing! Pure defending at it's best! Perfect positining, great tackling (I remeber namely when Sonck broke through and Thuram made a perfect tackle from behind on the balll), excellent composure, great reading well alll in all SHIT HE WAS GOOD! If Thuram keeps up this form, he might guide us to titles based on our defence!
I critized Thuram a lot last season, but now... FORZA Thuram!
Emerson 6.5: Played a bit in the role of the ball-winner which he did good and he also distributed the ball well. A few nice combinations. He had a few moments in the game where he faded a bit away, but overall he was very solid.
Blasi 5.5: Against Brescia I thought he was amazing, not yesterday though. Emerson did Blasi's job and more. Blasi didn't really have much to add to the play but marking a player. He played solid and fought for each and every ball that was near him, but I he needs to improve a bit.
Camoranesi 5.5: Had some good moments and improved dramatically in the second half but he had a lot mistakes in the first half and lost a lot of balls. Our right side lacked penetration and didn't look dangerous at all throughout the match.
Had some good moments in the second half and a (lucky) assist which saves his grade a bit.
Nedved 7.5: He was obviously the main engine of our team, created almost every attack. Great dribbles and runs good work and kept on running and even tackling. We needed his work though on the left because there was no threat from the right side at all, opposed to the big threat on the left side (Rambo, Nedved, DP). Nedved truly played in a free role, drifting in all the time, leaving room for Zambrotta to cut in.
Ajax (the audiance and the players) really hated Nedved's guts though alll the jeering and frustrating tackles made Nedved frustrated himself, which could've lead to a second yellow card(tackle on de Jong, but the ref did not see it). It lead to a goal though, shame about his injury because Olivera was about to come in for Camo not for Nedved.
Del Piero 6.5: Really showed his class and skills yesterday. Excellent pass which led to the goal and some excellent dribbles. All his moves lacked a certain effectiveness though and as the game wore on he sometimes stayed too long on the ball, namely once: neglecting which could've been an excellent combination with Emerson. So all in all a good performance, but he needs to do a bit more with his skills and at the right times.
Zlatan: 5.5: Slightly dissapointing, but Capello refused to sub him so he must've done something right. So I did not give him an even lower grade. Looked threating at times and was very strong on the ball. Good jesture from the crowd which gave him a standing ovation instead of wistling.
SUBS(I won't grade the subs, but i;ll report on them):
Olivera: --: GREAT GREAT GREAT Player! He is a mixture of Nedved(great shot, runs, passing, strength reads the game excellent and can be an engine)and south american flair player(dribbling and playmaking). I really hope Olivera will start on the right the next game because him and NEdved on the flanks would be so ****ing amazing. He would add so much more to our game than Camoranesi. Oli and Zebina would be so much better than Camo and Biri.
Oh and I'm now 100% sure ( I was right
) that Olivera is right footed, he takes freekicks and corners with his right foot.
..What a future star!
Pessotto: The same as Birindelli really......
Appiah: Ideal sub, when Ajax was getting the upperhand his running and persitance really screws up the opposing teams rythm. He did a good job disturbing attack and distributing the ball.
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That was all
.
Any comments ?
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