Poor first half? him and Gio were the only 2 playing well
But we definitely can't have him alongside Marchisio and Pirlo. One of Vidal, Asa or at least Pogba has to play to cover the middle
Yes he had a very poor first half, the comments on the live thread verify that. He has shown a Di Livio/Pepe lke persistance though and i understand the sympathy, esp after the great first 15' at second half that concluded to the goal. But objectvely though, you cannot forget a whole first half and Giacche was horrible there, at his fair effort, to produce smth and everything turned out horrible, his passes, dribbles, shoots, everything...
All the while Marchisio played it safe and was objectvely far more productive and less wastefull.
As for the second half, it was completely overshowdowed by the epic performance of the turn table Asamoah, who created the penalty and sealed the victory!
So claiming that Giacche was our best man, is a bit overstretched...
And i agree, to balance the midfield a dynamic midfielder like Vidal/Asamoah/Pogba is a must!