:fero::fero::fero:
Ok, Man U played well, as Mate pointed out, but no way they should beat us 3-0 at our home. On paper, we definetely had a superior team, but what annoys me is that we lost it in desire, and mentality. Some of the players on the night, should be ashamed of themselves to be wearing such a prestigious shirt. What Juve makes Juve is the famous "Spirito Juve" and I saw nothing of that against Man U. They always won the loose ball, they always won the 50-50 challenges, they were a lot quicker than us in their transition from defence to attack, and were a lot more focused and determined than our team.
Conte, Trezegeut, Montero were the main culprit for lack of desire and determination. Our midfield did not pressurize the opposition's midfelder or attacker. They had far too much space and time, this has nothing to do with Man U playing good football. It is simply lack of workrate on our part. Our attackers tried to play too intricately, and consequently lost the ball far too easily. Great defending from Man U? Hardly so. There were at times, I was literally shouting, "Play it simple, you clown!". The main purpose of attack is to score goals not going past players, or flicks, or acrobatic kicks. Trez, though, a great goal scorer should have couple of goals. Had he scored that header, we could and would have won the game. Instead he hits the bar from 5-yards out. Also, he showed no determination to close down the defenders, or try to shake them off. Maybe he was starved of quality service, but in all honesty, his movement was so predictable that it was pathetic. Trez was more of following the ball, rather than finding the free space and time.
And Lippi, cannot get away from the criticism. Why on earth, did he play 4-2-3-1 formation. Di Vaio is a striker not a midfielder, full stop. He would of made a lot of attacking threat with his space had he lead the line. Asking Trez to lead the line is just not possible at the top level, because, like I criticized Nisterlooy, Trez just don't have the pace to penetrate the opposition defence if they keep line well up the field. Also passing, and technique is hardly the best quality Di Vaio can offer. And also does Lippi not realize that playing 4-2-3-1 leaves the midfield severely weaken and just not possible at the top level. If you have Viera-Deschamp, coupled with the fantasy of Zidane, Djorkaeff, Pires, then it migh work, but not with Di Vaio- Camoranesi-Nedved, front line backed up by Conte and Davids. Firstly, Conte and Davids don't have the passing quality to keep possession in the middle of the park. Secondly, We don't have legitimate playmaker, a fantasista, who can make our passing and attacking move unpredictable. Our passing route was so predicatable it was unreal. The problem with that formation was that Man U won so many uncontested or contested ball in the middle of the park, that it gave them ample of opportunity to break forward, and at the same time, break our rythm. Lippi should have put Nedved or Camoranesi or even both to more orthodox midfield position and play orthodox front two.
Montero, well, he was simply irritating. Giving the ball away, lacking pace, not so good on the air(to be fair, he never was good in the air anyway), and not so commanding as he used to be in organizing the defence. We just did not had the shape in the defence. This was partly due to our formation which gave too much room to cover for Zambrotta and Thruam. They did ok, but the burden was just simply too much. Zambrotta, looked much more comfortable going forward then defending, which makes me wonder why on earth Pessetto did not start from the beginning. Also the performance in defence makes me wonder, why on earth we let Nest go to Milan. To be honest, our defence did well most of the season. However, the problem is clear that we struggle against quality opposition. Lazio, Man U, and Depor all burned us alive during periods of game, and we struggle not against build up team like Milan but counter attacking team like Lazio and Man U (on the night). This is not just the problem of lack of pace in the back line, but the squad in general. And I wonder the players that we have, have the desire to win trophies and games. Maybe, we need to shake the team a bit this year, as players like Maresca, Miccoli look like they are hungry for success and recognition.
Maybe, I am wrong, but they have to show that from now on, and starting from the game against Inter. Show desire, willingness to work as a team, and determination to win the game. That is all I ask for, and the team lacked that against Man U. The good thing is, we should still make the qualification, and as we often proved in the past, the qualification stage means nothing and the competetion begins from the knock-out stages. Maybe, this 3-0 defeat could be the catalyst for greater things, and it is up to players to make it happen because despite this defeat we are very talented him which can go all the way.
Jun
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I replayed that moment many times and I was disgusted. He would then make runs up the left side and when Man U countered, he was no where to be seen on defense. Not one decent cross came from his runs up the left side. If he was unable to produce decent crosses from his favorite right side position, what makes anyone think he can do it from the left???????
