++ [ originally posted by Glen
] ++
90% agreement and very good post
.
I think you're being a bit light on DP who in my opinion is still very far from real form. Sadly- but this time seems as good as any to drop a bit of malice on him as the two goals still show he's a leading light for us.
Obviously- he has that classy element about him in many situations, both as a player and a man, but I don't think it's only Lippi's choice that he isn't getting into the thick of things up front; it's also because he's shying away from the confrontations with defenders, and both Panucci and against Barca Puyol took the steam out of him early on by being physical. Del Piero then drops deeper to get space, but with the striker isolated up front that seldom leads to anything but possession and unproffitable tricks on the spot. His horrendous passing last night you covered.
Many times when the ball is won in midfield, DP simply isn't getting forward at any pace which makes a mockery of Di Vaio's fine running about (which is all I think he's really succeeding with at Juve to be honest
), and when we're in posession he's constantly coming back to receive the ball instead of making runs into space up front.
He wasn't doing this to this extent early on in the season when he was in better physical shape, and several times he becomes a hazard when coming back because he doesn't want to do the easy thing, and with our men going forward we become vulnerable to counters when DP loses the ball or is dramatically close to doing so. In particular last night where he lost the ball on the half way line for a Tommasi/Totti combo down our left side in the first, and even worse in the second where DP and Camo of all people were playing one-two's deep in our own half with the defenders on their way. We were inches from conceeding an equalizer there I thought. Last swipe at DP: WHY does he insist on not giving his free kicks any power? He's been *****footing about them ever since he returned from injury. Even if he wasn't missing them by meters most of the time- the keepers follow them with ease. We know he has the ability to curl the ball with power and it's only on those occasions he's scored on free kicks anyway these past few years (if not deflected ones with the NT
). These opportunities are too good not to get more from, and he should get back to giving it a good wack!
That said- of course there were good things to say about DP last night too and as he won the match for us there's still a big up for a good job.
Tudor in defence (good choice Lippi!) meant that there were no physical duels we didn't win. Simple as that. Tudor should be first choice along with whatever new defender we're buying for next year (imagine Mexés dealing with the pacy guys and leading the trap, while Tudor sweeps the air and destroys the Vieri, Kluivert people? The joy!!!) and Ferrara should be first sub if he maintains current form.
I still think there's rustyness to Tudor's game though; in particular his passing as he hasn't really adapted to the fact that when you're at the heart of the CD- you don't make errant or 'arrogant' passes but keeps it simple. Ferrara get's by (and greatly so) on knowing exactly what he can do and when to do it, and I thought he was better than Tudor overall last night, because even having the task of guarding the much faster Montella (who has come back to shape in a big fecking way) Ferrara kept him away from any chances apart from the goal which was obviously Nedved's mistake (and supercool execution by Totti/Montella). An added bonus about Ferrara is the way he leads the line, and Montela would be right in shaking his head if he wasn't thinking about the linesman because he was caught every single time.
On the whole I thought the individual performances were nice overall, but our game super boring yet intense because of the animosity.
Last, which is actually where I disagree with you I think.
Lippi's substitutions (to start there) to me made a world of sense as Nedved is indispensable for tuesdays game and he had taken quite a few knocks apart from the ones he inflicted on himself
. Pessotto only meant suring up the left flank because Montella was increasingly drifting there to get a race on with Ferrara, and Pessotto's covering the spaces relieved pressure.
Conte coming on instead of Camo apart from wasting a bit of time also made sense because Camo was clearly the most frustrated Juve player on the pitch after seing how Lima was allowed to manhandle him; he just had a booking and Conte for all his invisibility did an OK job of guarding the fort.
Di Vaio hadn't rally succeeed with much (apart from causing Aldair to cramp out
), and I thought bringing on Olivera was an OK choice, as Olivera appears to have alot of things going for him; fast and technical, but he sadly was overawed by the occasion and received quite the serieA treatment from the second he stepped onto the field
.
It's true on the other hand that Lippi's tactics were decidedly negative in the second, but had it not been we would have propably been blaming him that he wasn't looking forward to tuesdays all important clash. I know I would have.
Bottomline for me is that Lippi has led us to a 6 points advantage, about to cross the threshold to another scudetto and we're still in Europe to dream with a squad that has several real limitations and while having had multiple injuries to key performers. With this kind of midfield form and last years DP/Trez partnership on top I wouldn't be afraid of anyone bar noone, but we have nothing behind the starting midfield, and it's quite clear that none of our strikers (for injury and Di Vaio not having fully adapted) have really been making the grade apart from DP prior to his injury this season. Lippi hasn't got alot of cards to play, and I think he's doing splendidly with the ones he has (although I agree with many of your observations on the substitutions from the Bologna game).
Ciao.
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