Well....
Firstly I hope I never have a reason to go to De Kuip again!!
A 1-1 draw was the result I was expecting before the game started, so I cant be that dissapointed.
And to be fair it was probably the correct result!
The match was a great game... very entertaining!!
We played very well indeed for the first 20 minutes... and then as the tiredness set in we started to lose the iniative and were pressed hard for the rest of the half.
Camos goal was fantastic.
Davids started badly but grew stronger through the half, same for birendelli who ended up playing a good game.. though he would have been more suited to being on the right.
The second half was similar... we started well til we tired and then they took the reigns.
Overall i'd say maybe we edged it but it was a reasonably fair result.... though not the way it came.
The subs::
Davids had to come off, he was tired and obviously in pain.... the choice of fresi to me at a time when we were physically weak was the correct move.
People that moan that we went defensive obviously didnt see the game.... with our condition if we had carried on pushing we would have been more likely to give up another goal or 2.
I didnt understand Ale being taken off... he was playing well and didnt appear too tired, though he did put in quite an effort.
Salas did ok , a big improvement on his poor showing at the weekend.
Nedved worked hard but failed to make much of an impact.
Tachh was solid and starting to look like he might be slowly returning to his form of 2 years ago... now that lippi has found confidence in him and restored him to his rightful place... unlike last season!!
Plus supplied 2 very good shots from distance... havent seen a good long shot from tachh in far too long!!
Di Vaio again put in a very busy and effective nights work... though he missed one he should have put away and didnt see Ale in perfect position and opted to take a shot that he stood little chance of scoring instead.
Ciro was quality again... such a shame the header didnt go in..
Everyone did a pretty good job tonight barring montero whos current run of bad form is becoming a joke and a liability.... he neeeds some bench time to sort himself out!!
The missed header that would have sealed the game was nigh on unforgiveable.. you dont get chances like that very often!!
The ref::
Personally I thought he did a very good job until that one incident that robbed us of victory and spoilt a nigh on perfect peice of refereeing.
The freekick was ridiculous .. i have never seen such a thing.... to order a retake fine!! but 3 attempts by a worldclass freekick taker from the exact same spot.... give me a break, talk about hand them the draw.... They (imo) would never have scored from open play!!
Anyway, unhappy with the way it happened but the result was ok... and the performance promising!!