My match report:
Well we all had some high hopes for this and excpected to see some positive signs for our team's future.
The game started exactly like that, our team seemed ambitioned and it seemed we had the control of the game, Newcastle had little to say on their attacking duties but it was inevitable they would have get their chances.
Unfortunately for at their 3 attacking chance we had a reality check,
the defense Ranieri chose to help Buffon proved their real value,
half of the have the skills of a half skilled midfield player and they can have a decent contribution to our attacking chances, esp Zebina seemed more confident by the moment, he was advancing deeper and deeper in Newcastle's field,
he helped our team's built up a great deal and with Almiron's great retributions skills it seemed that our creativity problems inhirited by the Crapello era would be a sad memory.
Unfortunately things dodnt work that way, Italy's old school defense didnt became the best in the world out of pure luck,
Zebina's created a lot of space between our lines, esp at our right side,
Newcastle's quick attackers used to create some attacking chances,
by the time Zebina returned to cover his place it was already too late,
he tried to stop someone from the back using his very own clumsy skills,
a deadly mistake, i could see that before it happened,
he have conceded the "unfair" penalty that changed everything, it had a great impact in out mentality.
As a JUve fun i admit that it doesnt seemed like a contact harsh enough, to be considered as a foul, but this is not an excuse, we will not have any better treatment in the championship by the Inter Referees...
Our team was under pressure and we were eager to score and prove we do not deserve to lose,
we got really sloppy on the attack, the lack of skills in some of our attacking players, esp Marchionni and Iaquinta ruined almost all of our chances,
the rushed play destroyed the rest of our chances and tactical plans,
since this was just a friendly game, a mere test noone can blame Ranieri for any of his choices, it is the right time now to test different players and schemes, just to avoid mistakes later, when the results really matter.
Our rushed play made us prone to mistakes,
we lost possesion and most important the pace of the game, the accelerated rythm favors EPL teams, our lines were broken,
our offside trap failed once it was enough to concede one more goal,
thats it, we lost hope as team and the only thing that happened in the rest of the game was some personal efforts destined to fail,
we still have a long way to go to be considered a "team"
right now we are just a group of players trying to cope with each others skills/pace/style.
Our team will look more creative this year,perhaps more beautiful to watch,
but it doesnt necessary means we are better.
The objective opinion says that we have now shown more negative signs than positive, there is still a lot of work to be done, i dont think that we have the neessary time to overcome all the problems and we might suffer a few points losses at the beginning of the season, hopefully we will improve eventually and remain competitive for the CL positions (it is a safe bet that we wont be competitive enough for the first 2 positions)
a few words for our players:
Buffon thank God he stayed with us, he had a great day, he was fit, made no mistakes and was challenged a lot, our weak defense will give him a lot of chances to proof his worthy this year, it will be the most challenging season in Buffon's Juve carrier
Molinaro: too young, he is hardly Juve material, Balzaretti was much much better than him, we should have loaned him and keep Balza, a great tactical mistake
Andrade did a quiet worst, avoided all mistakes, this is exactly what a good defender should do
Grygera He is not a decent CB, we have so many solutions at this position, we should better try him out at RB or even midfield positions instead,left a lot of spaces open, but had generally a positive presence
Zebina, this guy is liability, we did a grave mistake to keep him and we are doing a great mistake by using him as a starter, our defense will suffer a lot this year because of his mistakes and there is no Thuram or Cannavaro to cover up for his mistakes. I have do admit though he showed some more than decent attacking skills and contributions
Chiellini came in late, as a punishment, Ranieri really used him as late ,minute sub just like he claimed he feels, he was nervous but still good enough to prove he is our second best defender after Andrade, we must not sell this guy!
Nocerino too late too little, too violent?? or just eager to play?
Saliham didnt have the time to prove anything, tried a few touches most of them didnt worked out and it seemed that he familiar with our teams play, at all
Marchionni: some mixed actions, most of the dissapointing though, he hasnt improved a bit by the day he joined, i lost all hope on him, it seems that DD was right not to accord him more chances, he should have been subbed out after the first 30'
Nedved our lion had the captain role, he gave his all as usual, run up down the full 92' he inclined more to the center to help our creative chances, some decent crosses and shoots, i cant believe this guy considered resignation
Tiago who? what?
Zanetti too late too litle
Almiron our best man on the field, only Buffon showed a better performance than him,
the man looks like he was here for years, he seems familiar with every player, he has a great vision of play, very good retribution of the ball, excellent anticipation of the adversary team's play, it seems that he was our wisest summer move by far.
Trezequet was eager to play and seemed fresh and motivated, that the important thing, thats all i want from him, we know about his value
Iaquinta he was horrible, as usual, i didnt expect any better than him
Palla seemed eager to play and score, a great attitude for a promising youngster,
he seemed more fit than the rest