Juventus vs. Newcastle on 7-29-07 (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Vinman
- Start date
In actuality, our best moments of the match were the first 15 minutes where we wasted four good opportunities. We controlled the ball well, had great movement and caused Newcastle loads of problems. If only we had a less selfish player in there instead of Iaquinta to merely slide the ball over to Trezeguet on two occasions perhaps the match would have been different. After that period, everything went down hill.
The reason why we were creating opportunities during the first 15 minutes is because we had more of the ball and we were playing the 4-3-3. In midfield we had Tiago, Almiron and Nedved with the latter venturing more forward, along with Marchionni, Trezeguet and Iaquinta up top with the latter pulled to the right. It was working very well except for the fact we couldn't finish worth shit. What I liked about it is we had more movement in midfield and up top, with Nedved getting room to venture more forward.
However, when we switched to the straight 4-4-2, we couldn't muster anything besides a couple chances on goal for the remaining 70 or so minutes. I'm telling you, the straight 4-4-2 is just too predictable unless you have wingers that can take on and beat players, something we don't exactly have. Nedved is great with the ball but doesn't always take on players, while Camoranesi does take on players but doesn't have the speed to make use of it. And another aspect of the straight 4-4-2 is that Nedved is confined on the flank, while when we were using the 4-3-3 he was very dangerous storming through the center of the pitch. People say the 4-3-3 doesn't work in Italy but that's just true bullshit and with the right players it can work anywhere.
Buffon 6
Zebina 4 - really a horrid match for him, especially when he didn't pull up on the offsides trap for the second goal. That was not a penalty though.
Andrade 6.5 - solid performance and was a commanding presence at the back, looks like he found his old Depor form from a couple years back. Good news.
Grygera 6 - not a bad performance. He didn't make that many errors except for marking errors, especially on free kicks. He also didn't look very sure when players ran at him.
Molinaro 4.5 - ugly passes, ugly marking and almost pulled a Zebina with missing the offsides trap pull up.
Tiago 5.5 - not sure why people were blasting him earlier as he wasn't that bad, but he did nothing special either.
Almiron 6.5 - I love him. He's the sort of player this side needed... someone who can be the quarterback in midfield. His passes hit the target most of the time and his long balls were always right on. The new Seba Veron for sure.
Nedved 6.5 - was probably our most dangerous player but he fell off the radar when played on the wing. Please Ranieri, place Pavel in the center of the pitch where he is far more dangerous.
Iaquinta 3.5 - absolutely horrid. Laughable skyed shots, terrible decisions in front of goal, bad angle shots galore. Simply ugly and he better improve. He seems like quite the selfish player and I don't like that one bit.
Trezeguet 4 - absolutely horrid. Laughable skyed shots, terrible decisions in front of goal, bad angle shots galore.
Palladino 5.5 - looked far better than Iaquinta, that's for sure.
Nocerino 4.5 - didn't get much time to play but all he did was make bad tackles and bad passes when on the pitch.
Hasan 4.5 - same as Nocerino
Other players - nothing to take note of.
Defense as a whole - 4 terrible.
Midfield as a whole - 6
Attack as a whole - 4.5 due to missed opportunities
The reason why we were creating opportunities during the first 15 minutes is because we had more of the ball and we were playing the 4-3-3. In midfield we had Tiago, Almiron and Nedved with the latter venturing more forward, along with Marchionni, Trezeguet and Iaquinta up top with the latter pulled to the right. It was working very well except for the fact we couldn't finish worth shit. What I liked about it is we had more movement in midfield and up top, with Nedved getting room to venture more forward.
However, when we switched to the straight 4-4-2, we couldn't muster anything besides a couple chances on goal for the remaining 70 or so minutes. I'm telling you, the straight 4-4-2 is just too predictable unless you have wingers that can take on and beat players, something we don't exactly have. Nedved is great with the ball but doesn't always take on players, while Camoranesi does take on players but doesn't have the speed to make use of it. And another aspect of the straight 4-4-2 is that Nedved is confined on the flank, while when we were using the 4-3-3 he was very dangerous storming through the center of the pitch. People say the 4-3-3 doesn't work in Italy but that's just true bullshit and with the right players it can work anywhere.
Buffon 6
Zebina 4 - really a horrid match for him, especially when he didn't pull up on the offsides trap for the second goal. That was not a penalty though.
Andrade 6.5 - solid performance and was a commanding presence at the back, looks like he found his old Depor form from a couple years back. Good news.
Grygera 6 - not a bad performance. He didn't make that many errors except for marking errors, especially on free kicks. He also didn't look very sure when players ran at him.
Molinaro 4.5 - ugly passes, ugly marking and almost pulled a Zebina with missing the offsides trap pull up.
Tiago 5.5 - not sure why people were blasting him earlier as he wasn't that bad, but he did nothing special either.
Almiron 6.5 - I love him. He's the sort of player this side needed... someone who can be the quarterback in midfield. His passes hit the target most of the time and his long balls were always right on. The new Seba Veron for sure.
Nedved 6.5 - was probably our most dangerous player but he fell off the radar when played on the wing. Please Ranieri, place Pavel in the center of the pitch where he is far more dangerous.
Iaquinta 3.5 - absolutely horrid. Laughable skyed shots, terrible decisions in front of goal, bad angle shots galore. Simply ugly and he better improve. He seems like quite the selfish player and I don't like that one bit.
Trezeguet 4 - absolutely horrid. Laughable skyed shots, terrible decisions in front of goal, bad angle shots galore.
Palladino 5.5 - looked far better than Iaquinta, that's for sure.
Nocerino 4.5 - didn't get much time to play but all he did was make bad tackles and bad passes when on the pitch.
Hasan 4.5 - same as Nocerino
Other players - nothing to take note of.
Defense as a whole - 4 terrible.
Midfield as a whole - 6
Attack as a whole - 4.5 due to missed opportunities
This is all bullshit. Your hatred towards Iaquinta is really getting on my nerves. Yes, he was very poor in front of goal, but at least he made the runs. Trezeguet's shooting was very much okay, but he didn't work enough to get some chances. Palladino and Nocerino were only on for a very short time and Palladino at least did well. Same goes for Salihamidzic. Zebina might have been the more obvious reason for the second goal, but what the hell was Molinaro doing opening the offside trap in the first place? He's the one to blame there.
Andy likes to act important by making outrageaus claims and bold statements. He only sees things the way he wants. Anyone can establish a theory and prove it right. It is all based off of that persons perspective. It wasn't the 433 that was the best, it wasn't Iaquinta that was the worst. Get over yourself.