Player Ratings...
Billy Buffon.
Not much chance on either goal conceded, other than which he was rarely flustered, solid when called upon. Made no Superman saves. 7.
Grosso
Lovely assist for one of Camo's goal, but other than that, his distribution wasn't great and he was caught out badly for their second. Made one, gave one way.6
Caceres
Easier to forgive for losing his man once and gifting the fuckers a goal, due to his age, and lack of experience in our league. His movement forward it lovely and I can easily see him and his south american buddy Camo forming a decent line of strength down the left flank, if given time and patience. He is fleet footed, brave, adventurous but lacking tactical nous. Encouraging....6.5
Chiellini
SOlid performance from Kong. Gave nothing away, foraged forward often, kept things moving, no errors, won almost all aerial battles. 8
Cannavaro
Its pleasing to have a cool, calm, mature head in the back line. His composure was assured throughout. We can have at least one wicked season from the baby faced thug...7.
Poulsen
Calm, confident, kept his passing simple and made some decent interceptions. One of the least error ridden performances so far for him in a bianconeri jersey...solid.7
Melo
Managed not to gift the opposition any goals, and despite a few misplaced passes in the final third, he was sporadically beastly, peaking when he scored that blistering drive from 20 yards out. If the keeper had got his hand to that he would have lost his fingers. And rightly so...Melo is improving, 7.5
Camo
Sticking in the richest vein of form I have seen of the argie swine for many moons. Took both his goals beautifully, especially the second, linked up well with caceres and diego. Was instrumental in most of our best offensive movement. Also chased back more to help out Caceres, than I usually see him do with Goblin...perhaps they are friends. 9.
Giovinco
Disappointing. Showed enthusiasm, but not much else. We need more from him than liveliness, to justify both the formation and his continued inclusion. 6.
Diego
His ability on the ball reminds me of a young Zidane, very rarely conceding possession, always finding a man when he passes, covering a lot of ground for an attacking midfielder. His goal was class...Promising. 8
Trez
I was as always, so happy when he scored...which he did in typical trez style, when everyone was ready to cast his performance to the wayside as another anonymous showing, but wait a second...ITS IN....bravo frogman. I still love him...and he still loves to score. His trademark, wide eyed, child smile is most welcome to my screen...7.5
SUBS
De Ceglie
Not much time, but helped to create Trez's instinctive finish when he completely spooned his own attempt to shoot. 6
Immobile
As if Ciro hear me, Ferrara not the youngster, the free scoring youth star looked excitable and hard to handle...though...by this point, Atalanta were DEAD...commendable cameo. 7
We were clearly of a higher technical class that our opponents. And it wasn't really until they worked out that we had Caceres and Grosso playing, and therefore our flanks were vulnerable, that they gave us any real trauma...Of course I felt a little edgy when they pulled a goal back, twice...but we maintained our spirit, and kept on controlling the tempo, calmly, had a few goals rightly disallowed, but popped in three more which counted...2-5 seems a little harsh, but to be fair, it could have been more, despite the fact that we didnt play amazingly well.
This performance was definite improvement over the last two games. The spirit in the camp seems to have steadied. Belief is running through the team, from back to front...and with Momo, Marchiso, DP and Amauri to return over the coming 4 weeks, to the first team, I am once again excited and optimistic.
Man of the Match...Camo.